E-Body Tire Combos

[72bluNblu]

Thanks to 72bluNblu for the consulting! 

No problem! Your Challenger looks great! 

It's either because no one in this town of 1000 people stock them on a Saturday afternoon, or I am just plain lazy

If you have a source that stocks them in a 1.25" or 1.375" length, I would be appreciative for the help:)

I used Mr. Gasket #4311 studs on my stock axles. They're 2 7/8" long, but it would be pretty easy to cut them down to the length that you want. That would take care of the rear anyway. In the front I have ~.75" of thread engagement, which is at the high end of the recommended 1 to 1.5x diameter. With .60" you're probably ok, but I'd want more too.

These are what I've used in the past on the stock rear axles
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mrg-4311

These should work for the front disks if all the diameters I looked up are right. Again, they're long, but you can cut them down. If you had a 1/2-20 die that would be ideal, but you can actually dress the threads with a small file if you don't.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/arp-100-7705/overview/

[Strawdawg]

thanks for the info!

I don't want to use open end lug nuts so I will have to cut them down.  I got confused Saturday because I kept finding  different  knurl diameters.  year one shows the rears to be 0.673 and the Mr. Gasket are 0.665 if I recall correctly while they show ARPs as being 0.680....not much difference but it makes me wonder.

I am going to swap the front rotors for the larger ones since I have the caliper brackets and I did not look to see if they are shown to be the same as the smaller e-body rotors....

I am not driving the car hard...just been happy to drive it.  Still have a number of things I need to do to it...not including air conditioning which is also on the list.

[brads70]

I found this useful when looking for longer wheel studs.
http://www.hpaulin.com/Catalogue/WP513.pdf

[Strawdawg]

Thanks, Brad

[brads70]

Thanks, Brad

   hope it helps.

[ammo]

Running factory 14 inch road wheels on a 73 challenger with 245/60R14 on all 4 corners.  14 inch tires are getting hard to find unless I want a goodrich or cooper.  Those are not my favorite two choices.  Thinking about stepping up to a 15 or larger road wheel if I can find them and comparable raised white letter tires to keep a stock look.  Any ideas as to what and where to find them?  below is a pic of the rims i have. So I would like to get the same style wheel.

[brads70]

https://www.yearone.com/Catalog/1966.74.a.b.e.body/wheels-.-brakes-.-rear-axle/yearone-cast-magnum/cast-aluminum-%22magnum%22-wheels

15" tires are also drying up. 17" &18" are they way to go for performance rubber. I fought it as long as I could too......

[dfrazz]

  MANY more options with a 17" wheel.

[challenger_affair]

Fronts are 17x8 with 4.5" b.s. and 245/45-17s.   Rears are 17x9 with 5.0 b.s. with 255/50-17s.  I was going to use 275's on the rear but after doing the hotchkis suspension, the car was barely clearing my four post lift when driving on and off so I wanted to gain a little height and the 255's are 27.1" tall.  In the end, I lifted front and rear about 3/4" from where it originally sat after installing the Hotchkis parts.

 

Looks great, similar wheel/tire setup as what I'm working on, and I like your ride height/stance.  What aspects of your suspension improvements affected the ride height? 

Those wheels look great on your car!! I went with the same setup but 255/50's on the front and 275/50's on the rear with 17" TT II's.  I love the Nitto tires.

 

How is your clearance on the front with 255/50s? 

[Strawdawg]

 

Looks great, similar wheel/tire setup as what I'm working on, and I like your ride height/stance.  What aspects of your suspension improvements affected the ride height? 
 
 

The Hotchkis rear leaf has less arch in it to reduce the roll center.  The lower the body sits to the axle, the less leverage it has to roll side to side.  I believe they claim an inch lowered compared to stock but that depends on what springs are on the back of the car at the moment and their condition.  I don't recall exactly but I am pretty sure the front spring hangers that come with the springs have the front spring eye mounting holes in a bit different place.

