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These are the specs I just crawled under my truck and took.

Mounting surface to mounting surface is 54" exact on a S10 rear end.

-Outside red line is the outside of the fender measured at the top.
-Inside red line is the frame and leaf spring. They are the exact same measurement obviously.

Based on these numbers I hope someone smarter than me can tell me the exact size rim/tire + backspacing I need, to go as wide as I can go without protruding outside of the wheel well on the top.



Thanks in advance.

I figure it to be with a 10" wide rim with 7" backspacing Or an 8" rim with 5" backspacing. Even this may be cutting it close.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

I didnt know they made rims with that much backspacing.

Front wheel drive applications are in the ballpark but getting an 8" wide rim may be tough to do.
Here's a link to Eagle FWD page:

http://www.eaglewheels.com/fwd.htm

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

My 17"x9" With A 6" Backspacing Works Well. Least With My Rearend.

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BlackLuv, are those RWD or FWD rims?

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

RWD

I've Tried On A Set Of Newer Model Mustang Wheels That Have The Same Offset.

I Will Be Running A Set of Torq-Thrust M Shelby Anthracid




17"x9" w/ 6" Backspacing In The Rear
17"x8" w/ 5 2/3" Backspacing In The Front

I of Course Will Be Running A Bowtie Center Cap Emblem Over The Snake

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I would like a Weld Pro Lite or ProStar wheel. Heck I'd even settle for the Summit knock-offs.

I might end up having to go with a wheel that is not the widest possible. The backspacing is what is killing me.

The rims I guessed at and bought that everyone have seen mounted are 15 x 8 with 3.5 backspacing. These are not going to work due to the minimal back spacing aparently? So I basically need a 15 x 8 with a load of backspacing to pul the rim inside the wheel well.

The search begins

Blue Meanie: In my calculations I have from the mounting surface of the drum to the frame 9.25 inches, correct? So, I'd have a 8.75 inches worth of space between the drum's mounting surface and the frame.

To play it safe I'd pull back from the frame an inch or so for clearence issues.... so 7.25"

I came up with 10.25 from the drum mount surface to the frame.
[ 7.75 - 4.50 = 3.25 drum depth, + 7.00 from the drum to the frame = 10.25]
So with an 8" wheel with 5" of backspacing, the inside of the tire has over 5" of room to the frame (plenty good). This leaves 3" of wheel measuring out from the drum. That leaves 1" of room for the tire to clear the INSIDE lip of the fender (it measures 1.5" to the outside of the fender).
This is why im thinking it's cutting it close.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Thanks for the explination. So if I ran a 15 x 8 that has 5 1/2" of backspacing am I pulling the rim more IN or OUT within the wheelwell?

I understand I have no more room on the outside and can only really move inside a hair. Right?

My calculations (based on your last numbers) show 10.25 from mounting surface to frame. A 5.5 backspacing leaves me with 4.75 of space from the inside of the rim/tire to the frame. More than enough. An 8 inch rim width minus 5.5 backspacing leaves me with 3.5 inches and I have 4.50 from the mouting surface to the outside of the fender lip. Leaving me with 1 inch to spare. That's what I see.

Moving the back spacing by 1/2 inch gives me more room or takes away a 1/2 inch?

I would start from the outside and work my way in, that is were you want it to tuck. So this is my answer.

8" rim, 4.5" backspacing that leaves 4.75" to spring

10" rim, 6.5" backspacing that leaves 2.75" to spring

This is allowing 1/2 for clearence and 1/2 for tire overhang

You have plenty of space to work with overall but the space you to fill is the distance from the hub to the fender well. I didnt allow for the lip on the fender well you will need to take this into consideration.

When you add backspacing you are moving the center of the tire towards the differential.

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Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy horsepower...and that's kind of the same thing...

May I Add Another Little Bit of Information As Far As Clearance. Where The Cross Member With The Shock Mount Comes Through The Frame It Tends To Stick All The Way Through The Outside of The Frame Therefore The Excess of The Cross Member Sticking Pass The Outer Frame Will Need To Be Grinded Off For Maximum Clearance.

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You wrote:

An 8 inch rim width minus 5.5 backspacing leaves me with 3.5 inches and I have 4.50 from the mouting surface to the outside of the fender lip.

The math is a little off. 5.5 +3.5 = 9 not 8.
Running 5.5 backspacing will leave 2.5 of wheel coming from the drum surface. That leaves 2 inches to the outer fender lip. Subtract about 1/2" to get the inside fender lip and you'll have 1.5 inches for the tire to live in.

The more backspacing you run, the deeper the wheel assy will fit under the vehicle.[/quote]

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

thank you very much.

I saw that.. it's like 1/4"

thanks for the heads up.

Yeah On My Truck It Was Close To 3/4" On The Drivers Side and Almost Flush on The Passengers Side.

But No Prob We Where All Talking About Clearance I Thought I'd Drop In A Extra 2 Cents.

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This is where you will get personal perference as to how much clearence you will need/want between the tire and the fenderwell. I run mine tire within about 1/2" from the fender but I like the tire to fill the wheel tub COMPLETLY. But you sound like your getting a basic idea of how to measure it all depends on the look your after.

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Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy horsepower...and that's kind of the same thing...

Math like this boggles my mind. I am a hands-on guy and calculations beyond 8 spark plugs, 4 tires and 1 steering wheel gives me a headache.

Hence the "I need 25 lugnuts comment the other day". That was a nice one.

I'll go wth an 8 x 15 rim 5" to 6" backspace wheel now I just need to find a set of Weld Prostars on eBay in that configuration. That much of an offset is tough to find I am finding. I'd also run a Weld Draglite wheel style if I could find them.

I'll be selling my Weld prostar rears at least if anyone's interested. 15 x 8 with 3.5 of backspace. Come with some tires that are OK at best. If I find a set of Draglite front & rears at a good price I will switch to that style and sell my prostar fronts as well 5 x 15 x 3 inch backspace.

Thanks for everyone's help so quickly.

I feel for all of you trying to get the correct profile and stance of your vehicles. Todays contemporary trend dictates this. My truck has had the same basic stance from when i bought it back in the early 80's. Wider than stock tires were the look and fender flare kits were all over the place.

We need to create a sticky on wheel configurations for stock and S-10 axles.
Ford 9", Dana and the 12 bolt crowd are on their own cause they're planning H.P. so it's too custom for each build.

_________________
Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.