Wheel Decisions

[Chryco Psycho]

other than the poor overall quality of Cragars SS , with dissimilar metals & inevitable corrosion the chrome will often peel from the alloy spokes near the steel rim

[KillerBee]

other than the poor overall quality of Cragars SS , with dissimilar metals & inevitable corrosion the chrome will often peel from the alloy spoke :eek4:s near the steel rim

While brand new shiny Cragars look great(as long as you are lucky enough to find them in the correct backspacing) they start rusting immediately.

Even if you carefully store the car for the winter the only way to keep them from rusting is to remove them and keep them inside. 
Even in the warm weather if they get wet, and you don't dry them quickly, they will start to rust.

The chrome also starts to dull after a few years...

Been there, done that

[Chlngrcrzy]

While brand new shiny Cragars look great(as long as you are lucky enough to find them in the correct backspacing) they start rusting immediately.

Even if you carefully store the car for the winter the only way to keep them from rusting is to remove them and keep them inside. 
Even in the warm weather if they get wet, and you don't dry them quickly, they will start to rust.

The chrome also starts to dull after a few years...

Been there, done that

Are we talking chrome wheels in general or are their other brands that hold up better? 

[Super Blue 72]

My  : Get both. 

I would buy the nice 17 inch rims and look on craigslist or a nice set of Keystone Klassics for a good price.  That way you can have your cake and eat it too.  I got a nice set of 15" Keystones for $250.  It can give your car different personalities and different handling with just a change of rims in the driveway. 


But then again, this is coming from a person with more sets of rims than I have shoes.... 

I keep amassing these things so my garage looks like a tire warehouse.    I find deals on craigslist.  I have the factory 14" steel rims, Magnums 500s, Kestone Sunspoke III wire rims, aluminum slotted rims, Keystone Klassics and a set of Mustang Mach I style 17" rims that are being adapted to the Mopar hub.  Plus a couple other weird sets of rims like a set of Ford Ranger steel rims I got for free of craigslist that will be painted black. 

[Racer57]

While brand new shiny Cragars look great(as long as you are lucky enough to find them in the correct backspacing) they start rusting immediately.

Even if you carefully store the car for the winter the only way to keep them from rusting is to remove them and keep them inside. 
Even in the warm weather if they get wet, and you don't dry them quickly, they will start to rust.

The chrome also starts to dull after a few years...

Been there, done that

I guess I've been lucky because I've never had those problems.

[Mpdlawdog]

I love these vintage wheel works

[cordodge]

I like the looks of the old school torque thrust Ds and the price of them is vary reasonable    bruce

[onebadfish]

I like my torque thrusts! 16 x 10 back and 15 x 8 front

[MJS73]

Year One Cast Aluminum Magnums 17x9 and 17x8 look sweet on E Body Challengers.

Yes, they do, don't they?

[HP2]

I guess I've been lucky because I've never had those problems.

Ditto. But the climate where I'm at is pretty dry anyway. I will admit to having seen a fair amount of rusty Cragars, or similar spoked wheels, through the years. I've never had any that I bought new that looked that way while in my possession.

[challenger_affair]

Based on the pictures I'd bet the rear tires on all of those cars are 275/40/17's, just like the one's I have. That makes them 25.7" tall, which is a bit short for the rear. The issue is that there's only a couple of car tires offered in a 275/50/17, and that's almost 28" tall. I haven't found anything in a 275/45/17, which would probably be ideal. You can get taller tires if you go wider, like 285 or 295, but then they don'd fit on a 9" wide rim, which is the widest offered in the Year One magnums's and rallye's.

Nitto make the NT 450 in a 275/50/17, that would probably be your best bet.

That's exactly what I bought...With a sidewall height of 5.41" and an overall height of 27.83"..........they're shown here on the left....

In thinking about this for my Challenger, I'd prefer to maximize the sidewall height and if possible have the same size at all 4 corners unless there's some advantage to having staggered sizes that I'm not aware of?  So with a stock setup, would the 275/50/17 be too much at all 4 corners, or is it pushing it even for just the back? 

