drdano

Is anyone here with a '62 Galaxie running 15x10 wheels in back? If so, I'd like to know your thoughts and especially what backspace your wheels are and what tire size/brand you're running to make it all fit.

According to my measurements a 15x10 will theoretically fit with a custom backspace of 5-3/8" and be centered with 1-1/8" clearance from the widest part of the wheel lip (11" wide) to both the spring and the inner outer fender. Inner outer fender....damn that just sounds weird. Anyway with a 295/50R15 tire that leaves a sqeek less than 1/2" clearance of the sidewalls...which might not be enough for heavy cornering, etc. but I don't know?

My second option here is to run a 15x8 with 4-1/4" backspace on 255/60R15 tires. By my measurements this should put 1.5" clearance between the sidewalls and spring/fender. A 275/50R15 would fill out a tad more, but they are unobtanium anymore unless you want to run a drag radial which I do not.

Thanks all!

JEM

Just a couple thoughts:

a) If you care about cornering grip, you need to forget the 15in wheels. There are no modern performance tires in Galaxie sizes for a 15in rim any longer, and only a few 16s. A good modern 235/55-17 (late Crown Vic P71 cop-car tire size) is going to work better than any chubby Radial TA-type 15in tire. And if you want to go wider you might even have to go to 18s to get something 26.5-27in tall.

b) You shouldn't need to worry much about clearance to the springs. It's clearance to the fenderwells that matter, particularly with all the flexi-floppy stuff in a stock Galaxie rear suspension - the rubber iso-mounts between the axle and spring, the springs themselves, the spring bushings, the rear shackles, etc. - without a Panhard or a Watts the axle will move around a fair bit under lateral loads.

c) The Galaxie will already tend toward understeer (unless, perhaps, it's a wagon with something like 55% of the weight out back) and all else being equal fatter rear tires will make it even more so.

Cruisin63

Why not run a 15X8 with 275/60's?

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JEM

Depends on what you're trying to achieve.

Doing a search on Tire Rack I find one street 275/60-15. It's a BFG Radial TA, which is a decent cruiser tire, soft ride, decent tread life, '70s looks. If that suits your needs, fine.

Oh, it's probably as much tire as a stock Galaxie suspension can really use, but it's not a performance tire by any post-1980 definition of the term.

So it all depends on what your goals are and where you intend to go with the car.

drdano

Thanks for the replies. The car is a wagon, so there is some junk in her absence of trunk so to speak. The car isn't a g-machine or anything that handles like a modern car. I do have as decent a suspension as what can be done affordably with leafs and coils. I had 2" dropped suspension done by Eaton Detroit Springs a few years ago which lowered the car closer to 4" with around 4" of frame to ground clearance. All new bushings everywhere, OEM front sway bar and an aftermarket Quickor rear sway bar added in and newer Monroe shocks. It handles I'd say better than it did with the OEM worn out suspension/shocks at the taller height with tall bias plys. Right now I've got 15x7 supreme wheels with 3.5" backspace using 215/70R15 tires. Strangely enough, on the fronts the tire to wheel well clearance and "the look" is pretty dead on. If I go any wider I'm sure it will rub to the outside, so wider to the inside will have to be figured out if possible. I figured I'd do the rears first.

So, back to the rear wheels. I hadn't looked at the 275/60R15 honestly. I was hoping to stay at around 26-27" tall tire, but this might be a decent option. I can throw a 1-2" block in the rear and get the ride height back to close to level with a low rake. Thanks for that suggestion. Looks wise this tire would fill out the rear wells which is a goal here.

I'm not opposed to running a 17" wheel. Pete Paulsen does have an OEM ford steelie lookalike that will accept the ford dog dish caps in a 17". They are bloody expensive though and I think to get that 17 centered in the rear would take a custom offset, which would run $25 more than bloody expensive. That would open the door to W speed rated tires which eventually I'd like to do some amateur land speed racing with the car say in the 130mph class (no cage) for fun. Again, a good suggestion and something I need to look at more. Handling wise this is probably the best option.

