255 60 15

[57barnwagon]

Will these tires generally fit on my 15 x 7 wheels on my 57 wagon 2? drop front spindles and 8.8? rear with shortened long side axle to match short side?

[chevynut]

It's all about wheel mounting surface width and wheel offset. What is the offset or backspacing of your wheels? Are they all four the same?

It's not clear to me what you're trying to do. Are you wanting to put 255s on all 4 wheels? I'm sure 255s will not fit on front. What is your rear axle width?

[57barnwagon]

55.75" wide rear axle
4.25" backset
8" wide wheels
triangulated 4 link w coil overs

[chevynut]

55.75" wide rear axle
4.25" backset
8" wide wheels
triangulated 4 link w coil overs

Is that 55.75" at the wheel mounting surfaces? That seems awfully narrow. The stock rear is 60". Also, I thought you said the wheels were 15x7? If you don't have stock rear leaf springs, you have a little more room for tires. What do the 2" dropped spindles have to do with your original question? Just trying to help.

[markm]

My Dana 60 is 56 wide and my 55 is mini tubbed. If no leaf springs the inner wheel tub is going to be the limiting factor.

[57barnwagon]

measured the wheels in the box though it said 7" on the box they measure 8"
spindles were noted just to confirm 15" minimum wheels were needed to fit the disc brakes
yes actually 55.5 wheel to wheel mounting surface

[chevynut]

measured the wheels in the box though it said 7" on the box they measure 8"

Wheels are measured INSIDE the flanges. A 7" wheel would be about 8" outside the flanges. So I assume the 7" is correct.

spindles were noted just to confirm 15" minimum wheels were needed to fit the disc brakes

So are you planning to use the 15x7 wheels on front with the 255 tires? They won't fit. You need to measure the front wheel mounting surface to see if the wheels will work on front. If you have zero offset rotors, you might be able to run a 225 tire.

yes actually 55.5 wheel to wheel mounting surface

The 7" (8"outside) width wheel with 4.25" backspacing will have a .25 positive offset meaning the wheel mounting surface is .25" OUTBOARD of the center of the wheel. That puts the center of your rear tires at 55" with the 55.5" rear width. With 10" wide 255 tires the insides of the tires are 45" apart. The wheel tubs are 46.5" apart so the tires won't fit without a minitub.

[markm]

measured the wheels in the box though it said 7" on the box they measure 8"
spindles were noted just to confirm 15" minimum wheels were needed to fit the disc brakes
yes actually 55.5 wheel to wheel mounting surface

Not true the the 14x6 Rally Wheels off of my 67 Camaro SS 350 fit my 55 and 56 with disk brakes. Once disk brakes became common 14 inch disk brake wheels were produced.

[55mike]

FWIW..... I'm running 255/60/15 on 8" wheels. The backspace is 3.5", and the 9" F^&d is 58" wide at the wheel mounting surface (vs 60"). It's a very tight fit. 55's fenders by their design tend to be a bit tougher to deal with in these situations. I have to remove the lower shock mounts, pull down on the rear shackles and the tires still drag on the inner fender edge to get in/out. Once in, they look good and don't rub..

[markm]

Looks good Mike I really feel that your 58 inches is about a narrow as you can go without mini tubs.

[55mike]

Yes.. 58" is about what works without moving springs etc...

[chevynut]

FWIW..... I'm running 255/60/15 on 8" wheels. The backspace is 3.5", and the 9" F^&d is 58" wide at the wheel mounting surface (vs 60"). It's a very tight fit. 55's fenders by their design tend to be a bit tougher to deal with in these situations. I have to remove the lower shock mounts, pull down on the rear shackles and the tires still drag on the inner fender edge to get in/out. Once in, they look good and don't rub..

Your wheels have 1" negative offset so a 58" rear puts the center of the tires at 60", about the same as stock. The 10" tire would be about 70" outside and 50" inside. Most of these cars have 71.5-72" between wheelwell lips. The tubs are 46.5" and springs are 48" outside so you should have about 1" between tires and springs. You could actually go with a 275 tire if you could get it inside the wheelwell. As long as you can get wheels with the right offset you can go with just about any reasonable rearend width, if you can center the tire in the wheelwell. I've had guys asking me what rearend width to use and I tell them to choose a wheel and tire first.

[55mike]

Your wheels have 1" negative offset so a 58" rear puts the center of the tires at 60", about the same as stock. The 10" tire would be about 70" outside and 50" inside. Most of these cars have 71.5-72" between wheelwell lips. The tubs are 46.5" and springs are 48" outside so you should have about 1" between tires and springs. You could actually go with a 275 tire if you could get it inside the wheelwell. As long as you can get wheels with the right offset you can go with just about any reasonable rearend width, if you can center the tire in the wheelwell. I've had guys asking me what rearend width to use and I tell them to choose a wheel and tire first.

I've seen 275's on 56's/57's but the fender opening on my 55 (bottom edge) distance to the brake drum is super tight. Perhaps if I dropped a shackle and got the rear down a bunch more 275's could be squezzed in. As I stated before, the 255's are really hard to get off/on (helps to unbolt the lower shock and torque the shackles downwards).

[asbicca]

295/50R15 Rear Tires

If you move the springs under the frame, a 15 x 8 wheel with a 3 3/4" back space, and a 58" mounting surface to mounting surface rear end you can fit 295 50R 15 BFG T/A's. In order to mount or dismount the wheel and tire you need to undo the shock and any traction bars and deflate the tire. Then a bottle jack between the bottom of the frame arch and the top of the rear axle tub and the wheel and tire fall right off.
This is the best picture that I could find, but it is doable.