[72bluNblu]

In thinking about this for my Challenger, I'd prefer to maximize the sidewall height and if possible have the same size at all 4 corners unless there's some advantage to having staggered sizes that I'm not aware of?  So with a stock setup, would the 275/50/17 be too much at all 4 corners, or is it pushing it even for just the back?

A 275/50/17 is not going to fit in the front. You can get away with a 28" tire in the back, not always easy but it will work. But it flat out won't fit in the front. I wouldn't go taller than 26" in the front.

If you want to run a 275/50/17 in the back, you could run a 255/45/17 up front. That would be a 26" tall tire, and it will fit on an 8" or 9" rim, so you could go with the year one magnum's or rallye's.

As far as the staggered set up, the only real advantages are running larger tires in the back than you can in the front, and not having to wrestle really wide front tires with your steering. I run 275/40/17's on all 4 corners of my Challenger. The rears are a little short on sidewall, but it's really not that big of a deal. Its still a 25.7" tall wheel.

On my Duster, I'll be running 275/35/18's in the front and 295/35/18's in the back. I can't fit the 295 in the front, and I probably couldn't turn it even if I could. The 275 will be difficult as it is with a fast ratio steering box.

[challenger_affair]

That's exactly what I bought...With a sidewall height of 5.41" and an overall height of 27.83"..........they're shown here on the left....

  Curious how those 275/50R17's worked for you and what setup the car had?? 

A 275/50/17 is not going to fit in the front. You can get away with a 28" tire in the back, not always easy but it will work. But it flat out won't fit in the front. I wouldn't go taller than 26" in the front.

If you want to run a 275/50/17 in the back, you could run a 255/45/17 up front. That would be a 26" tall tire, and it will fit on an 8" or 9" rim, so you could go with the year one magnum's or rallye's.

As far as the staggered set up, the only real advantages are running larger tires in the back than you can in the front, and not having to wrestle really wide front tires with your steering. I run 275/40/17's on all 4 corners of my Challenger. The rears are a little short on sidewall, but it's really not that big of a deal. Its still a 25.7" tall wheel.

On my Duster, I'll be running 275/35/18's in the front and 295/35/18's in the back. I can't fit the 295 in the front, and I probably couldn't turn it even if I could. The 275 will be difficult as it is with a fast ratio steering box.

On Amazon I see Firestone and Nitto make a 275/45R17, which is a 26.74" tall tire.  Based on your comments above, sounds like its still too much for up front, but might be a safer bet for 'plug and play' to a stock e body rear. 

If I went with a 255/45/17 on an 8" rim would there be awkward sidewall bulge relative to the rear?  I guess I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger on a 9" for the fronts just incase there's any issues...    Seems like most people are using 8" up front. 

Also on the horizon for me would a swap from front drum to disc, are there any issues with this one way or the other between 8" vs 9"? 

[72bluNblu]

On Amazon I see Firestone and Nitto make a 275/45R17, which is a 26.74" tall tire.  Based on your comments above, sounds like its still too much for up front, but might be a safer bet for 'plug and play' to a stock e body rear. 

That's still a pretty tall tire for the front. It could cause issues with the tire rubbing on the frame at full lock. Plus it will effect how much you can lower the car, I had to remove my fender braces even with my 275/40/17's.

If I went with a 255/45/17 on an 8" rim would there be awkward sidewall bulge relative to the rear?  I guess I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger on a 9" for the fronts just incase there's any issues...    Seems like most people are using 8" up front. 

Also on the horizon for me would a swap from front drum to disc, are there any issues with this one way or the other between 8" vs 9"?

The 9" rim isn't a problem at all. I've been running mine for years now with a 17x9 in the front with no issues.

Switching from drums to disks will widen the track in the front by about a 1/4" if I remember right. With a 17x9" and 5" of backspace and a 255 it probably won't make much of a difference. With a 275 you'll be very close to the frame at full lock with the drums, and very close to the fender with full compression (turning into driveways etc) with the disks. The other way to do it would just be to run a small spacer with the drums, then remove it when you switch to the disks. Might not be needed if you don't get any frame rub with the drums.

[dfrazz]

I put 17" AR Torque Thrust II's on my '71 with Nitto 255-50's on the front and 275-50's on the back with a stock rear end, XHD leaf springs.