Cruisin63

For a cruiser/muscle look (if that's what you're after) a 15" rim will give more of a filled out big tire look, and ride better IMO, just because the sidewall acts like part of the suspension. Nothing wrong with the big rim option too, not my cup-o-tea though.

Tire Rack is hardly the end all of tire searches. Here's some more options on that size...

Tires - 15 in. Wheel Diameter - 275/60-15 Tire Size - SummitRacing.com

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JEM

The only other street tires in that list are the Cooper Cobra and the Mastercraft Avenger, which I'd bet are basically the same tire, and are still...well...a T speed rating (118mph! Whee!) and a B for UTQG loaded temperature.

Cruisin63

Actually, the BFG, Cooper, Sportsman S/T, Mastercraft, and Coker are all street tires. Technically the Hoosier Quicktime is also more of a street tire than a true track tire. Just trying to give the O.P. some options.

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Mroldfart2U

I would do the 15X8 with the 275/60 for the cruise look. For the speed stuff why run the combo on street? if the combo is big bux to get it all at once... one a pair at a time for the fun stuff and just swap them on... Not sure where all you are wanting to go with the car.....the goals are achievable but......

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drdano

All good info guys, thanks. As luck would have it, a local buddy has a pair of 275/60R15's on 8" rims with a 4" backspace that he's going to let me fit on the booty of the wagon. That takes a lot of my worries of ordering the wrong size tires out of the equation by being able to test fit a pair first. The rims I'm eyeing are by Pete Paulsen "oem ford/chev steelies" in 15x8 with 4.25 backspace (or custom offset if needed) so I can mount a '62 Galaxie dog dish cap on them....as soon as I can find a complete set of 4 for a reasonable price.

It may be best to table the higher speed rated tires for racing and do that investment when the time comes. Good idea there too.

JD66Falcon

I too agree with the 15" and 275/60 tires as that is what I want to go with on my 68 wagon. Please let me know how or if they fit. I really want to do the 15x8.5 Torq Thrust but heard that there is more room in rear wheel well on the older pre 65 cars than the 66 and up cars. This makes me not sure I can even fit a 15x8. I do have a 15x7 chrome reverse with 205/75/15 currently with no issues.

Thanks,
Jesse

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drdano

I like the 8.5" torq thrusts but they have a 24mm positive offset that puts the backspace around 5.75"....which puts the wheel way too far into the wheel well towards the spring. If that offset where zero, I think they'd look better filling out further. Are your 15x7 chrome reverses around a 3" backspace? You can use your existing wheels and a tape measure to build and excel spreadsheet to calculate the distance from the spring (or whatever on the inside) to the wheel mounting face and then again to the fender. I'd measure the current existing wheel lip on both sides and again with the bulge of the sidewall on those tires. From that you can get pretty close with other wheels/tires in the spreadsheed so long as you know the section width of the tire as it is mounted on the wheel.

Cruisin63

I know it's a different car, but I got 15X8 with 3 3/4" backspace to fit a 30x12 under my '63. Are the wells and rear width much different?

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drdano

Those are some monster tires man, and yes, that big car does swallow them up! I'm not positive on the differences of the axle widths and wheel houses from '62 to '63. I know 60-62 is the same, but no idea newer than that. How do you like those SR's handling and traction wise? My wagon sits a bit lower in the rear and I know with a 28" tall tire I'll have to disconnect the shock or possibly have to pull shackles to get the axle down far enough. I'm not opposed to any of that though.

BH107

I don't have any good pictures to show it, but I have 275/60/15 on 8.5" Torq Thrust under my 63 Galaxie. They rub on the inner fender (outside of tire) occasionally, but only when I go around corners, and I haven'nt replaced bushings or put a sway bar on yet. The same tires on my dads 63 but with 8" steel wheels have no clearance problems whatsoever.

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