Sizing for 64 Dart 270

[chinze57]

Hello hello.

I’m currently shopping around for new tires and wheels and tryin to decide about size. I’ve got 195/75r14 tires on the 14” Mopar rallye wheel. It’s satin finish with ‘72+ center caps. Love the wheels, the tires are bland and a little skinnier than I’d like.

For the sake of finding brakes that will more easily fit, 15” wheels seem to be the wiser choice. Poking around for a good brand of whitewall, I come across these BF Goodrich 2” whitewalls, size 215/65r15. Has anyone fit this size tire and wheel front and back on a 64 Dart 270? It’s not much larger in diameter than the 105/75r14. As for wheels, I was thinking a 15*7 Mopar rallye.

Any help, comments, concerns appreciated

 

[duster2]

Hello , I have had a number of people run 14 inch on the front and 15 inch on the rear on their A-bodies. Or they run a 15 x 6 and 15 x 7 combo. My opinion only , 15 x 7 is just too much on the front of most A-bodies.

Frank

 

[halfafish]

I'm running your proposed tire on my 66 Valiant. It fits with no issues other than a tiny rub at full lock turning right. I'm 100% certain this is due to the car sitting too low (I need to adjust the t-bars) and the suspension is the original stuff from 66 so its pretty tired. I'm using a 15x6 wheel, steelies from Wheel Vintiques. I agree with duster2, a 15x7 in the front is pushing things pretty hard for an early A.

 

[chinze57]

I'm running your proposed tire on my 66 Valiant. It fits with no issues other than a tiny rub at full lock turning right. I'm 100% certain this is due to the car sitting too low (I need to adjust the t-bars) and the suspension is the original stuff from 66 so its pretty tired. I'm using a 15x6 wheel, steelies from Wheel Vintiques. I agree with duster2, a 15x7 in the front is pushing things pretty hard for an early A.

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Interesting. My biggest concern was that the wheel may be just too large up front. I’m debating between 225/60r15 and 215/65r15 for the back. Good to know the latter will fit. Thank you!

 

[halfafish]

My rears in that photo are 245/60-15 on a 15x7 rim and fit easy-peasy. Lots of room on both sides.

In case nobody told you yet, it's a good idea to do a mock-up and take LOTS of measurements before you buy anything. These cars have a variance factor so what fits one may or may not fit another, even when they are the same year, model, etc.

 

[toolmanmike]

15x7 with a 4" backspace works good on the rear. I doubt if a 7' wide would work on the front.

 

[chinze57]

15x7 with a 4" backspace works good on the rear. I doubt if a 7' wide would work on the front.

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Wow those are good looking wheels.

I found this on eBay. Seems like a good deal, I just question if they’re actually 7” and not 6.5”, but $550 plus shipping for 4 wheels+trim rings and center caps is not bad.

I’ll need to mock it all up. When i get the engine rebuilt I’m going to simultaneously working on some suspension stuff while the car’s in operational, so I’ll Be doing lots of measuring and will probably throw some different wheel/tire combos friends have laying around on to see how it fits and looks. Definitely want to put some whitewalls on mine

 

[toolmanmike]

Wow those are good looking wheels.

I found this on eBay. Seems like a good deal, I just question if they’re actually 7” and not 6.5”, but $550 plus shipping for 4 wheels+trim rings and center caps is not bad.

I’ll need to mock it all up. When i get the engine rebuilt I’m going to simultaneously working on some suspension stuff while the car’s in operational, so I’ll Be doing lots of measuring and will probably throw some different wheel/tire combos friends have laying around on to see how it fits and looks. Definitely want to put some whitewalls on mine

Those are 4 1/2" bolt circle it looks like. Your 64 should have 5 hole 4" bolt circle unless it has been changed.

 

[chinze57]

Those are 4 1/2" bolt circle it looks like. Your 64 should have 5 hole 4" bolt circle unless it has been changed.

Ah good catch. Well that’s something I’ll need to check then.

 

[chinze57]

Ok, how does this sound:

225/60r15 tires on 15*7 wheels in the rear. BF Goodrich 2 1/4” Whitewall

215/70r14 tires on 14*6 wheels in the front. BF Goodrich 2 1/4” Whitewall

The rear tires would be 25.6” diameter and the front would be 25.9” diameter. Difference of 6 revolutions per mile.

They’d be visually very similar looking from the side, roughly same total diameter, same size whitewall, but would be different widths. Hoping this can give me much better grip and help improve handling compared to the very thin 195mm wide tires I’ve got on all four corners currently.

 

[toolmanmike]

Ok, how does this sound:

225/60r15 tires on 15*7 wheels in the rear. BF Goodrich 2 1/4” Whitewall

215/70r14 tires on 14*6 wheels in the front. BF Goodrich 2 1/4” Whitewall

The rear tires would be 25.6” diameter and the front would be 25.9” diameter. Difference of 6 revolutions per mile.

They’d be visually very similar looking from the side, roughly same total diameter, same size whitewall, but would be different widths. Hoping this can give me much better grip and help improve handling compared to the very thin 195mm wide tires I’ve got on all four corners currently.

You can. I used to run 15x7's on the back and 14's on the front when I had the black Rallys on the back. The Halibrand clone front wheels are skinny 15x4 1/2, the rears are 15x7. Front tires are 165 80 15 and the rears are 235 70 15. I have 255 60/15's on 15x7 rally's on mu swinger. I need to try them on my 66 someday just to see how they fit.

 

[chinze57]

You can. I used to run 15x7's on the back and 14's on the front when I had the black Rallys on the back. The Halibrand clone front wheels are skinny 15x4 1/2, the rears are 15x7. Front tires are 165 80 15 and the rears are 235 70 15. I have 255 60/15's on 15x7 rally's on mu swinger. I need to try them on my 66 someday just to see how they fit.

What does your alignment look like and how did you choose it?

 

[toolmanmike]

What does your alignment look like and how did you choose it?

I had it aligned after rebuilding the front end probably 15 years ago. Somewhere I kept the specs but I haven't had any tire wear or driving issues since. Probably only 10,000 miles though.

 

[chinze57]

I had it aligned after rebuilding the front end probably 15 years ago. Somewhere I kept the specs but I haven't had any tire wear or driving issues since. Probably only 10,000 miles though.

Out of curiosity, why did you go so skinny on your front tires?

 

[toolmanmike]

Out of curiosity, why did you go so skinny on your front tires?

That's what size tires and wheels I bought from a member here. He had them on his 65 Dart.

 

[Demonracer]

Just FYI, the 165 80 15 & 185 80 15 were speced for Volvos. I forget what the load rating is on them but I ran the 165s on my 67 Dart street car for years. I really like the feel & handling versus the skinny bias ply tires.