My wife has green-lighted an upgrade of my tires and wheels (woo hoo!).

I want to go 16" x 8" wheels. Chevy High Performance lists out the largest possible tire/wheel measurements, but I don't want to stuff them in my wells and risk rubbing. So, here's my questions:

1. What is the recommended tire size for these rims (not the largest possible with slight rubbing)?

2. Should all 4 tires be the same size? This would lengthen tire life but what benefits are there for bigger rear tires besides the look? Any handling benefits?

3. What backspacing should I have? Running drum brakes all around now but will upgrade the fronts to disc someday.

I'm thinking about Boyd's Sting Ray wheels. Here's a link:

http://www.newstalgiawheel.com/productdetails.asp?id=1720

Thanks all.

My wife has green-lighted an upgrade of my tires and wheels (woo hoo!).

I want to go 16" x 8" wheels. Chevy High Performance lists out the largest possible tire/wheel measurements, but I don't want to stuff them in my wells and risk rubbing. So, here's my questions:

1. What is the recommended tire size for these rims (not the largest possible with slight rubbing)?

An 8" rim will hold a tire from 235 to 265, plus or minus a size.

2. Should all 4 tires be the same size? This would lengthen tire life but what benefits are there for bigger rear tires besides the look? Any handling benefits?

The biggest advantage to larger tires in back is that much larger tires will fit there, and look better, ie: fill the wheelwells better. 225 is about tops in front, while 255 is an easy fit in back.

3. What backspacing should I have? Running drum brakes all around now but will upgrade the fronts to disc someday.

I run a 225 on a 7" rim with 4" BS in front, and a 255 on an 8" with 4 1/2" BS is back

I'm thinking about Boyd's Sting Ray wheels. Here's a link:

http://www.newstalgiawheel.com/productdetails.asp?id=1720

Thanks all.

Note: the sizes I'm listing are "comfy" and absolutely not the biggest that can be stuffed in there!

Thanks JimM. This is harder than I thought...