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By MplsMike - 4 Years Ago
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Hi all,
I know this subject has been discussed many times, but I am having trouble searching for related posts. I have a 1956 Parklane wagon and it is time for new rims and tires. What is the standard size rim for this car including backspacing?
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By Florida_Phil - 4 Years Ago
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I don't know. However, I recently had an experience that you may find useful. My 55 TBird still had it's original 15" steel wheels and stock hub caps when I purchased it. I could not find any concrete information on what if any after market wheels and tires would fit. I was told every car is different and that I should measure to be sure. I had previously installed radial tires on my car. The radial tires on the stock steel wheels vibrated throughout the car at 50 miles an hour and over. I put up with it in the beginning. Wanting to improve the looks of the car and the drivability, I started my search for new wheels.
Luckily, I had a friend with a 55 Ford that had after market wheels. He had 5" Rocket Wheels on the front and 7" wheels on the back. I decided on 6" wide by 15" diameter Rocket Ignitor Wheels with 215/70R Radial TA tires. I bought them from CARID.com. They guaranteed these wheels would fit and they did.
I couldn't be happier with my new wheels and tires. The vibration is totally gone. My new wheels have neutral backspacing which brought the wheels and tires out about an inch improving the look and stance. All cars are different. If you have aftermarket brakes, tires or anything, be careful before you buy. My wheel box clearly stated "If you mount these wheels, you bought them."
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By blocky - 4 Years Ago
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i recently replaced my oriinal steel rims with new 15 inch by 6 inch CT&W steels and the standard cap also fits i believe these wheels originate in your part of the world,made in USA .tyres are 205/70x15 hope this is of some use to you.
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By MplsMike - 4 Years Ago
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Thanks for the replies, guys. I am thinking 6 inch wide rims with 235/75/15 tires in the back, maybe a little smaller (215) on the front. I would like a wheel that accepts the dog dish style hubcap. I’m not sure what backspacing to order.
Too wide for the back?
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By paul2748 - 4 Years Ago
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On my 54 Victoria, I went with Cragar S/S, 14 X 6 i the front, 15 X 7 in the rear. What they call standard offset. 215 70's in the rear, room is tight for removal. 195 75's in the front. Granada disc's in the front, bigger drum brakes in the rear. Really like the look of the S/S's
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By miker - 4 Years Ago
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Mike, I think the oem wheels where 5", and 3" backspace. Long time since I measured them and I wouldn't trust my memory completely.
My bird runs 15x7 front, 3 1/2 inch backspacing. 225/60 15 T/A's. Some guys say you can go 4" on the front, but mine are as close as I'd go from the sidewall to the upper ball joint. 4" wouldn't clear on my car.
The rears are 15x7 4" backspace with 235/60 15 T/A's. No skirts, and very tight to the outer fender lip.
I wouldn't have gone to those sizes, but the local tire shop did the measurements and guaranteed they'd fit. It was damn close, on a left hand turn the left rear would shave rubber. The body was 1/4" off the center of the axle, and relocating the body just solved the problem.
If I were doing it over, I'd be 15x6, 3 1/2" backspace, and no more than a 225, probably a 215. Aspect of 70 or 75. The 60's work for me because the car is lowered and they fill the wheel openings.
I know this doesn't help a lot with a Parklane, but the front suspension is the same. Some have reported with larger wheels and tires they need to drop the rear shocks off to change a tire.
Years ago Wheelsmith made me a set of 15x7" rims on factory 55 centers. They used the factory dog dish, and put 10" cheater slicks under the back of the bird. Looked great sitting, driving on those not so good. They might be worth a phone call.
https://thewheelsmith.net/
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By Lou - 4 Years Ago
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Keep your old steel factory wheels and hubcaps, you never know what the next fad will be.
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By Florida_Phil - 4 Years Ago
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I believe most of us set up our cars depending upon the era we want our car to be in. Full hub caps for the fifties. Baby moons and Cragars in the sixties. Torque Thrust Ds in the seventies, Etc. A Thunderbird with wire wheels to me looks like it's sitting in a country club parking lot. The same car with Salt Flat Specials looks like a racer. Dog dish hub caps are universal. Many 60s muscle cars came that way from the factory. I special ordered a 429 Cobra Jet Torino Brougham in 1971. I remember picking it up at the dealership. It came with dog dish hub caps. The sounds coming out of that car were awesome. It would blow the doors off most scrubelles with the air conditioning on.
I don't know if anyone makes a new steel wheel that will mount your dog dish hub caps. Let us know if you find them.
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By MplsMike - 4 Years Ago
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Thanks for all of the tips. I will check out wheelsmith; I am also going to check out wheel vintiques - I like the idea of talking through this with a real human at one of these places.
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By PF Arcand - 4 Years Ago
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These postings touch on clearance issues at the rear with non std wheels & tire sizes. Some of the trouble is due to Shocks that are not long enough.. Apparently, some shock listings for mid 50s Fords are "fudging" their fit. On my 57 car, I had to insert extra washers on the shock ends to ensure clearance for a tire change & my car has std wheels & 205 x 75s..
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By DryLakesRacer - 4 Years Ago
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I used American racing Torque Thrust VN 105 15x6 on my 56 Victoria. 205’s on the front and 215’s on the rear. No problem with clearances when stock with the bumper exhaust. Also no problems occurring with an installation of Wilwood front discs and an Explorer 8.8 rear with F 150 11” drums. 
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By MplsMike - 4 Years Ago
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Hi all,
I thought I should finish this story. I bought wheels from Coker (wheel vintiques had a several week wait). I bought 6” rims for the front with a 3.75” backspace and 7” rims for the back with a 4.5” backspace. Tires are BF Goodrich radial T/A’s - 215/60/15 front and 235/60/15 back. No mounting issues in the back but it’s a little close to the fender rim. I haven’t driven it much with the new setup so I don’t know if there is an issue with body roll. I had my local mechanic help with measuring.
Powder coating at Coker was a long wait, so I bought primed wheels and had them matched to the dark green exterior by a local body shop A set of gently used dog dish hubcaps on eBay and trim rings from Coker. Here are some pics.
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By paul2748 - 4 Years Ago
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Looks good. But you should take possible exhaust reversion, - exhaust coming in through the back window when on the road. That is why Ford and other makes did not bring the exhaust pipe to the rear of the car.
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By DryLakesRacer - 4 Years Ago
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Since the 56 Parklane does not have a roll or electric rear window and I’ve never seen anyone drive around with one up I wouldn’t worry too much about the exhaust. I’ve also noticed the bumper tips do not get sooty black like they did in 56. Must be the fuel today. Personally I drive with the to air ducts partially open for air flow in my 56.
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By MplsMike - 4 Years Ago
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Thanks for the comments and concerns. I’ve yet to spend serious time driving this car and will be attentive to the exhaust situation. I intentionally swapped out the bumper without understanding there may be consequences. I like the look, but clearly not worth harm. If I need to change it out I will.
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By Daniel Jessup - 4 Years Ago
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Did Parklanes come with those '57 caps?
Wagon looks great!
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By MplsMike - 4 Years Ago
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Good question, Reverend. I thought about buying the dog dish with the cream colored center but didn’t know how that would look with the two tone green. I don’t see the all chrome version that I bought very often - seems less common. The car had the full size hubcaps when I got them, maybe that was standard for ‘56. I didn’t like that look much.
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By MoonShadow - 4 Years Ago
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I had a problem for a while with reversion with my through bumper exhaust but a new trunk lid seal cured it.
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