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#328434 12/08/20 02:30 PM
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I have a 68' w disc brake and 14 x 7 JJ wheels with 4.5" backspacing.

My 2 options:
1.) All 4 Coker Firestone Wide Oval Radial | RWL | FR70-14 or
2.) 2 Firestone Wide Oval Radial | RWL | FR70-14 in front and 2 Firestone Wide Oval Radial | RWL | GR70-14 in the back.

I am leaning towards Option 2. Any thoughts or issues?

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The only thing I always remind people when installing different tires front to rear is you will never be able to rotate them and will defiantly end up wearing the outer tread off the front from normal cornering way before the rest of the tires even think about being worn out. But I do get the look thing and remember back in the 70s 80s and even into the 90s when putting 15s in the back and 14s in the front was all the rage. You just have to make the call based on your wallet and driving habits.

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This is the stance with P205/75R 14s. The bigger space in the rear doesn't look right to me. Old shocks or springs could also be a problem. It's an illusion as the rear almost looks to slope down. It's about an 1" higher than the front.
IMG_2668.jpg

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Ya, getting the stance right for the tires you want to run can be tough. Have you looked at your shackles? I think I can see shackle extenders peeking out from the rear which would jack it up but could be an optical illusion. If not I have seen some of the replacement springs sit up in the back like that which then makes tire sizing difficult when matching to the front. Another thing I noticed is that the centerline of the axle which is set by the pin in the leaf springs looks off center towards the front which shackle extenders will cause but could be the picture. One other thing that happens is when people tighten the rear shackles they do so with the body jacked and the rear hanging which then puts a twisting preset on the rubber bushings which can make it sit higher and not feel as responsive until they are eventually pounded in. In my opinion the tire profile in the front is to tall for the front end height you have but that is totally subjective as long as they don't rub. You have 2 choices get the stance right or run 2 different size tires to make it look right. If you have shackle extenders, getting the rear to come down some will be easy. By the way sweet looking car.

Last edited by barnbird; 12/08/20 04:48 PM.
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All good points. I just ordered new factory shackles.

Bottom line: With a factory stance which do folks prefer/looks better - all 4 same size tires or bigger in the back?

Pictures Welcome!

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Originally Posted by kcpaul
All good points. I just ordered new factory shackles.

Bottom line: With a factory stance which do folks prefer/looks better - all 4 same size tires or bigger in the back?

Pictures Welcome!


Strictly stance-wise the larger rears look better IMHO for a few reasons. Firstly the additional width looks more aggressive. Second, the wheel arches in the rear are larger in radius. So proportion-wise it looks more correct to me. Also if you look at the body lines from the side, they almost appear to slope down front to rear. So a mild rake sort of evens this out.

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Yeah, that's exactly my thinking. Regarding rotating, these new Coker tires are radials, so they should last a while.

Not that I'll ever be in a show (maybe), but I guess the original F70 Red - Wide Ovals would make a difference? They make these tires in Redlines, but the RWLs look better.

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Stance too high in the back the f70 14 is oem. I went with radial TA's and went 215 70 14. as close to oem in the TA. my next move is to go with 15x 7" rally 2 with 225/60 15 ta radials.

Last edited by john Mitchell; 12/11/20 03:50 AM.
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The original 68 rally's were 14x6 your using the 69 and later 14x7s which you can pick out a mile away by the trim ring so no need to worry about rwl or redlines for shows. to me you defiantly need wider rubber then the stock 68 tire size or they will look to small and skinny on those rims. There are a lot of threads on this site with photos having to do with tire sizing. As far as putting the oe shackles back in that car with the old springs that will be a crap shoot because there were only 2 reasons people used those: 1 hopefully for you, the car sat at the correct height but the owner wanted that 70s jacked way up look. or 2 and usually the case the old springs were dragging arse and it was a cheap way to raise it up. the easiest way to check this without going through the work of switching shackles is to look at the arch of the springs. If they have a pretty good arch or are almost completely flat. If not worn and really flat but sit to low for your liking with the oe shackles and you still don't want to replace just cut the extender shackles you have to whatever height you want and re drill. By the way just so you know radials have no bearing on outer edge wear. it's driving habits, aggressive cornering or if your putting a lot of miles on or not.


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