Hi all,

For give my naivite, as I'm new to the board and rescuing a great old 63 Valiant sedan...

Can someone explain the correct wheel sizing on this vehicle? Many folks have posted possible alternatives to the 13" wheels, and I'm interested in that, too.

I'm looking for a setup that would be slightly low-profile... Something like the Valiant racer at http://www.valiantracing.com/gallery/album06/aaj.

Many thanks in advance to all,

-Russ

Mista Desert Val, you can step up to 14" wheels without too much trouble.
Unfortunately, there aren't many offerings... 205/60 and 205/70 are popular sizes and give that buldgy underslung look that's rather menacing.
To roll up to 15" you'll need to pump the aftermarket, or have some custom units made if you wanna stay with the steelies.
The wheels on that val are 16" ford units which are 5X100mm or close enuff to 5X4.5" however, the center register must be enlarged to fit over the disk brake/rear axle hubs on our mopars.
Stepping up to big bolt pattern (5X4.5") gives you a much better selection of factory and aftermarket wheels-- and you get kick arse disk-brakes too! <<G>>
Good luck!

-JYH
64 Dart, 73~76 underneath
SoCal

That's David Elder's Valiant. I've seen it in person, but can't remember offhand where he got those wheels. Note that it's running the later style single piston calipers, which would imply the wheels are large bolt pattern.

If you want large steelies, Stockton Wheel Service can custom make them iin just about any size. Or you could get a set of custom made Forgeline alloy wheels. Many FWD wheels will fit, but the offset is completely wrong. Unless you want 18" or larger wheels, where the ball joints would actually tuck inside the wheel, or Cragar S/S's, your choices of small bolt circle off the shelf wheels in 15" or larger are quite limited. Or you could swap to the later brakes and use the large bolt pattern. That's what I've done on my '66. The 16" billet aluminum wheels look a bit over the top, but I love the way it stops with 11.75" discs in the front and 10" drums out back. A big improvement over 9" drums all around!

_________________
"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

Oh, and I also ought to mention the dimensions I've found do and don't fit. I am running the later brakes, ball joints, A-body spindles, and later A-body upper control arms. My 16"x7" wheels have 4.25" of backspacing, and that's just barely enough to clear the suspension. In fact I added 1/4" spacers on the rear to clear the leaf springs. I am running 225/50R16 tires on all four corners. I had to roll the lip on the front fenders to make that fit. I have heard if you measure things carefully it's not hard to get 10" rear tires on an early A-body.

This is about as extreme as I'd care to get in tire size - for now. Trying to run wider tires on the front would require extreme steps like 18" wheels with massive amounts of backspacing, or flared fenders. The rear can accommode wider tires without flaring the fenders if you relocate the springs inward - and if you need really large tires, mini-tubbing it. Not many slant six buildups are going to need tires wide enough to justify mini-tubs.

_________________
"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

I run 235 60r 14 tires on 14 x8 alloy wheels on my 65 Valiant. 2" lowered ,,,no rub. Some good pics on my page:

http://www.arrowtipi.com/My%20Webs/index%20Valiant.htm

This helps a lot!

_________________
1963 Valiant V200 4-door