E-Body Tire Combos

[tommyg29]

Road Runner:
I'll try to post an updated picture, but for now you can just imagine it about 3/4" lower than my prior picture of the front half of the car, and yes it does have more space in front and back of the tire.
I ordered 17x9.5" rears with 4.5" backspace. As I mentioned, I have 5-3/8" from the rear drum mounting surface to the closest spot of the leafspring, so 4.5" backspace should barely work for me. If it rubs slightly or comes close to it, I can add a 1/8" spacer to push it out a little, and still have at least 1/2" of thread on the studs. Worst case I can relocate the springs, which I dont want to do, or I can install longer studs and use a slightly bigger spacer. It should be very tight but I expect at least about 3/8" from the inside of the tire to the spring.
If its a 2 piece wheel design it can usually be custom ordered, and yes it is more expensive, by about $70 per wheel in my case I think, and it takes an extra 6-8 weeks for delivery. Thats why I'm still waiting for the rears, and I got the fronts in 2 days.
Depending on the size of the tire, I think all stock rears can handle 4" backspace, and some cars can handle up to 5".
Your mileage may vary.

[the_engineers]

Thats true Engineers, but there are lots of guys running wider tires on the street then what is rated as far as rim width with no problems.  How many guys on here run 275s on an 8" rim.  This may be naive, but if the tire fits on the rim, I say go for it.

Chris, my only concern is that we all got into that habit when we had a LOT more sidewall to play with.  When you start fitting 40 or 50 series tires, you're talking about as much as 1.5" less sidewall than the classic 275/60R15 on a 15x8.

[tommyg29]

This shows the car with about 2.5 full turns of the torsion bar (about 3/4" lower than the picture above) Fender lip is about 24-3/4" above the ground.
17 x 8 with 245/45/17 BFG g-forces up front

[cudazappa]

I was thinking, - on a Challenger, - how much do I have room for..

about a 255 wide tire.  Look at a tire manufacuter's specs for tires.  The shorter sidewall is much less forgiving.  I have a set of 275/40ZR17s I tried fitting on a set of 17x8s... They WOULD NOT BUDGE...  Now a different manufacturer might be able to.  or a taller sidewall...  Now I'm stuck either finding new rims for my used race tires, or new tires for my used rims...

btw: I fit a 16x8 with -11 offset (about 4.125" BS) and 245/50 tires on the back of my Challenger and it BARELY rubbed on one side (wheel lip).

[tommyg29]

I agree...a 275/40 will not fit an 8" rim. Not enough sidewall. I know a 275/60 will fit...Not sure about anything in between.

[Road_Runner]

This shows the car with about 2.5 full turns of the torsion bar (about 3/4" lower than the picture above) Fender lip is about 24-3/4" above the ground.
17 x 8 with 245/45/17 BFG g-forces

That little bit of lowering made your wheel/tire combo look WAY better.  I bet it does handle like its on rails compared to the 60's you had on before.  Darn, I was sure I was going with 15" rallyes, now I'm not so sure!!!  Thanks for the new pics.

Later, Jim

[tommyg29]

got the 17x9.5" (4.5" bs) rear wheels today. gonna get em mounted and balanced tomorrow and put em on
I wouldnt say it's "on rails" More like a boat on water
The tires do react quicker though.
Steering is too light for my taste. Maybe one day I'll upgrade to ff3

[tommyg29]

Yesss!
finally heres my setup and pictures. I mounted them today:
American Racing Torque Thrust IIs with BFG g-force T/As
Front:  17x8" w/4" backspace and 245/45
Rear: 17x9.5"w/4.5" backspace and 275/40
Clearance is great all around

These two tires are roughly the same overall height at 25.7", and though I'd prefer 50s front and rear to fill the wheel wells a little more, and maybe give a slightly softer ride, you cant really find that size in a 17". Not with rubber that I like.
I hope you enjoy the look as much as I do.

[ShelbyDogg]

Looks like you could have gone another 1/2" inside and probably outside too. That would have put you in a 3xx by 17" size. Did you look into anything wider?

[tommyg29]

thats a 10-4
No I didnt think it would work. I thought FOR SURE this combo would barely fit, but you are right
when it comes time to replace I hope to go even wider on the same rims

[Road_Runner]

OK, lets get a tire/tyre size combos thread started. Too many wasted threads about one topic.
Chryco if you or Ross or someone could sticky this topic that would be good.

