55.2-59 Wheel/tire pics

[jeffs56]

Hey guys I bit the bullet and am ordering a TCI Pro Touring kit with coilovers and the rear 4 link. They are recommending a 18x8 with a 245/45/18 and on the rear a 20x9 or 10 with a 255/35/20. I’m not sure on the sidewalk on those but I definitely don’t want a harsh ride after doing all this. Do you guys happen to have any pic of the 55-59 with the size of wheel and tires you guys went with. I’m going TCI but I’m assuming as long as it has coilovers in the front any brand suspension for pics would be good. I’m open to suggestions as well on any wheel size to go with and pics. Thank you guys
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[NWA58]

I am running a full TCI setup and currently have 275/40R20s on the rear and 245/45R18s up front. Without bedside mods, you will be limited to a 245 in the rear. I did 2-1/4” tubs and now have room to go up to a 295 keeping a 20x10 wheel.

[jeffs56]

Wow very nice. How does it ride with that wheel and tire setup?

[Kevin_C]

I just ordered wheels and tires but it will be a couple weeks before they are in. I went with the same size front tires but went a little wider rear in an 18. I would think a 10" rear wheel with that size tire would be a little narrow. a 10" wheel is really 11 wide. I'm running vette suspension so the hardest part for me was finding an offset that would work. I measured and remeasured so many times so fingers crossed.

This site helped a lot when wanting to compare sizes.
https://tiresize.com/comparison/

[NWA58]

Don’t know yet… still in final assembly. It should be firm enough for performance driving but not too stiff, a good happy medium.

[Kevin_C]

NWA58 I just ordered the same wheels! I ordered 265/40r18's so we will see

[NWA58]

Great choice!

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by NWA58

I am running a full TCI setup and currently have 275/40R20s on the rear and 245/45R18s up front. Without bedside mods, you will be limited to a 245 in the rear. I did 2-1/4” tubs and now have room to go up to a 295 keeping a 20x10 wheel.

I think your choice of wheels are very nice, but I wondered this for a while before buying the wheels that I am running on mine. Why that size of wheels? What I mean is why the wheel diameter you chose rather that something with a larger sidewall?

[NWA58]

There are no rules for wheel/tire setups other than it has to fit without rubbing, and even that rule gets broken sometimes. 2 things come to mind in answering your question; the desired look and performance.

Mine is full restomod and getting the stance right is critical. A pro-street look may have fat tires on 15” wheels and look “fast” but it is straight line speed. Take a look at the trend in everything from early Camaros and other muscle cars to trucks. Suspension has come a long, long way and we can make these trucks handle like cars now. Lowered ride heights improve handling, and lower profile tires have less roll in corners for better handling. Add bigger, better brakes and you need larger diameter wheels. Add more horsepower and you need wider wheels to support wider tires.

Essentially, we are building a performance vehicle with a truck body. My truck has seen it’s last days working on a farm.

[62 Barnfind]

Originally Posted by NWA58

I am running a full TCI setup and currently have 275/40R20s on the rear and 245/45R18s up front. Without bedside mods, you will be limited to a 245 in the rear. I did 2-1/4” tubs and now have room to go up to a 295 keeping a 20x10 wheel.

What is your wheel offset?

[NWA58]

0 offset, front and rear

[mr48chev]

Everyone is different when it comes to what their concept of a rough ride is. My wife fusses at every bump in my BMW with 17inch wheels as she did in my old Cad DTS but will ride all day in the 71 3/4 ton or 77 dualie without comment. With the heavy bed and hoist the 77 wallows down the road as much as it drives but she never complains about bumps in it.

The real issue might be that the bigger the wheel and the lower profile of the tire the larger the chance that you will damage a wheel by hitting a pothole or object is no matter how careful you are. I've seen more than one guy back at the tire store with a bent 18 or 20 within a day or two of when he bought it. Saw a kid in Wichata Ks leave a tire store in the old town area on July 4 in his donked out Caprice and three blocks later he was sitting on the side of the street with a destroyed rim and tire and a very sick look as I have to belive the pair set him back at least 1000.

[Kevin_C]

Got my rims today. I was able to fit 265's in the rear without any bed mods.

[mrbuck]

Here’s mine in mock up, 20x9 with 245/35 (i think) rubber. 4 linked and m2 front, this is before motor was mounted front came down a couple inches

[nikwho]

Here's my '59 Apache.

Front- Foose Legend 18"x7" w/ 225/45-18 BFG tires.
Rear- Foose Legend 18"x9" w/ 275/40-18 BFG's.

I honestly wish that I had. Little more sidewall. The tires give it a pretty harsh feel.

[G&R's57GMC]

What is the measurement of your rear axle flange to flange where the wheel mounts ?

What is your wheel width ?

What is your offset ?

