Tires and wheel question.

-
My Valiant is minitubbed,and the springs are moved in 3".I`ve got 255/60/15 on 15x8 weld wheels with 5.5 backspace.I have almost 14" of space in wheelwells.When I had the old stock springs and installed b-body brakes(which makes the rearend width about 1/2 wider on each side)The 255s would rub up in the fenderwells on the outside.I put 1" over stock heavy duty springs from www.espo.com and all is good.I can easily go 325/50/15 with a 15x10 w/ 7.5.When I bought the Valiant,I new stock well were not gonna cut it.I`m sorry I can`t help with what fits stock,I have no idea.
 
I've been measuring (when it isn't 0 degrees in my shop!) & thinking on what to buy for my car, & need some opinions. Here's what I've come up with. I plan to use 7" wheels in front. If I use the offset spring hangers, I can use a 7" wide SS wheel & it will pretty well center the tire in the rear wheelwell. I can also use the offset spring hangers & use an 8" wide SS wheel if I pay about $50 extra per wheel to have the same offset (NOT backspacing) as the 7" wheel. So, should I just buy the regular 7" wheels for the back & cram the fat tires I want on them, or cough up the extra bucks for the custom offset on the 8" wheels & get the look of the deeper dish wheel for the rear & a bit better fitment of the tire on the rim? If I use 7" wheels front & back I don't get the "wider wheel in the rear" look that I like but I save about $100 (the money isn't a real big deal, but it is a consideration). I need to make some sort of decision soon because Newstalgia is going to start production on the wheels pretty quick, if they haven't already. I think they told me the beginning of March. What do you guys think?
 
I have 16 X 7 on my 65 Cuda on the front, with a 5" back space, and no rubbing or touching the fender at any steering position. The closest point is when fully turned the tire is a 1/4" away from the sway bar. The rim is also within 3/8 of an inch from the upper ball joint. I have 225 50R16's on them. One thing to note is that I have Wilwood front disc's, which put the rim out an 1/8" further out compared to my 9" drums.
On the back you can go 8" wide, with out rubbing as well, even if you don't move your springs. The same wheel on the back and it is almost 2" from the fender lip. I took these rims from the wifes Avenger just to try and se what fits before I order my rims.
First pic is the front, and the next ones are of the rear tire.

tirefl.JPG


tirerl.JPG


tirer1l.JPG


tirer2.JPG
 
Keith Mopar,
Thanks for the pics & info. Do you have an A body 8 3/4" in your car? What brakes do you have on the rear? My car has 10 x 1 3/4" brakes on back & I'm going to use a set of Kelsey Hayes sbp disks on front. I've had pretty large tires on the car in the past & I don't expect any big clearance problems in the front, but I'm wanting to put a bigger tire than before on the back. I want to run a lot wider tire on the rear than you have there. That's why things start to get tight. I'm planning to put at least a 255/60 15 in back & hoping to fit a 275/60 15 in there. I already talked to somebody who put 29" tall slicks on one so I know the diameter won't be a problem. But to fit as wide a tire as possible on back I'm going to have to figure things pretty close. I might still need to go with a custom offset to make it work.

Another question for everybody out there. How much clearance do you feel is necessary between the sides of the tire & the inside of the wheelwells to get by on the street?
 
[QUOTE='64 Cuda]Keith Mopar,
Another question for everybody out there. How much clearance do you feel is necessary between the sides of the tire & the inside of the wheelwells to get by on the street?[/QUOTE]

I have now moved my spring in for more clearence. I had 16 X 8 on rims on the rear which I have now sold, but had 245 50 16's on the back.
My new rims will be 9" wide, and will only have 1/2, on the back side for clearence, and about 1/4 on the outside. I figure that under hard cornering, that they could move that much, so I will install a panhard to keep things in place.

Yes I'm running an 8 3/4, I also have a rear sway bar, and can hopfully get dual exhaust back threw there as well.

If you are going to run a 29 inch tall tire you may have to move the rear end back an 1" to 1.5"'s.

