1974 Duster wheels & tire size

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Duster Joe

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I have a 1974 Duster, 6 cyl, currently small bolt pattern wheels, dum brakes all around. I am installing disc brakes on front, they have the bigger bolt pattern, need new rims. Also, have new rear with 4.5 x 5 bolt pattern. (8 1/4). So, I need to get all new wheels. I want to go 15s, what back spacing wil fit best? And, what tire size will be best? I'm not going to be a speed demon, but, would like it to look and ride nice. It's my first car, I'm 16. It's a sort of project car, and eventually hope to be my daily driver. Thanks for any advice.
 
What kind of wheels?

I had 15x6.5 rallyes (whatever stock BS is) on my 73, but I was running a 67 B body 8 3/4.

IIRC I had 235 60 15 and could have gone much larger.
 
Duster Joe said:
I have a 1974 Duster, 6 cyl, currently small bolt pattern wheels, dum brakes all around. I am installing disc brakes on front, they have the bigger bolt pattern, need new rims. Also, have new rear with 4.5 x 5 bolt pattern. (8 1/4). So, I need to get all new wheels. I want to go 15s, what back spacing wil fit best? And, what tire size will be best? I'm not going to be a speed demon, but, would like it to look and ride nice. It's my first car, I'm 16. It's a sort of project car, and eventually hope to be my daily driver. Thanks for any advice.
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Not to sound like a jerk, but are you sure that you have small bolt pattern wheels? After 1972, Abodies all came with LBP wheels and disc brakes up front.
There were some models in 1973 that used some leftover drum assemblies for the font wheels, but I've never heard of a 1974 having front drums.

With a stock A-body 8-1/4" rear, 3.5" or 4" of backspacing will suit you well. You might be able to pull off 4.5" backspacing, but that will put the tire very close to the spring perches. It depends what kind of tire you run.

You can go a bit wider on a duster than you can on a dart, but I think a 255/60R/15 will fit well on the rear. With this tire, I would not run more than 4" of backspacing on the wheel. I believe most stock 15" x 7" steelies have ~4" of backspacing, but you will need to check with somebody else to confirm that.

For the front, you can still run a 15x7 but you will be better off running a 225/60R15 or 225/70R15. This will provide better clearance up front with the steering at full-lock while still giving you decent traction.

Also, welcome to FABO!

-Mike
 
Thanks! Yea, they are definitely SBP, and drums. It's a granny mobile, but, with some work will be a nice car for me. Got the 8 1/4 rear to get the bigger bolt pattern so I can get the rims I like, and with the new discs up front, the front and rear will be the same. Thanks again, now I can order wheels and tires, and get the brakes done.
 
No not all cars after 1972 came with disc brakes and large bolt pattern. My 1975 had drum brakes all around and 4" bolt pattern from the factory. I have since converted it to large bolt pattern and 4 wheel disc brakes. If you ordered power brakes or just got manual disc on the hi-po cars you got large bolt pattern.
 
holmes said:
No not all cars after 1972 came with disc brakes and large bolt pattern. My 1975 had drum brakes all around and 4" bolt pattern from the factory. I have since converted it to large bolt pattern and 4 wheel disc brakes. If you ordered power brakes or just got manual disc on the hi-po cars you got large bolt pattern.
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What rear end came in the sbp cars after 1972? I was under the impression that all of the 8-1/4" rears and the 7-1/4" rears made after 1972 were all LBP. That is very interesting to hear. I will need to keep that in mind in the future.
 
holmes said:
No not all cars after 1972 came with disc brakes and large bolt pattern. My 1975 had drum brakes all around and 4" bolt pattern from the factory...
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Say what? This is news to me!

Is this a known thing or did you get a parts-bin special? Was it a car built for the South American market or something?
 
I have a 73 with all drums n sbp myself. Not particularly in a hurry to go up either. Im a cruiser anyway n summit carries 15s w the small pattern.
 
They are correct, not all cars had lbp. I've seen quite a few with sbp but all were plain Jane six bangers.
I'm running 15x8 on rear with 4 1\4 backspace, 255\60-15. The front are the original 14x5.5 with 215\70-14. The rear is fine with enough clearance that I've never had a problem after 23 years now. They are tucked up into the wheelwell nice.
 
73SwingerBuild said:
What rear end came in the sbp cars after 1972? I was under the impression that all of the 8-1/4" rears and the 7-1/4" rears made after 1972 were all LBP. That is very interesting to hear. I will need to keep that in mind in the future.
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7 1/4. Every SBP car 73+ has one.

There are no SBP V8 cars 73+

The SBP 73+ cars have large ball joint UCAs
 
I want to get a set of Weld Draglites for my car. Has anyone put 15 x 10's (255/60/15) under a standard 8 1/4 rear untubbed '76 Duster?
 
My step son had a 76 Plymouth Scamp , with a /6 , front drum brakes , and a 7 1/4 rear end. That is the latest one I have seen or heard about...

Frank
 
duster2 said:
My step son had a 76 Plymouth Scamp , with a /6 , front drum brakes , and a 7 1/4 rear end. That is the latest one I have seen or heard about...

Frank
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after 76 the A body was dropped and the F body took over that platform, hense all 77 + cars finally got a 5 on 4 1/2 pattern and disc brakes

and yes , all pre 77 slant 6 9 and 10 " drum brake A bodies got the 5 on 4" pattern
 
You all seem to be talkin about Dusters. I have a 73 Dart with factory discs and lbp.....will 15x8 rims fit the rear of my Dart okay? What's the largest tire I should use without rubbing?
 
On my old '76 Dart Sport I ran 15x8s with 255/60/15 BFGs with no problems! Car was a bone stock 6cyl 3spd 7.25'' car with SBP drum brakes on all corners. Looked tough, and still averaged 21mpg!
 
