Wheels - 15x5.5 with 4.125" backsp or 15x5 with 3.25&qu

[fisheye]

I am looking for wheels for my 74 Thing and need a little help with backspace and size. I have a set of 15x6 with 3.2" backspace with 215x65 tires and they rub badly in the front. I am looking to keep the tires. I have narrowed my search down to 2 rims. One is the Enkei Flat-4 dish that is 15x5.5 with 4 1/8 inch backspacing and the other is a Rader type that is 15x5.5 with 3.25 inches of backspacing. I would like the widest stance I can get without rubbing the tires on the front fenders. I do not want to modify the suspension or change fenders either. I guess my question is will I have problems with either of these wheel/tire combinations? Anyone else running these?

Thanks!

[Captain Spalding]

I'm not running either of those, but maybe I can still offer an opinion. It is commonly said that the widest tire that will fit on a Thing with stock wheels, fenders, and ride height is a 205. I know some have fitted 215's with success, and others have not. What that tells me is that a 215 is so close that differences in tread profile will become a determining factor.

Looking at your wheel choices, the Rader wheel is so close to what you are running now that it will most certainly rub just as badly, or maybe silghtly worse.

The backspacing of the Enkei wheel is 3/8" less than stock, putting the tire 3/8" further outboard than a stock wheel. And you are running a tire width with which some have reported rubbing even with wheels having a stock offset. So chances are that it will rub less that what you have now, but it will still rub.

This is all deduction and no real experience, so take it with a grain of salt.

[fisheye]

I posted a mistake in the first post. The rims I have now have 2.5 inches of backspace (not 3.2).

[Captain Spalding]

[fisheye]

Maybe I will ditch my tires and go with 205x70x15's with the Enkei's. I would look at other wheels but the choices (that I have found so far) are quite limited with the 5x205 bolt pattern.