widest tire that can fit on a stock steel rim? any wider stock appearance steel rims?

[70torino429]

i was curious if anyone knew what the width of the steel 15" rims was? also what would be the widest tire i could fit on there safely? i was going to go with 225 70 15s or 235-60-15s if those would work better on the front but want something wider on the back, but ive seen other people on here have no problems running 235-60 15s all around? would yall recommend that?. does anyone reproduce 15" steel rims with say an 8" width? since i want to keep a stock like appearance to the car and not worry about blowing the rear tires off it everytime i hit the gas.

i want to be able to use hubcaps like these pictured below (btw below pic is not my car but ill probably end up painting it like that), or the other style of similar hubcaps that say ford motor company around them, so that probably rules out the rims like armo has on his car, since they are steelies but i dont think these center caps would fit those since they are made to have the hubcap sit inside the ridge and not go around the outer center ridge if ya know what i mean

[merc91]

225/70/15's are .5" bigger than stock, but still look awkwardly skinny. 235/60/15's are to small in diameter for my taste. but what i would suggest is put a 225/70/15 in the front on the stock rim (6.5"), and put a 275/60/15 on an 8" steel rim on the back. the 275's sound drastic, but honestly they fit the car perfect and it looks like the massive wheel wells actually have a purpose. get the stock offset on the new rim and you will have absolutly no problems fitting er in there.

[P72Ford]

The steel wheels are 6.5" wide. They come in three varieties. Some have no ridges for dog dish caps. Some have the ridges for the small dog dishes (with the Ford Motor Company script), and some have the ridges for the large polished dog dishes, like the car in the picture. There si a difference in the size of the caps.

I wouldn't go wider than a 255, but thats really too wide if you go by the book.

I personally love the police look, and I also like the look of the 16" '98-'02 police wheels on boxes. Scott swears they offer a significant handling improvement as well. However, if you wish to stay 15", my best suggestion is Mopar police rally wheels. They have six slots, and are 15x7 stock (5x4.5" bolt circle too). However, you can get them aftermarket from Coker Tire in widths up to 10", with custom back spacing.

There are a few styles of caps available for those wheels, some solid, some vented. I have a set of those wheels kicking around and a set of vented caps that were on my brother's '88.

If you don't want to go with the slotted Mopar wheel, Coker also sells Mopar plain steel wheels from the late 60s/ early 70s in a variety of widths and backspaces.

You should check them out. Regardless, I like the theme you have planned.

[70torino429]

i checked out the coker tire website, i see the 6 slot chrysler wheels but ill have to see if i can find pics of what their caps look like on those. all i really need is a 15 x 7 or a 15x8 rim. i like the plain steel rim they have, my dad has a pair of those on the back of his dart when he doesnt have the rallye rims on and i like the look but the dart's have a different hub size which is smaller than the cuda or challenger so me thinks they might not fit. ill be scouring the junkyards to see if i can find some to try out possibly since for 4 with tires it would only be 80$ from the junkyard.

i like the cop car look as well, the car is a red base model right now with the vinyl top but im going to slicktop it and probably repaint it since its pretty faded and the paints peeling. the reason i wanted bigger tires was for the handling, and so that im not breaking them loose everytime i touch the gas, since im building a hopped up 351 for the car, and i want to retain that factory look with steel wheels.

im kind of curious what rims did you have on in this pic? thats exactly what i want just something a little wider so i can put a wider rear tire on it

[P72Ford]

Those wheels are the 15x6.5 police steelies, with the ridges for a larger polished cap. The wheels came off of a '95 P71 Hartford CT police cruiser (amazingly they weren't bent...lol). But, the wheels are the same as the older ones, made to fit the larger caps. The tires are Michelin X Radial LTs in 225 70 15. The center caps are NOS pieces that I bought from my connection in a local Ford dealer. I think they were $25 ea, my price. I painted the wheels with single stage PPG black. I think I used chrome pull through valve stems too.

Alot of police wheels come with the bolt through valve stems, which I am not a fan of. They are easily changed though.

If I can, I'd like to say that my car looks positively incredible in that picture .

[70torino429]

If I can, I'd like to say that my car looks positively incredible in that picture .

indeed it does, lol. your car gave me some of the inspiration to go the route i am with my car. that and the slicktop cop cars just look awesome to me.

ill have to dig in the basement some, theres at least half a dozen sets of mopar rallye wheels in my basement and ford truck rims and some other random ones, but my dad said there might be some old steelies down there somewhere. id like to find a pair of the plain chrysler steel rims for the back as long as i could get some nice center caps that would match on all 4 rims, whether it be a chrysler cap or ford as long as it looks good on the car

i have a bunch of these ford center caps sitting around that i think would look good, although ill have to see. they look huge in this pic but thats because the pic is a tiny ford maverick rim, the ones i have came off late 70s early 80s ford 15" truck rims

although i have yet to see anyone use these style caps on one of our boxes.

[87DeuceVic]

and put a 275/60/15 on an 8" steel rim on the back

that will fit on a stock Vic? No suspension mods??

[70torino429]

that will fit on a stock Vic? No suspension mods??

check out his readers ride thread, but he used wagon rear coils and kyb shocks but other than that a stock suspension and aftermarket rims since you cant put a tire that big on the stock rims

[Lincolnmania]

i used to run 245/60/15's on my 84 cvpi......handling was good.......with the price of that size now tho, same price to go with 225/60/16 and pick up 4 used wheels

[70torino429]

i plan on picking up a couple sets of steelies for it at the junkyard anyways since they are only 20 bucks a pop here.

well, i see the two tires that i was looking at both still have a 245/60/15 size but they only recommend that for a 7.0" or wider rim, whats the opinion on some 235/60/15s all around? which say they will work on a 6.5" rim. hopefully i can find a 15x7'' set of chrysler steelies for the rear that p72ford was talking about so i can use a 245 or 255 rear tire.

i didnt much like the ride on my cadillac with 225/60/16s, although i have a set of brandy new winter tires in that size that i pulled off a mk7 at the junkyard.

[Archangel]

that will fit on a stock Vic? No suspension mods??

Yeps, you can clear a 275-wide rear tire just fine, tis when you get into the 10"-wide wheels and matching tires when you need to roll fender lips.

i didnt much like the ride on my cadillac with 225/60/16s, although i have a set of brandy new winter tires in that size that i pulled off a mk7 at the junkyard.

Well, it also depends on what the speed-rating of the tires is - you want an H-rating or better, the higher the speed-rating the stiffer the sidewall of the tire and thus the better the handling it provides.

[Southern_Pride]

I've run the equivalent of a 315 or so with body modifications. Wide tires fit great.

[hav24wheel]

I'm runnin 295/50R15s on rear and 235/60R15s front on mine now.. But 8 inch wide wheel on the rear.. so for the stock style wheels you might have to order something..

[merc91]

yeah i did the waggon springs, KYB shocks, and rear sway bar to get a nice rake and stiffer/better handling and i wanted the tires out really close to the fender. but with a stock offset, a 275 tire would fit my canadian 91 marquis with stock suspention with about a half inch clearence on the inside and about a quarter on the outside (like outside- up into the fender, theres lots of room at the trim lip). seriously, wide tires totally make the look of the car... cuz it looks kinda dumb with nice noticible fender flares and skinny tires tucked in what seems like a foot lol. good pics of clearences and fitting are on my readers rides post if you want a good look at fit.
the old...
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and the new
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[1987cp]

A lot of police wheels come with the bolt through valve stems, which I am not a fan of.

Why don't you like screw-on stems?