I decided to replace the rusty stock wheels and beat up hub caps on my 70 Fury station wagon with some 70's vintage Rocket aluminum wheels (15 x 8.5 rear and 15 x 7 front). My stock wheels have new radials so I am transferring the front tires (215-70R15) from the stock 15 x 6 rims. I want to use the widest possible rear tire that will have no clearance/rubbing issues and stay close to the stock tire height (26.9 for the 215-70R15 tire). Will a 295-50R15 tire fit (height is close at 26.7)? The distance from the leaf springs to the stud mounting face is about 7-1/8". Thanks in advance for any help provided, Bob
Keep in mind, when you stagger sizes like that, the one thing you do get is a LOT more under steer. With the weight of the V-8 over the front tires, these cars are somewhat front heavy to start with, and with more grip at the rear, cranking the wheel, particularly in an emergency, is only going to make the front tires lose grip.
Unfortunately, I can't answer the fitment question, related to the car itself. I have no experience there. Maybe try this calculator. You'll need to know the offset of your existing and new wheels. There's probably a calculator out there that will let you use the tire size, as well as the offset. http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Wheel-Offset-Calculator However, it might be hard to squeeze a 295-50 on a 8.5" wide wheel. There will be a good bit of bulge. A 10" wide wheel is recommended, and is what I've used in the past. A 275-60 is a good size, but might be a little taller than what you're looking for. If that's too tall, and the 295-50 is too wide, then you'd be looking at a 255-60. Show us some pics when you get it worked out!
I would tend to stay away from a 15" 50-series tire for the rear. Might help get you the width you want, but the load range you will be getting would I'm sure be way under what you need for it. I'd go with a comparable (load range and overall height) 60-series.
