15x8 steelies on back of Duster

[Fisho]

Anyone running the 15x8 steelies from wheel vintiques on the back of a Duster? They're listed at 4" back spacing. I'm thinking of running these with 275/60 15 on the back of my car. I have relocated springs already. Going for an A12 look with the black wheels and chrome lugs.

 

[QuickDart360]

I am curious myself on that backspace. Saw a duster once owner said he had 4 inch backspace. It put the wheel up close to inner quarter but it looked sweet! Spring clearance was plenty good. Got the wheels to match fronts to the wheel well. Hope others chime in.

 

[Fisho]

From what I've read it will work. 3 things about this interest me. 1- I can buy the wheels brand new from summit for cheap and I don't have to change the rear axle to big bolt pattern. 2- I already have a set of skinny steel wheels for the front that fit the big bolt pattern. Can use the money saved there towards other parts for the car. 3 - I like the look on other cars but haven't seen it on a Duster yet.

 

[72bluNblu]

What rear axle and bolt pattern?

***edit***

Ok, guess I should read more closely. So, you're running SBP still. What rear axle? It makes a difference, the 7.25 rear axles are narrower than A-body 8 3/4's.

Here's a picture of my Duster with 15x7", 4.25" backspace cop rims with 225/60/15's. At this point I was already running a B-body 8 3/4.

 

[Fisho]

Thanks for the pic, good looking car there. I'm running an a body 8 3/4, stock width. Springs are moved into the framerails.

I also see that Coker tire has 15x8 steelies with small bolt pattern and 4.25" backspace.

 

[rumblefish360]

@72bluNblu
Can't it be done with a 4-1/2 back spacing? *Thought* I read that somewhere here. Just not sure.

Thanks for the pic, good looking car there. I'm running an a body 8 3/4, stock width. Springs are moved into the framerails.

Same deal for me very soon! Looking to do the same thing myself.

 

[72bluNblu]

@72bluNblu
Can't it be done with a 4-1/2 back spacing? *Thought* I read that somewhere here. Just not sure.

Yes, how well that works depends on the rear axle and bolt pattern. 15x8" with a 4.5" backspace, SBP A-body 8 3/4 and 275's is great. With a BBP A-body 8 3/4 it will work, but you'd be better off with 4.75" of backspace.

With a SBP 7.25" 15x8's with 4.5" of backspace and 275's might actually need a spacer depending on the individual car, I actually could only run a 4.75" backspace with 275's when I did a test fit using my BBP 7.25" rear axle. But that was with the springs in the stock location.

The thing is that the 7.25" and 8.25" axles are narrower than the 8 3/4's, and changing from SBP to BBP changes the track width. And SBP and BBP 7.25's are different too.

 

[rumblefish360]

Wow! I guess that answers the question of "Who knew?!"
Dang!

Well, as stated, I'll be doing a Duster.
A '71 Duster with an 8-3/4 & Dr. Diff LBP axles. Same color as the one you posted up before.

 

[72bluNblu]

Wow! I guess that answers the question of "Who knew?!"
Dang!

Well, as stated, I'll be doing a Duster.
A '71 Duster with an 8-3/4 & Dr. Diff LBP axles. Same color as the one you posted up before.

Right? Not me when I bought the first set of rims for my Duster, that's for sure. I based my backspacing math for my rims assuming that the BBP 7.25" was as wide an A-body 8 3/4 with BBP axles. That didn't work.

Drum to drum a 66-'72 SBP A-body 8 3/4 is 57 1/8”. If you add BBP axles and brakes that same axle is about 57 13/16” drum to drum, the BBP swap adds a little over 5/16" to each side. But a BBP 8.25 or 7.25 is only 56 3/4”. That's why I put all those measurements into the info that originally came from Mopars and is now stickied here
An accurate 8 3/4" rear axle width list

And, I've never actually had a SBP 7.25 to lay hands on and measure, so, those could be a different story altogether. I know they don't swap parts with the BBP 7.25's.

At any rate, for a Duster with an A-body 8 3/4 with BBP axles a 15x8 with 4.5" of backspace and 275's can work, it would be better to have more like 4.75" of backspace but if the car isn't super low you can get away with being a little closer to the quarters. Lots of folks run that combination with success, I run all my cars substantially lower than stock so I try to give more space to the quarters than that leaves.

 

[rumblefish360]

Have I told you recently that your awesome?

 

[Fisho]

That's some great info there! Thanks

 

[72bluNblu]

Have I told you recently that your awesome?

Lol! I dunno about that. It's mostly all just math and some trial and error. That and having accurate measurements to start off with. I just happen to have had access to a whole bunch of the various original axles by way of having a fleet of Mopars, and then upgrading them with a ton of parts along the way. And being a cheap bastard and pulling everything in the local yards I thought might be useful. I actually have 8 3/4 housings for a ton of different body styles- A's, E's, couple different years of B's, a few different year's of C-body's, even a truck or two. Throw in that the different models and body styles can run different backspaces and tire widths and I have a few different wheel combinations to try on various cars. I even have a spreadsheet I made for various wheel/tire/body/axle combinations that I kept track of for awhile when I was trying to figure out how wide of a tire I could cram on my Duster. Fitting 275's to the front and 295's to the rear tells you a lot about what will and won't work.

And after all that I still have an extra set of rims that won't fit any of my A-bodies. Fortunately I have a plan for them to be used on my Challenger.

Same color as the one you posted up before.

Don't you just love that "golden fawn" color? Mine's going to be tx9 when I finish the Demon cloning process, but it definitely started out as a golden fawn duster.

That's some great info there! Thanks

No problem!

And the standard caveat- the body tolerances on these cars is not great. So, measure your car. Personally, I wouldn't run a 15x8" with 4" of backspace. If you've got a SBP A-body 8 3/4 that will put your tires in the same place as my 295/35/18's, and I had to trim the quarter lips back a 1/2" to clear them. But my car is lowered from stock.

 

[Fisho]

Yeah I think I'm going to go ahead and order the wheels shortly. I'm not opposed to trimming the quarter lips a bit if needed. Eventually I plan on minitubbing the car and going to big bolt pattern but I want to get it back driving for awhile first.

I read your build thread on your duster, that's turning into a really nice car. I was torn between setting mine up semi pro touring like yours or a street/strip type build. Ultimately I've wanted the latter for longer, next car will be more of a handling performer. Thanks again!