Tires and rims

I have a 1979 Ranchero and I believe it came from the factory with 14" rims. Can I put 15" mag wheels on it?

 

My 78 runs P245/60SR15 BF Goodrich Radial T/As on 15x8 American Racing AR-23 wheels.

Much better setup than the 14 inch stocks.

No issues whatsoever.

77-78-79 all same body and platform.

Check with a local tire dealer to ensure fitment before you buy.

 

Great thanks so much for your response

 

You will need to check your speedometer for how far off it it is reading. Simple fix.

 

Only if the overall tire height is vastly different than the original - an inch won't really matter much.

 

4% increase in my case. I chose to ignore it, but you can correct this with a different combination of speedometer drive and driven gears. There is an engineer on this site who can give you some more info.

 

Great information thanks to all that responded

 

"an inch won't really matter" Uh......, that's not what she said.

 

FWIW, years ago I tried a set of Weld 15x10 Draglites with 5" backspacing with 325/50/15 Hoosiers on the rear of my '79, they fit quite good with no rubbing. I realize probably way more tire than you need or wheel width wanted, just letting you know what I found for the space/clearance limits. Hope this info is somewhat helpful

 

The best way to check tire clearance is to turn the wheels lock to lock with the vehicle raised up.

An inch matters more in the front than in the rear.

That IS what she said.

 

Funny, I would have thought just the opposite

 

I put 15"x8" Mag 500 wheels on my '75 Ranchero years back with no problems - until they rusted.

So I bought a new set from Kentucky Mustang in 2025 only to find that the offset had changed and the rears were in contact with my Lincoln disk brake calipers. Wheel spacers fixed this but best to check for clearance when installing.

By the way, I run 235/60x15 tires on the front and 275/60x15 tires on the rear.

on the rear.