Tires sizes recommended for Malibu

[82MalibuC]

I have a 1982 Malibu classic 4 door 3.8 completely original and stock suspension

I purchased rally rims last year
14x6s corvette rims for the front and
15x7s for the back

What sizes can I get away with without having to roll fenders or worry about frame rail scrub in the rear or steering rubbing ?

Thinking of going With BFG radial T/As

Currently has 205/75/14 Motomasters as place holder tires as the original white walls had wires showing

 

[scoti]

Given the size of wheels listed, stick w/the 205/75-14's up front & use 235/60-15's for the rears. That keeps you @ basically the same F/R height (26.1").

 

[82MalibuC]

Given the size of wheels listed, stick w/the 205/75-14's up front & use 235/60-15's for the rears. That keeps you @ basically the same F/R height (26.1").

Much appreciated I was thinking about 235s for the rear would 235/70s cause any damage for a little bit more sidewall

 

[pagrunt]

A 235/70 is too tall. An alternitive for the rear is 215/65 as this was the stock 15" size on "performance" models. I'd be honest with my opinion I'd run all four corners with 15" wheels.

 

[scoti]

Much appreciated I was thinking about 235s for the rear would 235/70s cause any damage for a little bit more sidewall

No but they'll induce some rake into the stance since the rears would now be almost 28" tall.

 

[NJ Longroof]

 

[SS_Malibu]

Also keep in mind, altering the rear tire height will alter your speedometer reading.

 

[L05edSS]

I have a 1982 Malibu classic 4 door 3.8 completely original and stock suspension

I purchased rally rims last year
14x6s corvette rims for the front and
15x7s for the back

What sizes can I get away with without having to roll fenders or worry about frame rail scrub in the rear or steering rubbing ?

Thinking of going With BFG radial T/As

Currently has 205/75/14 Motomasters as place holder tires as the original white walls had wires showing

i'll speak for the 15s. now i'm speaking from a monte ss pov, normally i ran 245/60 15s on the rear on stock alum rims, they looked fine and then once i tried my hand at picking my own size, this was 22 yrs ago, think i went with 275/ 60 15s on 15x8 rims and it really looked stupid & took away the 2-3 chirp on shift. you could prolly get away with 255/ 60s.

 

[L05edSS]

I have a 1982 Malibu classic 4 door 3.8 completely original and stock suspension

I purchased rally rims last year
14x6s corvette rims for the front and
15x7s for the back

What sizes can I get away with without having to roll fenders or worry about frame rail scrub in the rear or steering rubbing ?

Thinking of going With BFG radial T/As

Currently has 205/75/14 Motomasters as place holder tires as the original white walls had wires showing

also use this if you don't quite understand tire sizing starting with the size you already. 1st 3 #s (245) = tread width in milimeters and the 2nd set of #s (60) = the percent of tread width to determine sidewall height. https://tiresize.com/converter/

 

[Ribbedroof]

An important note the width of the tire has nothing to do with the tread width. The 245 or 255 is the cross-section width of the tire casing on a specified wheel width. I believe an earlier poster pointed this out but people continue to talk about tread width. Different tires will have different tread width for the same casing width. That said I used to run 255/60-15 rear and 235 /60-15 on the front of an 80 Malibu with no issues