Tire Clearance
 

So need to get new back tires within the next month....how wide can i go on a third gen car ( 1988 ) without having to modify anything or hitting anything

I believe 275's are your safest bet.

so what would you recommend in a whole tire size? 275/50 or 55 or what ? i wanna go to tires plus or one of the other places near me monday asap so i can get a price on getting the tires and mounting/balacing

Depends on what size you wheels are. Are they 15, 16, 17, or 18 inch. I run 255/40/17's all the way around on my car.

What size rims do you have???:confused:

i had 275 60 15s on my third gen and they rubbed, i had to put a spacer in to raise up the back a lil.

on my 4th gen, 275 40 17s they fit fine all the way around

ive got 16x8 rims

I've got 17x9 I believe, but not certain.

16x8's, I think the wideest is gonna be a 255-50 I beleive, and on the 17x9's you can go 285 40's on the fronts, and as big as the 315-35 on the rears(pending on the tire brand.)

255/50 or 45/zr-16 is what i have on the rs, the driver side rear tire used to slightly rub the bumpstop on hard right hand corners,but a good smack on the base of the bumpstop with a large hammer fixes that(though i8 found out the car was hit from behind at some point in its life so that could have been the reason),and the fronts slightly rub at full steering lock

You don't want to go with 315/35/17 on 17x9 rims. You want at least 17x10 or 17x11 preferred. I ran some 255/50/16 on my 16x8 wheels on my 68 Camaro and they were a great compromise from getting 17x9 wheels with 275's. So if you're keeping your current rims you're looking at 255/50/16 most likely.

You can do it on a 17x9, Like I said as long as you use Nittos. Bfg's will hang over like crazy!!!