Anybody running 17" Cobra Bullit rims on a Duster

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Heres my latest setup. Dr.Diff 14" brake swap PLUS a 3/8" spacer. So far it looks to clear fine. The wheels look bigger moved out. So it looks like a 18x9 with 5.875-6.0" bs might be the hot ticket on the 70+ Darts with all else being stock.
 

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Even though I measured many times it was too close to run the tires. They actually rubbed the inner fender quite badly to the point I had to cut the entire inner fender out and rebuild it now I have 3/4" of room.
Andrew

Hey Andrew, if you're still following this, just curious, where on the inner fender did your tires contact?

I'm thinking of tubbing, and just wondering...
 
I'm curious to know what ride height you guys are running to clear the inner fenders with the wide wheels.
Can you guys post some of your measurements?
ground to fender lip and/or ground to bottom of the frame by the motor mount?
 
Right now I am 25.5" from ground to fender lip. Im gonna lower it to about 25" when I get around to it.
 
Idaho,
I could not get the tire on, the offset wasn't large enough for a stock length A body axle. The fender lip is trimmed down to .5" and the entire inner fender was removed. Pics below
 

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Right now I am 25.5" from ground to fender lip. Im gonna lower it to about 25" when I get around to it.
Thats not bad at all. Your giving me hope, thank you.

Right now mine is sitting at 24 to the fender lip, 12 1/4" from the frame to the ground. But I need to adjust the coil overs and bring the ride height up to about 25".

Working on trying to find a place that can machine out the hub area on the FR500. If all else fails i'll have to do it the shade tree way and take a dremel to it.
 
rite now mine is sitting little less than 22inches from ground to fender lip. and thats with 245-45-18tire, with tha slaeen wheel i used for mockup. looks like im on the right track where i want it to sit



Thats not bad at all. Your giving me hope, thank you.

Right now mine is sitting at 24 to the fender lip, 12 1/4" from the frame to the ground. But I need to adjust the coil overs and bring the ride height up to about 25".

Working on trying to find a place that can machine out the hub area on the FR500. If all else fails i'll have to do it the shade tree way and take a dremel to it.
 
rite now mine is sitting little less than 22inches from ground to fender lip. and thats with 245-45-18tire, with tha slaeen wheel i used for mockup. looks like im on the right track where i want it to sit


One little detail your forgetting to mention. The massaged inner fenders. :D
 
Thats not bad at all. Your giving me hope, thank you.

Right now mine is sitting at 24 to the fender lip, 12 1/4" from the frame to the ground. But I need to adjust the coil overs and bring the ride height up to about 25".

Working on trying to find a place that can machine out the hub area on the FR500. If all else fails i'll have to do it the shade tree way and take a dremel to it.

Ive said this before but throwing in some negative camber even only 1/2 degree can give 1/4" or more clearance at the top of the fender lip. I am a "make it fit regardless" kinda guy if I have to be, but up to this point my fenders are un touched. Although I am not running the front fender strut/braces.
 
Thats not bad at all. Your giving me hope, thank you.

Right now mine is sitting at 24 to the fender lip, 12 1/4" from the frame to the ground. But I need to adjust the coil overs and bring the ride height up to about 25".

Working on trying to find a place that can machine out the hub area on the FR500. If all else fails i'll have to do it the shade tree way and take a dremel to it.

If you end up having to machine the wheels, go ahead and get them opened up to the size needed to fit generic hub rings. I *think* this is like 73mm, but you should verify. If you go up to that size beyond the OEM Mopar size, you can sell the wheels in the future as something that will still fit a Phord with the righ size hub ring. Or a Mitsubishi, or a Toyota, or...

I had a machine shop open my wheels up to Mopar size, and I wish I would have done it "right" when I had the chance. Lack of forethought on my part.

Just my 2cents...

Clair
 
I prefer to leave the wheels alone and modify a non-wearing part if possible, such as a front hub (or something similar) on an aftermarket brake kit for example. Maybe not the best bet to machine a rotor to fit if you plan to replace the rotor, but if the rotor slides on a hub, and the hub has wheel bearings that can be replaced, in theory, you shouldn't ever have any problems find wheels to fit. Plus, that means you can find wheels anywhere, without worry about having them opened up.

I like the idea of a matching a generic hub ring, though. Hadn't thought about that.
 
Hey, Dion!
It didn't occur to me, either - until I got a set of the rings to test some other things. Then I though... Rats... missed an opportunity to make it cleaner. Next time, perhaps.