I'm running big Wilwood dics all round, with Yukon axles. to get the 4.5 pattern.

reardisc1.JPG
 
At the most I'll run a 28" tire. A 275/60 15 Radial TA is 28" tall, has a section width of 11" & tread width of 8.2". I mocked things up with some cardboard to check clearances & spun it around through the fenderwell & 28" doesn't look like it will be a problem but the 11" section width might be. Moving the rear back a half inch or so if necessary would be pretty easy. Just drill new holes in the spring perches or maybe shim the front hangers. Do you know how much, if any, the Wilwoods moved the rear mounting face for your wheels? I guess with all of the mods you've made to your rear setup the numbers aren't going to mean much anyway. I'll just have to measure, measure, measure. I'm going to run a rear sway bar but hope I don't need a panhard bar. I just don't want to bother with fabbing one. I've got so much to do the whole thing is a bit overwhelming anyway.
 
64 Cuda, one thing to do is use your card board cut out and simulate your tire being in the wheel well and look at it, One thing on my car I didn't like was the fact the tire was so close to the front of the wheel opening and the tire didn't look centered in the wheel opening. When I went to the the 245 50R16's on the back it really stood out. Even though it cleared I moved the spring back 3/4 of an inch just so the tire looked better in the wheel opening.

Before I stated to move any thing I made tons of measurments, so it went back together the same way, and I would have lots of reference info.
From the track width, out side drum to outside drum, to when I added the Disc's, my width grew 11/16's of an inch. I used 2 magnetic levels to make the measurments. Did the same on the front, and it went 5/16 wider, over my 9" drums.

I also bought a panhard kit from Summit along with my BB torsion bars. it was only $68.00 with 2 rod ends and bar, with 3 types of weld on tabs (which I didn't use any). My torsion bars were $149.00 just after Christmas and now they are $299.00 UGH!
 
I currently have heavy duty leafs from a 65 Barracuda & t bars from a 71 340 Demon. Hopefully I won't have to mess with them. I have a chance to buy some SS springs but I really don't want my car to sit very high & most of what I've read here says the car will sit higher if I put them on. I'm not really planning to race the car, it'll be more of a cruiser. To tell the truth, I've lived here for 6 1/2 years & don't have a clue where the closest drag strip would be. Last time I was at a drag strip was probably 10 years ago when I was at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas VA. If I need a panhard bar I suppose I could do it with the kit you bought. I don't have a welder right now & haven't welded anything for over 20 years, but I've been wanting a wire welder for years & offsetting the leaves might be a good enough excuse for buying one. You're right about the tire not being centered in the wheelwell. I've noticed it before. How did you move yours? Just drill a new hole in the perches? I can offset the springs & bolt everything together & then see how the tires look in the wheelwell. I'm sure there will be a lot of mock-up before this car hits the road again.
 
Yup I just drilled new holes, I did the perchases and the lower shock brackets as well. I had a bit of a hard time centering the rear end. From the factory it was off half an inch! So when I Moved the springs in I took that 1/2 inch into consideration.I tacked everthing and knocked it apart twice before I got it right. I also used heavy duty leafs for my car.
Measuring everthing twice and mock up is the key.
 
I brought this old thread to the top because I've been measuring & also searching the internet for wheel options with the small bolt pattern. I've found that Centerline has a pretty good assortments of offsets & widths. After measuring a BUNCH of times I've got some info that might be interesting to people with early Barracudas & Valiants. Don't know how close this info would be for the early A Body Darts.

If you want to trust my measurements, here's what I've found. If you relocate the springs with offset spring hangers, & have an entirely stock A Body 8 3/4" rear, narrow 10" drums & all, you should be able to fit an "Off The Shelf" Centerline 15 x 10" wheel with a 6 1/2" backspacing & have it extremely close to being centered in the stock wheel tubs. It should be less than 1/8" off center. You have to search their site a bit to find them, but they are available in the CONVO PRO (look at the rear only line), the FUEL, & the CONVO ET. If you're REALLY brave, you MIGHT be able to stuff a 275/60 15 in the back of one of these cars with these wheels.

