Yep. Now I must find a set of wheels that will work with this car, and do so pretty fast, if I am getting to Haggarstown. I looked down just for an instant at a map I was following. That's allways the way isn't it. I cannot even blame anyone else.

I put the spare on the right front, and it pulls to the left. So, I suspect a either bent something, or completely shocked the alignment out of alignment. Darn! Anybody got wheels for sale? I have 15x7's (three of them) with 3.75 back space.Of course I am looking for an entire matched set. A set of 15's for a Dakota will work. And, I am not entirely unhappy with the way the old ones drove and handled.

Sam

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Cragar soft 8's at summit for $40ish each. Can't beat it.

Bummer. I'd start looking on Craigslist, but that's because I'm cheap. I saw these, but they might be 16" http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/ ... 08216.html

A nice Jeep 5-spoke. http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/ ... 38022.html

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Joshua

I have a set of outlaw II 15X7's with about that backspace from my Dak. 2 are on there now, 2 are off and you could borrow and put your tires on. You could also borrow my pair of 16X7.5 and 245/45-16 tires for Hagerstown. The other pair is in MN, unfortunately.

Sorry to hear about the wheel. Can you get another of that exact wheel new?? That might be the cheapest/easiest thing to do.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

My local used tire store, which also has used wheels, says the center cap on the Jeep wheels are too small for the Dart. I think the old Dakota wheels are the best bet to for fittement. Pierre, what are soft 8's? I am interested, expecially at that price. Lou, What Mustang wheels should I be looking for, and what thickness spacers do I need? Do you have a prefered vender /supplier/brand for those? Thanks for advice. I will start searching. I just got home from work, and must go cut the lawn now.

Here is the odd thing, my wife Elaine told me this morning she did not think I should drive the Dart today. I drove it anyway. And she was sweet enough to remind me of her leanings this morning. Now, she says if II get it fixed in time to take it to to Haggerstown I should not race it. With here track record for prognosticating, maybe should listen. I'm scratching my head now, and feeling just a little bit low as well. That's what I get for bragging about being in the zone. I guess you could say I got in a "rut" with that.

Sam

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You won't be RACING the car.............


You'll only be TESTING the car...........

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

These are Cragar Soft 8's. I believe they also have chrome and polished options. Center caps are separate. I have them on my rear axle. I have a set for the front's too but haven't gotten around to assembling the BBP front end. The black is a powder coating, holds up well.

Pierre, I see the soft 8's. You are right, they are a good deal. But, I am not sure I want to go that route. I wonder where I can find out the back space specs on them? I might be able to go for the chrome soft 8. I wonder if standard beauty rings fit the soft 8's? And, center caps are sold seperately, which brings the price up a bit. I am just beginning the search, but thanks very much for the tip.

Sam.

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AH! Good point> In that case, maybe I and the car will be safe.

Sam

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Sam Cragar makes several different styles and size wheels in that range. From the main summit page search "cragar wheels" then you can use the "narrow your results" section on the left to choose your color, diameter, bolt pattern, etc so it will only show you the options that meet your specs.

The particular ones I posted were 4" backspace.

What does +42 mm offset mean? I don't know how to translate that into back space. If it is a 7" wheel, that is roughly 175mm, give or take. I assume a 0 offset is half that in back space, which would be 87mm. Am I right so far? Add 42 mm and you have 129 mm or a little more than 5". All estimates. But is the concept right. These are Mustang wheels I am looking at on Craig's list. In this case I would need a 3/4" spacer. Correct or not?

Pierre, I am intriqued by the soft 8 and the black D window.

This event reinforces the temporary nature of all things, but especially cars. And, it shows me that at my age I must keep my eye firmly on the road at all times. Don't even think of looking down at a map or cell phone.

Sam

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0 offset means the rim has as much outboard of the mounting face as inboard. +42mm means the rim is set 42mm inboard. To calculate backspacing from offset you take the wheel width, say 7" add 1" for the inboard and outboard lips of the rim, divide by two and add the offset. 4" is zero offset for a 7" wide wheel. 42mm/25.4mm/in=1.65" so that 15x7" wheel has 5.65" backspacing.

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Joshua

Thanks. So is the back spacing measured from the outer most rim surface?

Here is a question for the front end geometry specialists in the house: The spare has a back space of 4.25 as apposed to the 3.75 of the aftermarket wheels. It also has a 65 profile tire on it, as opposed to the 60 profile tires on the other three wheels now. The steering pulls to the left, away from the spare. This is what makes me think it really whacked something alignment wise. But, would these differences indeed make the car pull towards the tire with the wider off set and shorter tire. It behaves as if there is more caster on the left, I think. I have seen not obvious damage to anything other than the wheel. Even the tires looks, good. Crazy!

Sam

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yes
If I'm reading this correctly, you're saying it pulls to the side that has the wheel with the less backspacing....

If that's correct, it makes sense.

Each front wheel has an vertical axis that it rotates on when you're steering. Normally it intersects the ground around the center of the tire with a stock suspension (the 4.25" backspacing case), so there's no tendency for the tire to turn (or very little).

With the 3.75" backspacing, more of the tire is outside this vertical axis. So each tire wants to turn out (toe-out). But they cancel each other out, and you go straight.

With different backspacing up front, the tires don't have the same reaction. The tire that has more tread outside of the vetical axis (less backspacing) wins the battle, and the front end turns toward the side with the less backspacing.

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Thanks, That made perfect sense. And, it explains why the car handled better with the stock style cop car wheels. I wish I could find a set of those now. I went on line and looked at Year ONe's web site, who sold these at one time, and could no longer find them on their web site.

I like the deep dish look of the cop wheels. The soft 8 is not so deep, and I wonder if a trim ring will go on.

If I could find a set of stock Rally wheels at a reasonable price I would consider that as well.

Pierre, would you mind posting a photo of the soft 8 on the rear of your car please? It would help me to see the wheel on a car.

Sam

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