Post what rear end you have, tire size, wheel size + back spacing etc
Also any mods or relocation kits that were needed to fit your wheel combo along with photos, definitely PHOTOS.


I'll go first:

1970 Dodge Challenger R/T
8-3/4 SureGrip

15x8" Rallyes Rear with 275/60 BFGoodrich Radial T/As
15x7" Rallyes Front with 245/60 BFGoodrich Radial T/As

Chrysler Rallye wheels: 56 Series purchased from www.jegs.com All wheels have a 4-1/2" (4.5) Back Spacing.
Rear trim rings leave a 1" gap due to the wheel being 8" and repro/OEM rings only available in 7" sizing.

No rubbing, no relocation kits, no worries. 

Cheers,
NZ440R/T

Well, I pulled the trigger on exactly this wheel & tire combo on my 73 Barracuda and it looks awesome.  Curious though, the tires don't extend into the wheel wells as deep, at least they don't look like they do because there is a slight gap between the tops of the tires and the lip of the wheel wells both front & back.  I'm not sure if this is due to differences between the wheel openings on Challengers vs. Barracudas or if my suspension is higher or you lowered yours.  Any thoughts?  I know the front can be raised & lowered by adjusting the torsion bars but the leaf springs pretty much are what they are unless altered and mine look stock.  I'm not sure I would change it if I could because I like the look right now, but just wondering why your Challenger looks like its sitting down on the tires a lot more than mine.  I'm out of town right now, but I'll post some pics next weekend.

Thanks, Jim

[73Chally]

The stock rear leaf springs made the car look like it was squatting in the back, and it did sit pretty low.  Yours might have newer leafs or aftemarket with a couple inches of lift.  Like you said on the front, it can be raised and lowered as much as a couple inches with the torsion bar adjustments, or you can put in a lowering kit if you want.

[Road_Runner]

The stock rear leaf springs made the car look like it was squatting in the back, and it did sit pretty low.  Yours might have newer leafs or aftemarket with a couple inches of lift.  Like you said on the front, it can be raised and lowered as much as a couple inches with the torsion bar adjustments, or you can put in a lowering kit if you want.

I think you may be right about my leaf springs.  The little old lady (seriously, no joke) who was the original owner had a trailer hitch on the Barracuda and told the guy I bought the car from that for the last 10-15 years the most she drove it was to tow her boat!!  Not too many Barracudas towing boats to the lake now days.  So even though they look stock, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the leaf springs are 440 HD versions, etc.  I know it doesn't sit down at all in the back and is pretty stiff pushing down on a back corner, etc.  Thanks for the heads up on your set up, I don't think I could be happier with how mine came out.

Later, Jim

[brads70]

Yesss!
finally heres my setup and pictures. I mounted them today:
American Racing Torque Thrust IIs with BFG g-force T/As
Front:  17x8" w/4" backspace and 245/45
Rear: 17x9.5"w/4.5" backspace and 275/40
Clearance is great all around

These two tires are roughly the same overall height at 25.7", and though I'd prefer 50s front and rear to fill the wheel wells a little more, and maybe give a slightly softer ride, you cant really find that size in a 17". Not with rubber that I like.
I hope you enjoy the look as much as I do.

Looks great!!!!

[Carlwalski]

Well, I pulled the trigger on exactly this wheel & tire combo on my 73 Barracuda and it looks awesome.  Curious though, the tires don't extend into the wheel wells as deep, at least they don't look like they do because there is a slight gap between the tops of the tires and the lip of the wheel wells both front & back.  I'm not sure if this is due to differences between the wheel openings on Challengers vs. Barracudas or if my suspension is higher or you lowered yours.  Any thoughts?  I know the front can be raised & lowered by adjusting the torsion bars but the leaf springs pretty much are what they are unless altered and mine look stock.  I'm not sure I would change it if I could because I like the look right now, but just wondering why your Challenger looks like its sitting down on the tires a lot more than mine.  I'm out of town right now, but I'll post some pics next weekend.

Thanks, Jim

Hi Jim, I had my leaf springs re-tensioned (twice now) to achieve my desired sitting stance. Nothing worse than a fat sagging ass and nothing worse than a 4x4 far too much 1980s style rake, IMO. Just a little time and being fussy got me MY perfect stance, I'm happy.