I have been rebuilding a 62 Valiant for what seems like forever. I am finally down to shopping some wheels for it. The front end is now a 74 with discs. The rear is the stock small bolt pattern.

I have two stock choices I can go with, 14x4.5 or 14x5.5. It would be a bit tight in the rear if I used 14x5.5 wheels back there. However, I am unsure if 14x4.5 wheels will fit over the disc brakes up front.

So my question is; will 14x4.5 stock steel wheels fit over the discs, or should I be looking at 14x5.5 wheels?

I already have small bolt pattern wheels in both sizes. Just trying to get something on the front so I can move it!

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1961, 1962, 1963 and 1965 Valiant 200. The `65 is a `vert.

If your 14X5.5 wheels have the same offset as a 14X5.5 Rally wheel they should fit on the rear with no problem.

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If you didn't drive it there, it's not a street car.

Thanks, Exner Geek. That is good to know. It looks awful tight. I would hate to buy tires for those rims and find out they won't fit under there. That would be an expensive mistake.

I also want to be very sure before I buy wheels for the front. I can't find any local Duster wheels and will have to buy them from a junk yard in another part of the country. That means shipping costs. I don't want to do that more than once!

Does anyone know the answer to my other question. Will 14x4.5 wheels fit on 74 A-body disc brake hubs?

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1961, 1962, 1963 and 1965 Valiant 200. The `65 is a `vert.

I run 205X70X14 tires. There is plenty of room in the back for a larger size but that's about the biggest for the front without some fender trimming.

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If you didn't drive it there, it's not a street car.

I don't know how flexible you are, but I would highly suggest 15" (or larger) rims. The tire selection for 14" is pretty terrible, and 15" is not great but is quite a bit better. Personally, I would stay away from 4.5" wide wheels in general and would go for 5.5 to 7" width with a Mopar offset, or 0.5-0.75" more backspacing than stock Mopar.

I believe any 14" Mopar rim (4.5" bolt circle) should fit your 74 discs, but I am not absolutely certain.

If you need to have a stock type wheel, then there are 15X7 cop wheels from Diplomats and 15x7s from other 70s-80s Mopars. They should all have the same offset (backspacing) and fit your discs fine.

If you want to do a lightweight non-Mopar wheel, then the Ford Explorer/Ranger wheels from around 2000 work well and are pretty cheap from Ebay. Those are 16X7 with about 5" backspace.

Just some other ideas... I have put almost any kind of rim you can imagine on 63-76 A-bodies, at least from 13" to 17" and from 4" width to 9" width.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines

Thank you for the excellent responses. Exner Geek, I am surprised that there is more room in the back than the front. It sure doesn't look that way. Thanks for the insight.

Dart270, I would consider 15" rims if I could simply buy a set and put them on and everything would match. The problem is, the rear end is a different bolt pattern than the front. I would love to rectify that eventually but, for now, this is my reality. I have small bolt pattern rims in two sizes, 14x4.5 and 14x5.5. In order that everything *looks* like it matches, I need to find similar factory wheels to put on the front.

That is good info to know about Explorer wheels. I read a thread one time, probably on this site, where someone cut down an Explorer rear end and put it under an A-body. I have not gotten that ambitious yet. I need this thing to move soon.

I also like to keep my cars looking original. 14" wheels look good on early Valiants. I have always thought the stock 13s were too small and have always substituted larger wheels. I have been encountering the crappy 14" tire selection you mentioned, but that is a whole other discussion.

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1961, 1962, 1963 and 1965 Valiant 200. The `65 is a `vert.