My '67 dart came with 165 80R/13's. After I bought it, I quickly upgraded to 185 70R/14's. The ride difference was huge. Here are pics of the current tires (on SBP factory rims).

Rear:

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... b.jpg.html

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... 5.jpg.html

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... 4.jpg.html

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... a.jpg.html

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... 4.jpg.html


Front:

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... 3.jpg.html

http://s785.photobucket.com/user/67dart ... 6.jpg.html


As you can see, there appears to be room for more tire, front and back. In the back it looks like about an inch or so from the inside of the rear tire to the leaf springs/inner wheel well, and about 2.5-3 inches to between the outside of the tire to the lip of the quarter panel. On the Front it looks to me like the closest point between the front fender and the tire is 3-4 inches, but I'm sure one must consider where the tire might hit the inner fender during a turn (I'll measure that as well).

Suspension notes: I recently changed to 8.75 rear end, and I haven't installed my leaf springs yet (they're on back order) so the rear is hanging a bit lower than it will be soon. In the front I will be swapping out the 9" drums/small ball joint setup with larger ball joint control arms, '73-76 Kelsey Hayes factory disc setup, basically I'll be upgrading the front suspension to heavier duty, thicker tie rods, T-bars, etc.

I want to have more rubber under the car, but I'm not looking to stuff too much under there and have them rub. Assuming I can get any wheel/tire combination that I want, just based on these pictures, description, what can I fit comfortably under there, front and back?

I'd like to have front and back the same (for tire rotation) but this is not necessary. I'm assuming I'm going to 15" rims, but I could do larger diameter if that makes sense (in other words less sidewall, therefore less lateral movement to worry about, therefore wider tires possibly). I don't mind rolling the inner lip of the rear quarter panels if that helps, but I'm not interested in moving the leaf springs.

What backspacing should the wheels have, front and back, let's assume 7" wide rims. I'd like to get 215's or 225's on the car if that's possible. If not, what is a reasonable tire to get more rubber under there? Perhaps there's an easy answer, and I'm overthinking it, but I've seen so many tire choice discussions, that I'm a bit confused. I think the 185's are just a bit too thin for my aesthetics, especially in the rear (front looks OK to me, but I'd prefer more if possible).

thanks all,

Brian

This is an example of the look I'm going for:

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/feat ... to_10.html

It looks like this guy has larger rims on the back than the front though; I'm just speaking of the width of the tires, this looks good to me. That is, it looks like there's sufficient tire for the car's size, wheel base, etc., i.e. it looks more stable to me. The rear tires in this pic are a bit taller than I'd like, I could do same size as the front (in this pic).

b

Alot of us use the factory big bolt pattern Chrysler steel wheels that are 15x7 with a 4 1/4'' backspace. I've run them on my 63 Valiant 67 Dart and the 64 Dart that I have now with a 235/60/15 tire on the rear with plenty of clearance. I bought aftermarket aluminum wheels 15x7 with a 4 1/2'' backspace and the upper control arm by the balljoint would hit any wheel weights that were attached to the inner rim.A 15x8 with a 4 1/2'' backspace gets close to the leaf springs but still will clear. As far as rear I tried 275/60 15 on the rear of the 67 and they hit the lowest part of the front outside of the wheel well. Just a thought.

I will go to big bolt pattern, at least because there are so many wheel choices.

Are you saying that 15 x 7" with 4.25 backspacing will fit front and rear on the 67 dart? On the rear a 235 60R 15 would be plenty for me, what about the front? Would that fit on the front as well, or would I have to go with less width?

What about offset? Looks like most 15 x 7" rims with 4.25 backspacing come in +6 mm offset.

brian

Most wheels are not hub centric, are those plastic rings OK or do people have metal one's machined for this purpose?

What is the center bore for the mopar hub?

brian

Yes, you may run up to 215/60/15 on the front with a 15x7x4 1/4 BS.My choise is a 205/65/15.
can't say about a +6mm offset. but 6mm isn't much.
The only wheels I ever used that took the hub centric was a FWD and they were plastic. I never found the need on a mopar RWD even with aftermarket wheels.