Tall front tire

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mopowers

mopowers

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Anyone run 205/75/15s on the front of their A-body? How close do they come to rubbing on the front wheel arch? Can you share a picture?
 
mopowers said:
Thanks! You don't happen to have a side picture of it do you? How close to the front fender lip is it?
Click to expand...

10247442_10204960777208567_5789213035223384309_n.jpg
 
I would think 205/75R15s would pretty tall on an A-body. Here is my Swinger when it had 205/60R15s on the front
New Dart.JPG
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Good luck.

David
 
That's a 27.1" tall tire.

I personally don't consider anything taller than 26" for the front. It's not totally black and white, the wider the tire the less height you can get away with because of the backspace and turning requirements. And obviously ride height plays a big part. But with the typical backspace you find on 15" wheels and a stockish ride height I wouldn't expect those to fit without modifying the lower front corner of the wheel opening.

mopowers said:
Thanks! You don't happen to have a side picture of it do you? How close to the front fender lip is it?
Click to expand...

From the side with the wheels straight ahead isn't usually the tightest clearance to the fender. Typically the tightest clearance is with the wheels turned slightly, the innermost edge of the tire ends up farther forward than with the wheels straight ahead because of the width of the tire. Again, it depends on how wide the tire is and what the backspace is. The further in the wheel sits the better that clearance usually is. Alignment plays a part too, the caster and camber will effect how much the wheels tips on turning which also changes the clearance. Folks have even found less clearance when turning while backing up, the big rubber strut rod bushings (if you have stock style strut rods and bushings) let the LCA move a little bit forward under those conditions, reducing clearance.
 
72bluNblu said:
That's a 27.1" tall tire.

I personally don't consider anything taller than 26" for the front. It's not totally black and white, the wider the tire the less height you can get away with because of the backspace and turning requirements. And obviously ride height plays a big part. But with the typical backspace you find on 15" wheels and a stockish ride height I wouldn't expect those to fit without modifying the lower front corner of the wheel opening.



From the side with the wheels straight ahead isn't usually the tightest clearance to the fender. Typically the tightest clearance is with the wheels turned slightly, the innermost edge of the tire ends up farther forward than with the wheels straight ahead because of the width of the tire. Again, it depends on how wide the tire is and what the backspace is. The further in the wheel sits the better that clearance usually is. Alignment plays a part too, the caster and camber will effect how much the wheels tips on turning which also changes the clearance. Folks have even found less clearance when turning while backing up, the big rubber strut rod bushings (if you have stock style strut rods and bushings) let the LCA move a little bit forward under those conditions, reducing clearance.
Click to expand...

Thanks, and I totally hear ya on the importance of proper backspacing. I've got 215/65s (26" tire) on the front of my 68 dart and they clear with ease. The 66 I'm building is more of a street/strip car, and the look I'm going for (and additional rollout) require a taller tire. It will sit relatively high in the front. I may just bolt up the fronts from my 68 onto the 66 to see how much clearance I've got and go from there.

Like you said though - a lot depends on alignment, which hasn't been done yet to the car with it being in the construction phase. With starting this thread, I was just curious if anyone here is running a tall tire on their A-body.
 
The tallest front I've put on are 215/65R15 which are almost exactly 26 inches diameter. With 4.25 inch backspace 15X7's. There was a slight tick of rubbing.
I've used 205/65R15 with good success. (25.5" diameter)
I currently been using 215/60R15 (25.2" diameter) last few times.

With my front suspension pretty much aftermarket (only the lower control arms are stock somewhat but reinforced) I've been thinking of switching to 17's.
 
Cuprum-74 said:
The tallest front I've put on are 215/65R15 which are almost exactly 26 inches diameter. With 4.25 inch backspace 15X7's. There was a slight tick of rubbing.
I've used 205/65R15 with good success. (25.5" diameter)
I currently been using 215/60R15 (25.2" diameter) last few times.

With my front suspension pretty much aftermarket (only the lower control arms are stock somewhat but reinforced) I've been thinking of switching to 17's.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm assuming that was on your 74 Duster?
 
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