Folx, does anyone know what I can do for fitment on my '64 olds? I'm running 18x8's front and rear with approximately 5.875" backspace and it's STILL NOT enough. The 225/45/18 front tires are rubbing the inner fenders (outside) pretty hard going through dips and when turning lock-to-lock. I really don't want to lift the front of the car so what other options do I have?

All I can think of is to run a 215/45/18 or even 205/40/18 but I'm not sure how well those will look on a 8" reverse hoop style smooth lip billet wheel.

Unfortunately, the wheels are 18x8 with a 6.875" backspace using a 1" bolt pattern adapter/spacer. The car is 5x4.75 and these are 5x4.5 I believe off a dakota or toyota or some minitruck. I went through all that to say they can't be rehooped to an 18x7" because only the backside would change- it wouldn't move the wheel in towards the center of the car any further.

Does anyone have a hook-up on 215/45/18 or specially 205/40/18 tires?

Thanks!

If you want a 205/40/18, check out the Yokohama S.drive or Nitto Neo Gen... cheapest in that size. And yes, you can put them on an 8 but it will be stretched. 215/40/18 are cheaper and more available. They spec about about the same and neither will overhang the lip.

I've got used 225/45/18 Michelin Pilot Sport SP2's (I think that's right) on there now.... damn near to the wear-indicators in the tread. The sidewalls don't match the rim edge either... I'm afraid of what a 205 tire will look like.stretched on there. However the Michelins have a nice rim lip protector on it that at least is flush with the rolled lip edge of the rim.

So- What if I took the old brake drums off the front and had them redrilled to the 5x4.5" pattern? This would eliminate the need for the billet adapters and set the wheel back 1" to center it in the wheel-well. Is this feasable?

This puzzles me- I've got a early/mid 60's car with 8" rims that requires a high-positive offset. Most wheels advertised for these cars have a 0 offset. I can't imagine trying to put an 8" rim on there with a 4.5" backspace when my 8" rims with (6.875" minus 1" adapter equal) 5.875" backspace barely fit (rubbing the fender lip when turning).

.... a 215/50/18 on my 8" rim?

You think that would look worse than my 225/45/18's I have now?

What happened to the thread way back in the day that told backspacing and tire sizes for 1988-1998 OBS trucks?

I'm thinking it might look a bit worse, depending on the tire. The 50-series is probably going to have a slightly narrower tread width for a given width, and may not have as much of a rim protector, so the lip may stick out a bit more. It comes down to the tire really. A slightly larger sidewall might hide some of that and I think will give you a bit more clearance (since you were having rubbing issues). Look up the specs on the 215/50, I think the max recommended rim width is usually 7.5"

I've been doing some research.... the 215/55/18 from Goodyear says up to 8.5" maximum rim which sounds weird to me because all other 215/50 and 215/55 show up to 7 or 7.5".

Well I haven't been successful selling these 18" coddingtons and getting them to fit has become an experience. I would just redrill the brake drums to 5x4.5 to fit the wheels but then the wheel hub-bore would be too small to fit the huge hub on the car.

LoL