In the front, I used 1.03" torsion bars which allows me to put the front of the car where I want it without much fear of bottoming out on a good dip.  I may come down a slight amount in the front because it was set with shorter front tires.

I have not installed the rear sway bar yet but the car handles light years better than it did.  It has the Hotchkis/Ridetech version of the Bilstein on both ends.  I see they are now using a shock that is claimed to be even better.

[challenger_affair]

The Hotchkis rear leaf has less arch in it to reduce the roll center.  The lower the body sits to the axle, the less leverage it has to roll side to side.  I believe they claim an inch lowered compared to stock but that depends on what springs are on the back of the car at the moment and their condition.  I don't recall exactly but I am pretty sure the front spring hangers that come with the springs have the front spring eye mounting holes in a bit different place.

In the front, I used 1.03" torsion bars which allows me to put the front of the car where I want it without much fear of bottoming out on a good dip.  I may come down a slight amount in the front because it was set with shorter front tires.

I have not installed the rear sway bar yet but the car handles light years better than it did.  It has the Hotchkis/Ridetech version of the Bilstein on both ends.  I see they are now using a shock that is claimed to be even better.

Great, thanks for that info!  Thats pretty close to the height I would want so its good to know the what the hotchkis looks like with your wheel/tire setup.  Maybe you've posted a thread with details of your setup and I missed it but did you make any other changes up front aside from the torsion bars?

[Strawdawg]

Hotchkis adjustable struts, poly bushings in the lower arms, tubular upper arms, new ball joints, the larger tie rod ends/sleeves from the big cars, steering arm, idler arm, cross link-all Moog stuff.

Hotchkis sway bars

When I repaired the frame rails, I sent the steering box to Firm Feel for rebuild to Stage 2 specs.  Should have gone Stage 3 for a bit more steering effort but I will shim the bypass valve in the steering pump for a bit more. 

While the K member was out, I welded up the seams and added some gussets to the steering box mounts to minimize any steering box movement while corning.


If you read 72bluNblu's thread on his suspension build up, you will learn a lot about how to build a good handling car using economical parts.  Brad and HP2 are two more guys that know their stuff.

[gafletch]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/370861780567?nav=WATCHING_ACTIVE
These are what I'd like to put on my '70 Barracuda. The rear springs have been moved in on a Dana 60.
I believe I can have at least a 325x50x18 rear tire. Fronts would be 255x8x17. Chrome (wife says) Torque Thrust 425's. What say you? Greg.

[72bluNblu]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/370861780567?nav=WATCHING_ACTIVE
These are what I'd like to put on my '70 Barracuda. The rear springs have been moved in on a Dana 60.
I believe I can have at least a 325x50x18 rear tire. Fronts would be 255x8x17. Chrome (wife says) Torque Thrust 425's. What say you? Greg.

Fronts are easy, 255/45/17's will be fine on a 17x8, backspace should be between 4.5" to 5", 4.75" is probably ideal. That tire size is pretty readily available.

Rears are going to be a problem. Tires in that size (325/50/18) simply don't exist, at least not for cars. But you should be able to fit a 325mm wide tire in the stock wheel tubs. I have 275/40/17's on my car, and have over 1" to the quarters and springs. I only have a 1" relocation kit, but my springs are almost even with the inner wheel tub so the bigger relocation doesn't but you much extra space. I think max would probably be a 335mm wide tire, that would probably require rolling the quarter lip for clearance. There are a few 335/30/18's out there still available, that's still a 26" tall tire. Selection in that size is pretty limited though. It's amazing how much selection for the 17 and 18" rims has dried up recently, everything is going to even bigger rims.

If you have an E-body width Dana, an 18x12 will need about 7.3" of backspace (20mm offset).

[moparman82]

Ok wheel and tire experts! I'm looking at some 18s, 18x10 +25mm offset, and 18x8.5 +35mm offset. Back tires are 295/35 and fronts are 245/40.  Completely stock suspension right now, will they fit?