I own a 1971 coupe. Putting 17 x 8 on the front with probably 245/45/17's and 18 x 8's on the rear. But I'm having trouble figuring wich size tire to put on the back, 255/45/18 or 255/55/18. Im sure this has been discussed over and over but Im buying tires this weekend and wanna get some opinions. I've also seen that 255/50/18 give a ride height of 28.04..I would like a bit more tire on the rear since I'm staggering anyway...please help.
Just my $0.02 worth... As much as new, low profile tires are going to help your cornering, I still think that you need to fill the wheelwell, or the tires look "lost". The C-3s were styled around a 27" OD tire, so I think you should look for something in that neighborhood. Also, something else to keep in mind is that your proposed 255/50-18 is going to be a really wide tire for just an 8" rim. A 10" or 11" rim would be more appropriate, assuming you want to retain some sort of cornering ability.
You can lower the car if your tires end up "shorter" than this, but it's not as easy to do a C-3 as the later cars. My wife had a '79 that she bought new and kept until early 1997. Around '92 I freshened up the suspension, and put a VBP fiberglass rear spring in it, and a set of their GT coils in the front. The rear was easy to set to a sleek looking ride height, but I had to trim the front coils to get them where it looked really good. Fortunately, I only had to take the coils out twice...
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Help my decision for new tires on my new wheels
