new tire pics--opinions needed

[jdurant]

Maybe 3 months ago I put the 10" rallies on the rear and and a 295/50 tire. On the front 8" rallies there were 235/60. I thought that they looked good and wide from certain angles but just couldn't convince myself that they were tall enough. This is what it looked like.
Unflattering angle

Flattering angle

So to fix this, yesterday, I got those pulled off and put on 255/60 on the front and 275/60 on the 10" rear. I did this after looking at alot of pics and just out of a lack of choice--since though people claim they are out there, after exhausting all ideas-I haven't found a tire available that is as tall as and wider than a 275/60. Atleast not an true street tire-not a soft compound street legal drap tire. This is what it looks like now:

It looks better from the side, but...



I am far from satisfied with this setup too. The rear tires, as you can see really don't fill the 10" wheels. I posted this because it seems like there has been alot of questions about 10" rally wheels lately. Also to see, what do you think? Could these Cooper tires run small? I have seen, what feels like many times, 275/60 BFGs Radial T/As look much better than this on a 10" rim. I've almost convinced myself that these Coopers just run smaller. Tell me what you think. And by all means tell me if I'm just crazy. I'm so disgusted right now that whatever I do(different size rear wheels or different brand tires, or if somebody can show me a different sized street tire)--these aren't staying. But don't feel too sorry for me-I'm not eating these tires. The 295/50 with 235/60 are going on the Buick(hence the aluminum wheel widening thread). And this current 255/60 275/60 be perfect for the staggered 7" and 8" setup going on the GMC.
Thanks in advance. And I'm sorry all my posts read like novels.

[grinch4om]

I like 255x70's because they are 28.5 ish tall(depending on brand it varies half an inch)although they are only 8" wide instead of 9" like the 275x60's but they fill the wheel well up.

[boatpuller]

i agree they look small.i think you'd be happier with something that fills the wheel wheel better.you may look into bigger diameter wheels someday.they allow you to fill it up and not look like 4x4 sidewalls.just a thought....nice looking blazer.it's got some stance.i like it.

[swb85]

275/60/15 fits best on an 8" wheel. Any wider and they look stretched, as you've found out the hard way! Unfortunately I think the days of limited tire selection for 15" wheels are upon us. There used to be a 285/70 which would be about perfect for your situation, but I haven't been able to find those for the last few years. Your only option may be going up in wheel diameter.....maybe some 17" ralleys from wheel vintiques to keep the look?

[jdurant]

If people tell me that their BFGs fill their 10" wheels better, then I am going to try the BFGs. If not, then I guess I'm gonna sale these 10"s and get some 9"s made with 3.5" of Backspacing. I really do want to keep the rallies on this Blazer though.
I have thought of getting the 17" rallies with a polished lip cause I think that would look killer too, but from the very limited pics I've seen--It looks like they use the same 15" face and use a hoop with step that is 1" taller. I'm not crazy about that.

[Cherub]

IM not sure i understand the question so im just going to give my opinion and hope it helps.

The coopers have a more rounded side wall so i think it gives it a look that its not filling out the 10" rally.

[Alex1]

Hoosier sells nice radials - not the drag ones, and they have all types of sizes.

[Big H]

You specified you wanted a regular street tire and not a high performance set up, but in the 15-inch wheels your choices are obviously lacking. You may want to put some serious thought into a 17-inch wheel to open up your tire size choices as already mentioned.

[manimal]

I am not real crazy about 295x50's anyway. They are just too short. I think 275-295x60's would be the best choice.
-Lance

[Square84]

The first setup you had with the 295/50's would look better if you lowered the blazer. Imo.
I have 275/60 bfg's on 8" ralleys they fit good but i dont think they would look right on a 10" wide wheel too skinny.

[68Timber]

Use tirerack.com as your guide. The BFG Radial TA's have a section width of 11", but they're only recommended to be mounted on a 9" rim max. But mine are on 15x10's and they do look wider than yours.

BTW, since I'm running that combo on all four corners, my fronts look too wide. I'm going to get two of the original rallys powder coated and put 235/70's on front. They're only 2 tenths of an inch shorter than 275/60's and have a 9" section width - it should look much better and I'll get to keep rally's and BFG Radial TA's on all four corners.

I'll post some close-up's of my rear wheels Saturday for you.

As a side note, tire sizes vary far too much more than they should for the stated size. My stock rims have 31x10.50's on them and they are narrow and only 28" tall...

[f.monroe]

If it were up to me ......................
225/70/15 on a 15x7 front and 275/60/15 on a 15x10 rear . On the rear I would use a deeper trimring than you have . Use the original style ring for your Rallys . Use the same ring you have now on the 7 inch wheels . I think the wider fronts are taking away from your rear tire setup . One note . I dont know if a 225/70 is available so you might try a 235/70 on the front . The big/little combo looks great but you littles(fronts) are a little too big . The larger trimrings in the rear will help . I have also seen the corvette type rings that are very flat and squared look great on rally wheels .
Frank

[85sqbdy]

Hey, Just ran across your thread and thought I would give you my opinion. I know everybody out there has a certain taste in wheel and tire combo's, but if your going to stick with the steelies, your going to have to lower it some more to make it look right. It's actually an optical illusion if you think about it, short tire mixed with a big wheel opening. I had a 2wd 75' blazer and the only way it looked right with that combo was to lower it 5-7. believe me, after that i was hooked on the look of 8's and 10's. Currently, I have an 85 swb and have gone up to 12's on the back with a 28X14 tire and a 215/70 on the front and looks even better.