Hope all's well with you. Been a while.

Clair
 
Hey, Dion!
It didn't occur to me, either - until I got a set of the rings to test some other things. Then I though... Rats... missed an opportunity to make it cleaner. Next time, perhaps.

Hope all's well with you. Been a while.

Clair

Has been awhile, things are good, hope things are well on your end as well. Making any progress?

Actually making progress putting a set of 97 Mustang rims on my Duster. They were supposed to go on the Valiant, but I had to give up on that project.

I've got a set of hubs cut for the rims, and most of a 13" brake kit put together. Need brake lines and I could bolt it on. In the rear, just got my axles back after getting the registers cut down and an adapter built for the wheels (needed the register to be taller for when I go to rear disks later). I'm using an F-Body 8.25" 'cuz I had it left over from the Valiant, and it already had a 3.21 gear in it. Just need new wheel bearings and diff bearings so I can swap the sure grip in and then I can put it in the car.

Probably going to be a little while before I get the front wheels on, but the rear should be somewhat soon.

I wonder if I could have saved some work by looking into adapter rings...:-k.
 
hows it goin Dion?
Out of curiosity, whats the difference in width between the f body 8.25 and the a body 8.25 if any?
 
hows it goin Dion?
Out of curiosity, whats the difference in width between the f body 8.25 and the a body 8.25 if any?

Going good, how 'bout you? Is your car back on the road yet?

I measure the F-Body 8.25" at 59.5" drum to drum. Same as an early B-Body 8.75". It was a cheap alternative and should work fine for me. I don't know for certain what an A-Body 8.25" axle width is, but the 8.75" is like 57.125" wide drum to drum, so I would guess the difference would be a little over an 1" per side.

I was planning for a 8.75" out of an early B-Body, even had a 3.55 pumpkin and a sure grip, but I couldn't ever find a housing and axles, and had the F-Body axle already from the Valiant project. Of course, as soon as I started spending money on the 8.25" (sure grip, etc.) I tripped over a complete axle I could have used.
 
sounds like a good alternative to a b-body 8.75". my friend has an a-body 8.25" under his valiant and it appears to be a bit narrower than the a-body8.75".
yup, back on the road since late March, going for a cruise as soon as I do the dishes!! lol
 

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That came out nice!

Hopefully I can post some pictures of my project with some 17" wheels here soon (just to keep this on thread on track ;-) ).
 
Ok, so after reading through this wealth of information, I still have a question regarding tire size you guys are running. I have 17x8 bulliits with the 45mm offset or 6.295 backspace with 235/55/17 directly off an 06 mustang. I'm running a 66 b body rear in my 71 scamp, and the rears look and ride great. The fronts however are a little to close for comfort in the rear of the fender where it bolts, and at the top of the fender when turning hard. I'm afraid with articulation of the suspension, I'll rub. So, my question is, will a shorter diam tire resolve this? What would give me a shorter diameter overall, and maybe even a slightly narrower tread? I can also crank up my torsion bars a little to gain fender clearance.
Thanks guys, great thread
 
235/55 is a pretty tall tire, all things considered. I think Pauly and I are both running 245/45's and they're quite a bit shroter. Even a 275/40 is shorter, and I''ve got a pic of that size on the front of my Valiant earlier in this thread.

Part of what you're likely going to have to do is watch how the suspension works going over bumps & dips, especially on turns. Most likely places for rubbing is when you're going in or out of a driveway on an incline. If that turns out to be a big problem, you'll have to work on controlling how much the suspension moves - shocks and springs. Not a big deal if you're planning on going that way anyway.

I'd look at some shorter tires to start with, and go from there. If you can get away with driving more carefully over bumps & such until those tires wear out, that's easy. Might also be able to replace some of the fender support bolts with carriage bolts - smooth round heads with a nut on the back.

Clair
 
Thanks, I'm going to crank up my torsion bars a bit, I'm a little low in front anyway. A shorter tire is also in order.
 
Yes, there are spacers on the front which were already there with my 14" steel wheels. I haven't measured them yet but they are around 1/4 inch.
 
i was expecting a lot more spacer than that. guys have problems with the rims rubbing tie rod ends with the 5.72 bs.
 
i was expecting a lot more spacer than that. guys have problems with the rims rubbing tie rod ends with the 5.72 bs.

That it is only an issue if you are a running stock style 2" drop spindles, otherwise that backspacing is not a problem.
 
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