73AbodEE said:
after 76 the A body was dropped and the F body took over that platform, hense all 77 + cars finally got a 5 on 4 1/2 pattern and disc brakes

and yes , all pre 77 slant 6 9 and 10 " drum brake A bodies got the 5 on 4" pattern
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Its' funny, I just talked to TheRamman at Carlisle Mopar nationals about switching my 1974 drum brake car w/sbp to disc with sbp and he said that I couldn't have a 1974 Duster with sbp drums on the front unless someone changed some stuff. He made me second guess myself as I thought he was the one person that would know this.
 
Duster Joe said:
... So, I need to get all new wheels. I want to go 15s, what back spacing wil fit best?
Click to expand...
Stock back spacing on the poverty and rally wheels was 4¼".

Duster Joe said:
And, what tire size will be best? I'm not going to be a speed demon, but, would like it to look and ride nice. It's my first car, I'm 16. It's a sort of project car, and eventually hope to be my daily driver. Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...
Depends.... Part of the answer is engineering, the other part is aesthetics. First, there are maximum and minimum rim widths that a given tire will fit. Second, given a rim width, there are a variety of offsets that will fit under the fender.

Here's where aesthetics come in. Most like the "full wheel well" look. Rubbing the tire on the inner fender is not liked. This is where the juggling of wheel diameters, tire sizes, and wheel offsets come to a head.

My experience: I have a 72 Demon that I converted to LBP and disk brakes. I scrounged a set of 15 x 7 cop car wheels (4¼ BS) that I mounted a set of 255/60-15 T/As on. The rears barely cleared the stock springs and the fender opening. The fronts did not clear the front fender opening. After calling Stockton Wheel and discussing my options, I tried a 235/60-15 and set the front fenders a little "wider". On occasion I have scuffed the tire on the inner fender, but the situation is not objectionable. When it comes time to replace these tires, I expect I'll go to a 225/60-15.

FWIW: I put Magnum 500s on a 73 Dart Mo-dor. After putting an AutoXCuda "street" front end setting, a factory front anti-roll bar, new rubber bushings, and a set of 205/60-15s, that car was a hoot to drive. It was a "momentum" car, no acceleration to speak of but it would claw its way through a corner well enough to hang with anything else with 4-doors.

Consider that the car originally came with 6.95-14 (aspect ratio was 82, FWIW). Anything you do will be an improvement.
 
I had a 70 Duster w/SB and bought a set of 15" ralleys through summit 2 - 15x7 and 2 15x8's for the rear with 215/60/15 front and 275/60/15 on the rear (don't remember the back spacing-just ordered 7" and 8") they didn't rub and it had a 440 with fender well Super Comp's. Had an amazing stance!
 
So I have a 74 Duster that came with slant 6. Small 5x4 bolt pattern. I now have a 8 1/4 rear end from a B body. The rear end is 3 inches wider than the stock rear end. That means 1.5 inches on each side wider on the rear. Can someone with a similar setup give me some wheel advise?
Thank you!
 
73SwingerBuild said:
Not to sound like a jerk, but are you sure that you have small bolt pattern wheels? After 1972, Abodies all came with LBP wheels and disc brakes up front.
There were some models in 1973 that used some leftover drum assemblies for the font wheels, but I've never heard of a 1974 having front drums.

With a stock A-body 8-1/4" rear, 3.5" or 4" of backspacing will suit you well. You might be able to pull off 4.5" backspacing, but that will put the tire very close to the spring perches. It depends what kind of tire you run.

You can go a bit wider on a duster than you can on a dart, but I think a 255/60R/15 will fit well on the rear. With this tire, I would not run more than 4" of backspacing on the wheel. I believe most stock 15" x 7" steelies have ~4" of backspacing, but you will need to check with somebody else to confirm that.

For the front, you can still run a 15x7 but you will be better off running a 225/60R15 or 225/70R15. This will provide better clearance up front with the steering at full-lock while still giving you decent traction.

Also, welcome to FABO!

-Mike
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no they didn't. DISC brake cars were LBP after '72. DRUM brake cars were SBP to the end. DISC brakes weren't mandated by the federal gov't/NHTSA until cars built after Jan1 1976. my 1976 duster (build date 11/75) has 10" drums up front, SBP 7.25" with 3.23's in the rear (iron case A833OD tranny stock).

most stock chrysler rims are +1/4" to +1/2" offset (stock 15x7 steelies on an M body are +1/4", which gives 4.25" backspace. my stock SBP ralleyes are 5.5 with 3.75" backspace, which makes them +1/2" offset

front wheels about the biggest diameter you can go with is about 25.5" before you start running into issues, especially the leading edge of the front fender when turning. the back you can go 28".
 
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Pana.Mopar said:
I want to get a set of Weld Draglites for my car. Has anyone put 15 x 10's (255/60/15) under a standard 8 1/4 rear untubbed '76 Duster?
Click to expand...

I have Draglites on my untubbed '73 Duster and can only get 8 x 15 (275/60/15 rub slightly) with 3.5" BS (to actual rim edge) rears on mine, but I have a Ford 9" and not sure of actual width compared to 8 1/4.

In New Year will be researching how to tub it etc to see how much wider I can get.
 
Pana.Mopar said:
I want to get a set of Weld Draglites for my car. Has anyone put 15 x 10's (255/60/15) under a standard 8 1/4 rear untubbed '76 Duster?
Click to expand...
I had Summit Weld knockoffs (15X8) with 255/60/15 on my '76 Dart Sport, don't remember the backspacing. 15X10 is too wide for a 255 tire.
 
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