What is your tire mounted width ?

What is your tire diameter ?

Any mods to the bed or body to fit the tire ?

These questions will help determine what will or not work on any of our TF trucks .

[Dan in Pasadena]

I have the Flat Out Engineering cross member that uses C3 Corvette components. It uses rotors & calipers that require at least 16" wheels. Because there are so few tire sizes available for 16's I bought used 17" original Boyd Smoothie 1's found on OfferUp. I THOUGHT they were a great price. They were not in my area so a nephew got them for me. Cheap to buy but turned out 3 of them needed minor straightening and one had a portion of the inside bead missing.

I had them pro repaired, balanced & polished which ended up costing nearly as much as new (if new were still available!)

Running 235/55 tires all around. I don't like big diameter wheels/low profile tire sidewalls on vintage vehicles. I'd be using my 15" Torq Thrusts if they'd fit but they will not in front. I had a Ford 8.8 limited slip, disc brake differential re-drilled to the Chevy 5x4.75 lug pattern in the rear and it was flipped on top of a full stack of stock leaves.

[Rickysnickers]

Man, your truck looks nice Dan.

[unclebrad]

I am not sure this is the right place for this post but...

I photoshopped these wheels onto my truck, while trying to come up with a look I like. Now I just need to know what size they would be in reality.

I wonder if you all might have done something similar and could post a picture of yours and tell me what wheel and tire combinations you have. Maybe even where you purchased them?
I'm hoping to see a few variations.

Thanks in advance!

[mr48chev]

Whitewalls caps and rings with red wheels look perfect on that Cameo with the visor. For me if you run a visor (actually a frost shield) you have to have white walls and hubcaps to complete the package.

With the larger billet wheels you have to be careful that the wheels don't overpower the rest of the truck. Those Boyds on Dan's truck might overpower the rest of alot of trucks but with that shade of red the truck turns them into part of the total look and they don't own the truck.

[unclebrad]

Yes, I agree that those wheels work on Dan's truck but wouldn't on mine.

Still hoping someone will know what the sizes are to get the effect I'm after.

[dsraven]

wheels diameter needs to fit over brakes and have offset to keep tires from rubbing on the body. width factors in here too. wheel diameter and tire sidewall height are big factors for ride as a taller sidewall will absorb shock better. if you like the short tire sidewall then get ready for a bumpier ride. it will corner better because there will be less sidewall to flex. I have seen a few tuner cars lately with the cambered wheels and skinny sidewalls. the drivers feels every bump and the whole car looks like it has no shocks or suspension under it. i would think that would get old fast but to each their own. I will use a 235/60r17 tire under mine but then I am old and like a softer ride. my daily driver is a 2015 silverado with 18" wheels. a buddy with the same truck but 22 inch wheels asked if I wanted to trade wheels. I asked why and he said he was tired of the rough ride with the short sidewall tires.
I suggest to get some dimensions and do a drawing of the frame, fenders, axle location etc and see what you can fit under the truck. asking what other builders use may be of no help because they could have diffeent rear axles or whatever so their wheel mounting flange to wheel mounting flange width may be different. front axle centerline may be different, ride height may be different etc. figure out what YOU need with the drawing and go from there. remember the front wheels need to be able to turn at full suspension jounce (suspension fully retracted) and not hit the fenders or frame.

[unclebrad]

Thanks.

Yes, I agree that all of those things need to be considered.

I am hoping to see what people can show me, who have already worked out the offset, etc. issues, and have used 15" wheels rather than the 17"-20" wheels.

It seems to me that there ought to be lots of trucks out there that have wheels with the more traditional, conservative, hot rod look like what I did with photoshop.

I am going to have to do something soon, because the M2 clip with 5-lug pattern is going to be done in a week or so.

[3drburb]

Originally Posted by unclebrad

Thanks.

Yes, I agree that all of those things need to be considered.

I am hoping to see what people can show me, who have already worked out the offset, etc. issues, and have used 15" wheels rather than the 17"-20" wheels.

It seems to me that there ought to be lots of trucks out there that have wheels with the more traditional, conservative, hot rod look like what I did with photoshop.

I am going to have to do something soon, because the M2 clip with 5-lug pattern is going to be done in a week or so.

You may have a better chance of getting that information by contacting Coker Tire and maybe you can send the picture after talking to someone there.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Whitewalls caps and rings with red wheels look perfect on that Cameo with the visor. For me if you run a visor (actually a frost shield) you have to have white walls and hubcaps to complete the package.

With the larger billet wheels you have to be careful that the wheels don't overpower the rest of the truck. Those Boyds on Dan's truck might overpower the rest of alot of trucks but with that shade of red the truck turns them into part of the total look and they don't own the truck.

Thanks for the kinds words. Sorry I hadn't checked in awhile.