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I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

22K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  Shoovel 
#1 ·
Hey everyone,
Im looking into putting some wheels and tires on my 1963.5 galaxie500xl and i dont know what will fit. I want to use 15" steels and centercaps, going for an old school look. can anyone help? send some pics if you can.
 
#2 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

What is on there now? !4" in the pics? Those are the type of steel wheels you are talking about wanting correct? If it is, check locally at junk yards for the 15" version and even ebay or craigslist for some near you so you don't have to pay shipping.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

jcain63,
I just got through doing the same thing you're wanting to do. After reading umteen tire reviews I had to settle for the Wheel Vintiques 62 series rim and the Firestone Precision Touring 215/70R15 WW tire. I got the 15" 406/427 hub caps to go on it. If you stay away from a WW you can put a better tire on your car.
If you buy the rims from Wheel Vintiques check every wheel. I didn't, got them powder coated only to find out one was a 4 3/4" lug spaced wheel. Wheel Vintiques had put the wrong wheel in the right box. Also, the tire store showed me that three of the rims had a slight wobble. They had them on the spin balancer that captured the center hole. Wheel Vintiques said to check them captured by the 5 lug holes ( I'm doing that today). I might have to be sending them back if I can. I'll let you know if the wheels are welded crooked later today. Jim Edit: 12/16/2011 I checked the runout on my wheels while they were on the car. One wheel had .025" runout, two had .020" runout and one had .032" runout. That falls well within the .045 limit for wheel standards. Wheel Vintiques was right. The hub hole is used for mounting the tire in the trunk, not for checking lateral runout. Jim
 

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#4 · (Edited)
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

First off, Good looking car!!! Thanks Jim. Ill defintley look into WV, what are your thoughts on coker wheels? also, would you happen to know how wide we can go in the rear? id love to get some meats under there since my 390/427 will be putting out close to 550 hp. I was thinking about 15x6 in front and 15x8 in the rear. Its too bad they didnt make the 14" spinner hubcaps in 15". I have a set of the 14" and itd be a shame not to be able to use them.
 
#5 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

jcain63,
They made spinner hubcaps for the 15" wheel. They only used them on 406/427 models. That's what's on my car.
The rear fender clearance on my 63 Boxtop is as follows. The distance from spring to fender is 12.875". The distance from spring to wheel mounting surface on drum is 6.125". An 8" wheel is centered in the wheel well if you use a wheel with 4.125" backspace. A 7" wheel is centered in the wheel well with a 3 11/16" backspace. A 6" wheel is centered in the wheel well with a 3 3/16" backspace. You can put a 10" wheel underneath our cars but I wouldn't do it myself. The best thing to do is go out and measure your wheel well. My car hasn't been altered in any way and has the original rear end and fenders. Jim
 
#6 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

I run a 15X8.5 with a 275/60R-15 on my 64 which fits great, my 61 uses a 15X8 with a 275/60R-15 in the rear. I could get 15X10's and 295/50R-15's on them with the right offset but it would be tight.
 
#7 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

I'm currently using pretty stock 15x6 wheels with the full cap. The car has been lowered, and they fit well.



But I also tried some spare 15x8 wheels I had and 275/50 TAs which I used to have fitted to my '70 Galaxie. First thing I noticed was that from the stock 215/75s to the now 275/50s, the car dropped about 1 3/4" closer to the ground.





I took a few measurements.
Front and rear 15x8 rims have a 4" back space.

Rear: There is 1 1/4" between the tire and the leaf spring.
1 1/4" from the tire to the lip of the rear wheel opening, but a little further up inside the wheel well, the clearance is just 5/8" to the inside of the quarter panel.

Front: With the wheel in the straight ahead position, there is only 1/4"-3/8" clearance between the tire and the top ball joint. 1 1/4" clearance to the lip of the wheel opening on the fender. There is plenty of clearance from the outer tie rod end.

Based on this info, on the rear you could possibly go for 10" rims for better fitment of the 275s, but keep the clearances to what I have given. I think 295s might be a little too close for comfort.
On the front, I'd stick with 8" wide rims, because of the tight clearance to the upper ball joint.
 
#12 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

I'm currently using pretty stock 15x6 wheels with the full cap. The car has been lowered, and they fit well.



But I also tried some spare 15x8 wheels I had and 275/50 TAs which I used to have fitted to my '70 Galaxie. First thing I noticed was that from the stock 215/75s to the now 275/50s, the car dropped about 1 3/4" closer to the ground.





I took a few measurements.
Front and rear 15x8 rims have a 4" back space.

Rear: There is 1 1/4" between the tire and the leaf spring.
1 1/4" from the tire to the lip of the rear wheel opening, but a little further up inside the wheel well, the clearance is just 5/8" to the inside of the quarter panel.

Front: With the wheel in the straight ahead position, there is only 1/4"-3/8" clearance between the tire and the top ball joint. 1 1/4" clearance to the lip of the wheel opening on the fender. There is plenty of clearance from the outer tie rod end.

Based on this info, on the rear you could possibly go for 10" rims for better fitment of the 275s, but keep the clearances to what I have given. I think 295s might be a little too close for comfort.
On the front, I'd stick with 8" wide rims, because of the tight clearance to the upper ball joint.
hey danv, you mentioned that your 63.5 was lowered. how much and how did you do it? did you use springs or spindles? thanks again. Josh
 
#8 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

danv,
That is a supper nice 63 1/2. I like the 1st picture especially (WW tires, expensive hub caps ). Remember when stealing hub caps was a big thing. If people realized how expensive some of these hub caps were nowadays we wouldn't be able to keep them on our cars. Jim
 
#9 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

Thanks Jim. :)

Further to the information already given, I'm almost 100% certain that the 15" spinners only were available on the XL HiPo cars, whereas the rest got the dog dish.
I was lucky enough that when I bought my car, the spinner caps were in the trunk.
 
#10 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

WOW!! great looking cars! I envy all of you. Thanks for all the information, the 15x8 with the 275/60 is going to be the way to go for the rear and for the front Ill be running a 15x6 and a slightly smaller tire. hopefully it will look the way i want it too. Here is a pic of it now, I have a loooong way to go before it looks like all of yours. Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Classic car
 
#11 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

I've got these sizes and I've seen them on plenty of 63.5's so here goes. Front 15x7 with 3.5 b/s, 235/70/15 tire, rears 15x8 with 4.5" b/s and 275/60/15. Zero issues but the rears are about as big as you can run, fronts are tall but fill the opening I think nice.
 
#13 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

hey danv,
you mentioned that your 63.5 was lowered. how much and how did you do it? did you use springs or spindles? thanks again.
-Josh
 
#14 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

I removed the rear springs and took them into a suspension shop, who re-set the height by 3 inches.
I then removed the front springs (initially it was a hell of a job, but got it figured out buy now!), and cut them accordingly, approx also 3 inches, to make sure it had a slight rear to front rake.

That 3 inch drop was based on the height that the car was at, assuming it was close to factory height.
 
#15 ·
Re: I need help figuring out what 15" wheel and tire combo to put on my 1963 galaxie

I say go for hollywood flippers.

I love the look. I only swapped mine out because 15 inch rims left a bit too much sidewall for auto-x and not many companies still make performance ( cornering) tires for 15s.

 
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