Jason
I think this began with using drag radials on 15" rims.
If so, then it makes it easier because you only have to
consider tire clearance in the rear.
The stock rims for the R/T are 17x9. For measuring purposes,
a 9" rim is considered to be 10" wide. The extra inch is
because of how rims are made ... on a rim there is
1/2" more on the inner and outer part of the rim lip for the
bead of the tire.
I don't know what the backspace of your stock rim is so for
illustration purposes let's suppose it's 4". Let's also for
illustration purposes suppose that there is 1" between the
bulge of your tire to the nearest part of the truck (usually
the leaf spring).
Stock R/T rim:
clearance
leaf spring <-- 1"--> tire bulge
inner rim lip outer rim lip
| |
| |
| mounting surface |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|< 4" >|< 6" >|
backspace front space
clearance + tire bulge + backspace = x"
15x8 rim:
clearance
leaf spring <--?--> tire bulge
inner rim lip outer rim lip
| |
| |
| mounting surface |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|< 5.5" >|< 3.5">|
backspace front space
As long as clearance + tire bulge + backspace does exceed x",
the rim and tire should be okay.
You need to measure the distance from the bulge to the nearest truck part,
the bulge (use the stick across the bulge and the stick across the rim lips),
and the backspacing of your R/T rim.
The R/T P255/55R17 tire has almost the same outer diameter of a P275/60R15
tire.
The P275/60R15 will have a wider cross section (10.83") than on the
P255/55R17 (10.04"). A guess on my part is that the bulge on the
R/T tire is maybe .25" and the bulge on the P275/60R15 on a 8" rim
is about .9"
Hope this helped.
Bob
Burlington, Ontario
'97 CC Sport, 5.2L, 3.55 auto., flame red
Gibson duals, KN drop-in
Coloured-keyed grille guard, running boards
and hard tonneau cover
Deflectors, grille insert
AR-211 15x7 rims (4.75" backspace)
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