Okay, I checked on the FAQ and some of the sites for wheel fitment either had no info that I could find or didn't work. I tried dodgestangs site and the pdf file quit working.

For fathers day, my dad was wanting to look for some new wheels and tires. We have a 65 convertible with some maybe 16x7 cragar ss rims? I'm not too sure. He wants to redo the suspension so the rear is taller than the front with wider tires in the rear.

We're going to get some 1" drop springs, grab a trak suspension kit, stock rear leaf springs, gas shocks. Does this sound liek a good combo?

What wheels and tires would look good while having the wider rear tires and still handle well?

Any other suggestions would be great?

Thanks
Andrew

 

I am doing the same thing...
1 inch drop in the front
Stock springs in the back
Gas shocks all the way around

What wheels and tires look good is completely up to you. What looks good to me might not look good to you. With that said, i'm going with 16x7 American Racing Torq Thrust II wheels that have 4in backspacing with 225 50 tires in the rear and 205 50 for the front.

 

Define "quit working"

 

Wheels are like shoes. Everybody's got an opinion and everybody likes something different. It's also a generational thing. If it's your dad, I'd recommend staying with the more tradition choices:

Styled Steels
Magnum 500s
Cragar SS's
Torq Thrusts, either Ds or TTIIs.

Today, all of these are made in sizes from 14-17" and 5 to 10" widths.

 

dodgestang- it was my comp, it froze up when I tried to load it the first time thenit went blank every time I tried to load it after I refreshed the screen. I'll try it again.

Yeah I think we're leaning towards the Torque Thrust but have to find a good set reasonably priced. Would tires making the wheels in general look fatter or should we get staggered 1" wider in the rear?

 

Yes, or a combination of each. Lots of people run 7" front and 8" rear wheels. Only problem with that is it limits tire rotation and most don't put enough miles on weekend drivers for that to matter. Obviously the other way to make your wheel/tire combo look fatter is going with a wider tire. A 225/50 will be close to the same diameter (height) as a 205/60, butputs 10%moreareaon the ground.

The biggest issue is fitment... clearing fenders, upper control arms, brakes, inner wheel housings, etc.

 

Dodgestang and James can correct me if I'm wrong, but- If you're trying to get the widest tire on there you can on a 7" wide wheel, then you may want to do 4.25" backspacing instead of the 4" you first mentioned. If you go with the 8" in back, look doing a 4.75bs. That will keep the rim closer to the center of the car and allow more room for the tire to stick out without hitting the outer fender (thus you can get a widertire).

Personally I like the 7" front and 8" in rear, but it all comes down to what you (and your dad) want. And like jsames said, I don't drive it enough to worry about rotating. Dry rot will getmine first.

 

Hah dry rot. hopefully your car won't be sitting that much for that to happen. Okay yeah he was definitely saying that he'd like a wider rear tire. I think that the fenders will need to be rolled at least now or when we get those larger wheels. Do local shops roll them with that tool because I've heard of the hammer/dolly? method but don't want to risk denting it up?

For the slanted "hot rod" look with larger/higher rear tires should we go with the 4 leaf or 5 leaf suspension?

 

The best prices for American Racing Torque Thrust II/D as far as I know (that's where I bought my TT D's):

http://www.wheelsforless.com/search_...oduct_ID=10557

$168 each, $672 for all four, NO taxes, NO shipping fees...and Lug Nuts, Center Caps, and Valve Stems included.

 

if you're going to roll the fenders, then from what I read, you could probably go 245s or maybe even 255s in the back. Some local shops may have the tool to roll it. You'd probably have better luck finding a body shop with that tool than a tire shop, but you'll just have to call around. From what I can tell, the main advantage of that tool is making sure you don't crack your paint. Some people have wedged things between the tire and fender (like a baseball bat)to do it themselves. But if you're unsure about your skills on that, and weren't planning to repaint any time soon, thenyou may want to search really hard for the proper tool.

I'm not sure about the # of rear springs you need to raise it up.

edited due to formatting problem