275/50-17

[dwbiggs]

Anyone use them?  Will they fit under a Challenger?  I realize they are the same height as 275/60-15 but I will be using a 9.5" wheel with probably 5.5" BS.  Would like lower car a little so I may have fender lip issues.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I can't see it working on the front.  The back... 

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Stock leaf location? That rim will be decently close to the leaf spring its sounding like. I would say 'they can be made to fit'. With at most being a small wheel spacer, or possibly lip rolling (slightly)

[CrazyPete]

i was running 15X9 wheel with 275's bfg's and they fit on stock location and e body rear end if you get your back spacing on those 17's i guess it would fit

[dwbiggs]

If 275/60's fit, why not 275/50's?  Is it the width of the wheel itself...the height is the same right?  What to most people use with the 275'60's...8" wheels?

[HP2]

It all depends on the wheel backspace and tire sidewall bulge. 5.5 is a lot of backspace. A 275 is around an 11" section width. The 9.5 rim your thinking about will allow the tire to bulge out around 3/4" out from the rim. E body leaf springs are wider in the rear mount than the front mount. The tire may rub on the rear segment of the leaf spring. Plus you may potentially have body assembly variances from side to side. This is a case where you may need to break out a tape measure and straight edge to verify, or go with less back spacing on teh wheel.

A lot of the most popular 8" wide wheels are 4.25 to 4.5 back space. The don't put the tire as close to the leaf spring as a 5.5 back space wheel would.

[dwbiggs]

With a wider wheel wouldn't you nee more BS in order to have clearance on the outside?  I guess if the BS is too much I could use spacers.

[HP2]

With a wider wheel wouldn't you nee more BS in order to have clearance on the outside? 

Yes, that is true, but that extra clearance on the outside comes at the expense of clearance on the inside. You have the wheel opening lip on the outside and the leaf spring on the inside, and with E bodies, those leafs springs are not parallel to the frame.

I'm not positive what the spacing from the face of the brake drum to the rear segment of the leaf spring is. This measurement will determine how far back your wheel/tire combo can go.

With the wheel tire combo in my avatar, 4.75 back spacing was the max. However, with a 295 width tire on an 8" rim, it has substantial sidewall bulge that a 275 on a 9.5 inch rim won't have. I think the sidewall bulge on mine was around 2.5 inches, whereas the combo your looking at may be around .75 inches. That's a big difference that could accomodate a considerably different wheel back space.  

[cudazappa]

ok, here's a couple quick shots of 18x10s with 285/40s and 5" BS on my Challenger (stock suspension)







as you can see, I'm terribly close to the (now rotted out) wheel lip.  And I have another 1"-1.5" before I hit the spring.

Your 9.5" wheel, with 5.5" BS should have 1 more inch clearance to the wheel lip, and yet only be closer to the spring .5"

Worst case scenario, you may need to trim/roll the lip, especially if you lower the car.  Mine will be pretty low for what I'm using it for, so these rims are staying for my 300

[dwbiggs]

I can see that you wouldn't have any fender lip worries. 

[cudazappa]

I'm actually thinking about subtley flaring them like this car:



because once the new quarters do go on, I still may not fit the tires I want to use!