# 1969 goat



## Ttik (Oct 19, 2021)

Have a 1969 judge been in the family all its life. My dad put wides on the back and pizza cutter on the front back in the day. Wondering what offset and size of tires we can go with to make it work. I want I nice wide stance. Suspension is all new gm stuff nothing aftermarket


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

Ttik said:


> Have a 1969 judge been in the family all its life. My dad put wides on the back and pizza cutter on the front back in the day. Wondering what offset and size of tires we can go with to make it work. I want I nice wide stance. Suspension is all new gm stuff nothing aftermarket


Really depends on what look you are after. I graduated in 1977, so "back then," the popular rims were Cragar SS, Aluminum slotted rims, and Keystone mags. American Racing had a 5-spoke mag like the Cragar SS but it was aluminum and flat black spokes, but I don't ever recall seeing any.

Rim sizes that were common were the 8" and 10", and a co-worker had 14" wide rims on a 1970 Camaro which was extreme. 8" was probably the most common width.

Rim size is based on fitting into the wheel well, or like some of us did, you had to jack the rear end up so the wide tires did not hit or get cut by the wheel well openings. Jacked up in the rear was a spin-off from the drag racing style at that time. But, when you raise the rear end up, you alter the suspension geometry and your car may experience violent wheel hop when you dump the clutch and handling suffers if you go road racing - none of which we cared about because the look was "cool." To compensate for the raised rear, you could install what were called "no-hop" bars which raised the upper control arms at the rear axle to bring back your geometry. Still not going to handle as stock with the rear up, but who road races their cars - we "drag race" our cars.

Tire sizing back then was Letter Codes and "series". The stock tires were generally a "78 series" and then came the wider "70" series, followed by "60" and the aftermarket "50 series." Factory muscle cars used the "70" series. Not sure on the "60" series. Hot rodders went for the wide "50" series. If you ran N-50's, you were bad ass. I ran M-50's on 10" chrome reverse rims on my '65 Impala. The M series are wide, but short. So they can typically fit in the wheel well height wise. Getting the correct offset is the key.

Another look was "big & littles." 15" rims out back and 14" rims up front which was a look and gave the car a "rake" or lowered look in the front which also made the rear look raised up. Tghis is the look I like, as well as jacked up in the rear with the right sized tall/wide tires to fill the wheel wells. So the 15" out back would be wider/taller tires while the front 14" were narrower and smaller - which sounds more like what your dad had.

So here is a pic of my '68 Lemans when it was on the road (now in pieces) which I went with factory 15" rims off my 1976 Lemans (think they are 7") and 70 series tall tire, and the 14" rims that came on the '68. Simple black painted rims and the white letter tires.

A different pic of my 1977 Caprice station wagon. I still had the rear chrome reverse rims and used G-50 tires with the stock 15" fronts painted black with baby moon hubcaps and stainless trim rings.

On my rebuild of the '68 Lemans, I am going with aluminum slots, 15" x 10" with a 3.5" backspacing which will push the tire outward, but I am jacking the car up for the look I want. I have 29"tall x 12.5" wide x15" Hoosier tires to go on the rims - so these are tall/wide tires. I will most likely go with 15" slots on the front, but a shorter tire which will add to the "rake" look. The 3rd pic is close to the look I want the '68 to have. It'll sit high in the front as well.

Take a look through some of the pics/cars in the tire/rim section. Stock rims have a 4.5" back space. You can play around a little, but you can have issues with fit when you go with an incorrect backspacing and too wide/tall of tire when trying to keep it within the wheel well.

One suggestion from a poster is a 275/60/15 on the rear and a 225/70/15 on the front. Fills the wheel wells.

Another member had a 1969 GTO and this is combo:
I run M/T streets 29.5x12.5 on a 9.5" wide Weld rim with 5.5 backspace. Stock wheelwells, stock rear end width. Honestly the biggest set of tires I could fit in the stock wheelwells although I did do some trimming and I also rolled the fender lips to prevent cutting the sidewalls. Both my rims were custom ordered as it is very difficult to find a wheel with this off set.


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