[78 Chevyrado]

Play with this to find the measurments for different tire sizes:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[smashingchuck]

Originally Posted by 85sqbdy

I know everybody out there has a certain taste in wheel and tire combo's, but if your going to stick with the steelies, your going to have to lower it some more to make it look right.

I totally agree here. And also maybe you should consider 17" steels as already stated.

[chevyrestoguy]

BFG quit making the 285/70-15 tire about a year ago, and I looked everywhere for another vendor who makes the size and had no luck. Just yesterday, I found that Coker Tire is making it. It is still a BFG, so the tread matches a standard T/A, but the style is called the Silvertown. They are 30.1" tall with 11.0 section width, which will work perfect on a 10" rim. They are listed at $159ea on their website, but you may be able to find them a little cheaper elsewhere.

I love the look of 8s and 10s on the 73-87s, and I have yet to find a 60-series anything that doesn't look too short. In order to fill up the wheel opening, you need at least 29-30 inches of tire height, and when you're in that range, usually it's only the SUV off road tires are available that tall. If can still see the top of the tire when you're looking at the truck from the side, then you need to lower it some more. A 30" tire will keep you from lowering it to a point where scraping becomes a big concern. Plus, if you're going with the bigs and littles, then you have to have the 2-3" difference in sidewall heights between the front and rear to give it that *****in' rake.

[SCOTI]

295-50's are too short.
275-60's on a 10 work if the fender lip is right on the tire & the wheel opening is sized correctly (car, yes; truck, no).
The Coker version of the 285-70 would be the direction I would take if the 15x10's are a must. The sidewalls are tall though.... it will take some getting used to.
Optimum w/o going larger than 17's . ..... 275-60-17 on a 9.5" wheel for the rear. You are spot on about the 17" steelies using 15" centers & stepped rims. Not attractive IMO....

[jdurant]

Thanks everybody for your input. I kinda assumed that everybody knew that I was still planning on lowering it more. That has been pushed back some, because bagging it instead of a static drop has made alot of sense to me lately. So, I've been doing some studying and pricing and saving until I figure out what I'm gonna do suspension wise. I decided to get the wheel tire combo right in the mean time, since it would play a factor in how I decide to lower it.

Alex1-I couldn't find the tire that you're talking about, so I called Hoosier. They do not make a street tire. A drag radial is the closest thing that they make. Mickey Thompson had the same thing to say.

Blazin79-Thanks man, that would be very helpful. The idea that you have to fix your trackwidth oughta work just fine. In the meantime I hope you and AceX don't mind me using the pics I could find for an example.

F.Monroe-I am running a 275/60 in the rear, and that is what I'm crying about. And the trim rings are the only thing I'm sure about on this whole combo-these are the only way to go in my opinion. But I do agree the front tires are wider for the 8"s than the rears are for the 10"s and that sidewall difference adds to the problem, but the 275s really don't need any help to look goofy.

Chevyrestoguy--that is great! I may end up trying that. I verified and they do have them. Haven't found them any cheaper. The only problem that I have with that is I will have to run a 235/70 up front and it is only slightly taller than what I have now. That would be like a 3" total difference in height front to back, which is a little more than ideal, but would be better than what I have. Thanks

All you guys suggesting 17"s. Yeah, you are right and contrary to popular belief--I too like taller wheels. But, I would just rather spend money somewhere else. I really like the look of the rallies on the Blazer and want to try and make this work. I think if I can't make the 10" work I'm gonna go with a 7"/8" combo.
And I called around today about 17" rallies. Wheel vintiques, nor Stockton Wheel, nor The Wheelsmith-make them. I could get 17" corvette rallies, though not really what I want. Stockton does make a 16" rally by the method mentioned above. And get this, nobody makes a 9" rally of either 16"s or 15"s. They go right from 8" to 10". They will narrow a 10", but it will cost more than the cost of the rim.

But here is my main objective with this post: To find out if these Coopers run small--kinda like Nittos. Everybody knows that a 315 Nitto isn't as wide as a 315 of every other brand. Because this could be as easy to fix as just switching to BFGs.
Blazin79's Blazer has 275/60 BFG that don't look like they are too small for his 10"s that he has front and back. I will or he can post better more focused pics when he gets them. And according to a post by AceX--he is running the exact same wheel/tire size combo as me, unless that was false info, his combo looks great.

[68Timber]

Joseph, I had my spare rim powdercoated as well and had a new 235/70 BFG Radial TA mounted on it. I'll pull one of the front wheels off and put the spare on and make some pics. I think that's going to be the ticket. BTW, spot on with the trim rings. I bought them after seeing your truck and love them.

[Mr79C10]

I think your tire selection looks good.

[Pyrotechnic]

My favorite tire for a 10" rim is a 325/50/15 BFG Drag Radial but I realize it's not a street tire and won't last. They match up perfectly with a set of 275/60/15 BFG Radial T/A's up front on 8 inch wide rims. The sidewall isn't too tall or too short, but just right.

I agree, all other tire sizes seem to run small compared to the BFG Radial T/A. I've seen the Firestone 275/60/15's and the tread width just isn't there compared to the BFG's. BFG's seem to have a sidewall profile that works well with older vehicles.

I'll try to upload some pics of my setup.

[jdurant]

Installed Photoshop last night.
How awesome would this be?

This is a little more realistic. It should be 20"s and 22"s.

[smashingchuck]

Now that's what I'm talking about. Look in my gallery for pics of my truck layed out on 17" steel wheels.

[SCOTI]

The shopped 3/4 from the front version looks nice.

[87Lowrider]

Originally Posted by jdurant

Installed Photoshop last night.
How awesome would this be?

This is a little more realistic. It should be 20"s and 22"s.

that's what I call "pimped"... wow!