Will 15×10" wheels with 5.5 backspacing fit on my 1971 Grabber? Front wheels are 5×4" skinnies so they aren't the issue, just wondering about the back wheels. I plan on maybe raising the car a little in the back, and can use a spacer if necessary. Any help would be appreciated.
I believe that with the stock 8" rear end the most backspace you can get away with without any issues is 4 1/2" so using a 1" spacer would get you in the neighborhood but will push the wheel outside the wheelwell so raising the rear would be needed. Not sure how changing to a smaller series of tire will help. I know that just about every wheel option available has probably been tried so others will have more insight as to what they have experienced
I know this has come up in the past - the general consensus was all cars will take 4.00, almost all cars will take 4.25, and some cars but not all will take 4.50 There was never any set rule for this by model year
I need to correct this post I thought my rims were four and a half backspacing but they are three and a half I hope that I have not mislead anybody but I bought them used and didn't really measure them until today when I bought some centerlines that were 4 inch backspacing and I discovered they were three and a half my weld wheels.
I agree with Craig! A 10" wheel on your Maverick will make it look like a go-cart or a mod-rod from the seventies! An 8" wheel with 4.25 backspacing is about the maximum.
My 15 x 10's fit nicely in the wheel wells. My 9" rear is 56.5" overall (axle flange to axle flange) Wheels have a 5" B/S mounting 295/50/15's. There's pics of this on page three of the photobucket link below
There are two essential styles of spacers. One is just a basic simple spacer, the other is more of an adapter. The adapter style mounts to the axle flange (like a wheel), then it has a separate set studs to mount the actual wheel. Essentially, its an adapter, but without differing bolt patterns. If spacers are used, The adapter style spacers are the proper way to do it. This style does not put the wheel studs in bending. The spacer material must be high quality, with steel being the best. But high quality aluminum 6061-T6 works fine (this is the minimum strength though). If aluminum is used, the better choices are 2024-T3/T8 or 7075 T6/T7. Make sure the spacer design provides enough support for the studs, by utilizing significant edge distance to the holes. If a basic simple spacer is used i would not recommend any thicker 3/16. These style of spacers are used for absolute fine tuning of wheel/rim clearance for calipers and such; where the relationship is unchanging. They should not be used for tire clearance. When mounted properly, with extended seat lug nuts, these styles of spacers are safe, but they do not provide near enough thickness to account for tire flexing. For tire clearance the adapter style is required.