:burnout:
 
I'm going through the same thing with my car at this very moment. I measured the outside section width on my 205/60/15 tire (on a 15 x 5.5 rim)to the offset spring and got about 11 inches. I don't think a 275/60/15 will fit without rubbing on a purely stock a-body 8 3/4, which is what I have in now.

I'm having my wheels widened to 15 x 7.5 with 5" BS just in case a 275 series will go in there. The rear is already centered and I have a good inch from the wheel lip. If you get creative with a custom rim I bet it could work with a 275. I'm pretty confident a 265 will work but you are very limited on those. Dunlop makes a 265/50/15. Hope this helps too.
 
With all of the measuring I've done, I've decided that a wheel with a 1 1/8" positive offset will center the wheel in the wheel well. I think this would fit a 275/60 15 Radial T/A with about 3/8" clearance on each side, but 3/3" isn't much. The problem is that the cross section on that tire is listed as 11" when measured on an 8" rim & the manufacturer says that every 1/2" increase in wheel width will increase the cross section of the tire by 2mm. With the correct offset, the wheel will always be centered in the well. So if you have a custom width wheel with the correct offset & maybe a 7" or 7 1/2" width, the 275 tire might work. The 265 is probably a safer bet, but neither of these tires is recommended for a 10" rim, so the 10" Centerline still probably isn't going to be the best solution. Probably better off with custom width steelies or something else specially made.
It bugs me that wheel companies all seem to list a back spacing but you have to hunt to get the offset measurement, which I feel is more useful. Centerline also told me that they can make an AUTO DRAG III wheel in a custom offset & the cost is about the same as what Summit sells similar Centerline wheels for. It looks similar to the AUTO DRAG but the center is welded in & the rivets are just for looks.
Mastercraft makes an ANVENGER G/T tire that is also available in a 265/50 15. It's good to know about the Dunlops too. It gives a bit more choice.
 
I did some more measuring tonight again. I have about 12 inches from about a 1/4" inside the wheel lip to the offset spring. Giving me about 1/2" on each side which wold put me a 11" section width as the maximum with the wheel perfectly centered in the wheel well.

The 275/60/15 BFGoodrich g-Force T/A Drag Radial Tire is 11.0-11.1" on a 8" rim. You definitely Want to go with a 60 series side wall. The 50 series is .2 inches (or 5mm) wider (11.3"). I plan to have my wheels widened to 7.5 inches with 5" backspace based on these measurement and it's the minimum recommended width for a 275 tire. With the 7.5" width rim I could gain 2mm extra clearance as you stated above.

I'm going to try and see if I can get a very cheap used set of 275/60/15 tires to trial fit after I get my rims back (which will be about a month or so). I will update this thread once I find out if it will work or not.

Dave
 
I've been playing around on this site:

http://www.rims-n-tires.com/rt_specs.jsp

You just put in the info for what you currently have that you know will fit your car on the left side & then try out whatever combo of wheel & tire you want on the right.

It pretty much seems to throw all of my figuring out the window. If I can believe it, it looks like a Centerline 15 x 8.5" wheel with a 4.875" backspace (+3mm offset) will work to put a 265/50 15 (Mastercraft makes one) tire in the back with offset springs, MAYBE a 275/50 15. You might even be able to get away with the 265/50 tire without offset springs. If you use this site, don't just rely on the dimensions that the site puts in for the tires. Double check them with the tire manufacturer's info. The tires seem to usually be a bit wider than the calculator says.
 
I've been doing some more measuring & wanted to update this. The wheel I mentioned earlier in this thread, which is also the one in the pictures, is a 7" wheel with a 1/4" positive offset (this is equal to 6.35mm of pos. offset), with a backspace measurement of 4 3/8". I'm convinced now that this is the most accurate measurement I can get for this wheel. HTH anybody with one of these cars who's trying to determine what will fit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top