Spare tire and rim size for 70 Duster

-
T

TheBigE

70 Duster - Slant 6
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
89
Reaction score
1
Location
London, Ontario, Canada
Hi folks.

I lucked out yesterday and found a spare tire cardboard cover piece from a 69 4 door valiant for my 70 Duster. It fits pretty nicely.

The problem is that the spare that came with ny Duster is a 'normal' tire/rim width(14 inches). The tire sits about 3 inches too high in the depression in the trunk for the cardboard to be down flat. I don't want to brake the ends off of it either due to it being too high.

The junked valiant also had a rotten spare tire in the trunk with the nice new looking cardboard. Do I need to go back and get this rim and put a thinner tire on it for the spare or can I just use the rim I have and put a narrower tire on?

Thanks for any info.

The Big E
 
I don't know.... How wide is the rim you have?

Even with the original E70-14 (yes, my spare tire is 40 years old :-k ) in the trunk, the cover sits a bit high.
 
Remember that the whole lower body section was designed back in the early 60's and the A-Body came with little 13 inch tires on narrow rims that fit the spare tire well.
Going up to a 14x 5.5 rim and tire sorta overflowed the well.

Check this link out and on the last picture where they are holding the cover up you can see that the top of the tire is higher than the trunk floor.
Of course in the picture that shows the mat down, they have very slyly removed the tire so the trunk floor and mat show to be flat.
Place a thin piece of Masonite of the same size placed under the cardboard will help a whole bunch in keeping the cardboard in good shape.

Courtesy Of The Hamtramck Historical Site:
http://www.hamtramck-historical.com...lershipDataBook/1971/71_Valiant_Duster_12.jpg
 
They are the same people that shipped a New Yorker to us minus 1 spring eye bushing.
3 hours of labor just tracking the elusive clunk in the rear of the car.
They paid dearly for shorting us a 50 cent chunk of rubber!
 
Mine is only slightly bowed up, not enough to notice really. I have a stock 74 base model wheel since I have all big bolt pattern wheels. It has a 185/75-14 tire which seems to work well.
 
I just checked, my tire is a 225/70R14. A 185 tire would certainly be narrower like goldduster318 has. I didn't check my actual rim size...is it stamped in somewhere?

COuld the 69 Valiant have had a 13 inch super narrow rim all around back in its day? Would a 13 inch rim fit a small bolt pattern 70 A body?

Big E
 
The BigE,

What did you finally decide to do? I am researching the same issue for my 70 Duster 340. Coker Tire makes the E70-14 FIRESTONE WIDE OVAL RWL for $169ea. I am sort of tempted to bite the bullit and buy one for my spare. However, is this the correct tire for a 70 Duster, or should it have been the Goodyear Polyglass? It is hard to find a decent spare in a 185/75-14 tire size. The only other option might be a 195/70-14 BFG Radial T/A. I have BFG Radial T/A's on the car now and would like a matching set of 5, but don't want a big hump in my trunk.

Let me know.

Thanks,

ijg4503
 
You don't want to get a bias ply tire for a spare if all your other tires are radial. Some day you may need to use it.

I have an E70-14 bias ply as a spare, but my other 4 on the car are the same.
 
I,m s.o.l,cause I,ve got 15,s on the back and my spare is a 14 bbp.If I get a flat,I,ve got to get towed!It would do some damage to my new s.g if I had 2 different size tires on the rear.That sucks!
 
Tire hight, not wheel size is what matters. Just the narrowest tire for that 14 that is the same hight as the tire you have on the back.

Or

Go pick up a used steel 15" wheel for like $15.
 
when I purchased my 340 Duster new in 1970 I wanted a full size spare. The trunkwell was made for 13 inch tires like on Slant cars. I ordered e70x14 spare and trunk floor bowed up from the dealer on day one.
 
if you're looking for a source for a USED tire for a spare (which is what mine is), any hubcap equipped 92-95 Pontiac Grand Am/Buick Skylark/Oldsmobile Achieva has 185/75R14's on it.

I always think of a good spare as any tire that fits in the spare tire well, holds air and has SOME tread and no sidewall cracking.
 
I just went through this last week. I have 215-70-14's all around and wanted to finish my trunk and have it flat, straight across. I went to the scrap yard and found a 16" compact spare from a '05 Corolla (I know lol), it fits the same small bolt pattern that I have and fits level with the rest of the trunk, here's how the finished trunk floor looks with the spare below the center cover. $25 for the brand new wheel/tire, still has all the original markings, never installed. I did have to grind out the center hub hole a bit to fit the hub, but the bolt pattern fits great 5 x 100mm (5 x 4"). Hopefully I'll never need it, but it sure beats what I had, nothing...

CIMG2940Medium.jpg


CIMG2951Medium.jpg
 
shhnappa said:
I just went through this last week. I have 215-70-14's all around and wanted to finish my trunk and have it flat, straight across. I went to the scrap yard and found a 16" compact spare from a '05 Corolla (I know lol), it fits the same small bolt pattern that I have and fits level with the rest of the trunk, here's how the finished trunk floor looks with the spare below the center cover. $25 for the brand new wheel/tire, still has all the original markings, never installed. I did have to grind out the center hub hole a bit to fit the hub, but the bolt pattern fits great 5 x 100mm (5 x 4"). Hopefully I'll never need it, but it sure beats what I had, nothing...

CIMG2940Medium.jpg


CIMG2951Medium.jpg
Click to expand...

Really nice work on the finish trunk! I hope you ground the center of the spare concentric, it'll be a rough ride (if you get to use it), how is the backspacing for fit? In the rear it should be fine but what about the front , can you get full steering turn to turn? It's a good thing it is a much narrower tire. Thanx
 
340butterduster said:
Really nice work on the finish trunk! I hope you ground the center of the spare concentric, it'll be a rough ride (if you get to use it), how is the backspacing for fit? In the rear it should be fine but what about the front , can you get full steering turn to turn? It's a good thing it is a much narrower tire. Thanx
Click to expand...
I really spent my time grinding and fitting, grinding and fitting, so 100% of the center sits around the hub, I know exactally what you're saying. As to the front, I havent had a chance to pull a front wheel and check it, the back is fine, and the overall height is abot 1 1/2" less the the 215/70's, it does sit pretty far in, so I'm curious as well about the steering clearance. Hopefully we'll have some warm weather this weekend, so I can pull her out of the garage and pull a front wheel, I'll post an update. Thx for the kind words on the finished trunk, here's the post I left in the interior section.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=57577
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top