Wheels

[78mali350]

Okay i am sure this is a frequenty asked question so please dont hate me. What is the widest tire you can put on the rears of a 78 Malibu without having to roll up that lip on the fenders? also we want to stay at the same height so that we don't have to change the speedo. sorry if this is a retorical question

thanks
vince

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I run 245 50 16's om my 1985 Cutlass on 16x8 wheels with a 4 in backspacing and could probably go 255, 265 or maybe even 275 wide, but it would be a tight fit. I have also run the 245 50 16's on the front with minor rubbing that required cutting and rolling the fender lips with removal of some of the inner fender. To use them on the front, a WS6 or Z-28 steering box off a 3g F body would help because of the thicker steering stops. You do need a G car pitman arm though as the F car has a longer one that screws things up a bit and can make the tie rod hit the frame.

 

[illregal82]

i run 255 on my 20s with very little rub on the front

 

[Chevyman85]

Okay i am sure this is a frequenty asked question so please dont hate me. What is the widest tire you can put on the rears of a 78 Malibu without having to roll up that lip on the fenders? also we want to stay at the same height so that we don't have to change the speedo. sorry if this is a retorical question

thanks
vince

You can fit 255 in the rear without any rub 275 if you roll the fender; its not a big deal you just need a hammer or a baseball bat to do the trick. :wink: The hard part will be not affecting the speedo, basically anything bigger than a 235 will have a higher profile and you'll have to recalibrate the speedo. Another thing to keep in mind is that a taller tire will eat up your gear ration. I run a set of 275/60-15 as my street tires because of the height they are a 28" tall tire and it give me more of a freeway gear. And my slicks are 275/50-15 they only stand 26" tall and it makes a huge difference with gear ration you can feel it!

 

[barncar]

The as-yet-unfinished Cutlass has P275/60R15s on the rear with no rubbing issues yet (but right now it's only getting pushed around), more l8r.

 

[78mali350]

SO if we were to use the stock wheels i think someone said they were rally wheels what is the widest tires for the rear then that will fit on those rims?

sorry if these quesitons are dumb i am just learning still

here is a pic of the wheels

 

[jerrycad472]

I believe on my old cutlass and regal which both had 14" ralleyes, I had 235/60/14 or 235/65/14 for both the front and rear. No problems with rubbing. I am just not sure how much wider you can go on the stock rims, I think they may only be 7 inch.

 

[Chevyman85]

I believe on my old cutlass and regal which both had 14" ralleyes, I had 235/60/14 or 235/65/14 for both the front and rear. No problems with rubbing. I am just not sure how much wider you can go on the stock rims, I think they may only be 7 inch.

Yeah, your correct. Its a 7" rim so you shouldn't go any wider than a 245 but a 235/60-14 would be a nice set up. You could always run a smaller tire upfront and give it a little bit of a rake. A 195/60-14 would be about as small as you'd want to run.

 

[78mali350]

thanks for the help everybody i love this website

 

[SV6 REGAL]

SO if we were to use the stock wheels i think someone said they were rally wheels what is the widest tires for the rear then that will fit on those rims?

sorry if these quesitons are dumb i am just learning still

here is a pic of the wheels

Had the same style on my malibu when I had it I ran 245/60/14 rear and 235/60/14 front.