To narrow or not to narrow

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zakimodo

zakimodo

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When I was putting my car together I made noob mistake. (Well I made alot of them but this is one i haven't corrected). Here is my situation.

I stuffed a 8 3/4 out of a 66 charger under the rear of the car. I knew it was wider but planned on remedying that with the backspace of my wheels, great idea right?....... One problem, when i took the measurements to order my rims I did not take into account the profile of the tire. So now when I hit a decent size bump i get some tire rub.

So here are my options
1. Get new wheels and tires.=$$$$- really this is just a band aid.
2. Get a correct A body housing + axles or narrow the ones I have to fit
3. Narrow my housing.

Just looking for your opinions.
 
Well, I'm guessing it's a Duster. I have a Dart Sport with a B rear, and with 5 1/2 BS wheels I have no problems.

You don't say "where" it's rubbing. If it's hitting the quarter lip, rolling the lip in might be an option.
 
Yes its a Duster.

It is hitting the lip. I considered rolling it but I don't think it would ever let the tire completely tuck into the wheel well. I get some pictures later today or tomorrow
 
They look like they have plenty of clearance, you may need to get something stiffer in regards to shocks or springs to keep it up off the tire. NOT air shocks please, lol.

Perhaps a set of XHD springs would do the trick. From here it looks like the quarter is up off the tire.

Is it rubbing when you hit a dip or a bump??
 
If I went to all the trouble to narrow a housing and axles, damned if I wouldn't mini tub it and relocate the springs 3" in.
 
RustyRatRod said:
If I went to all the trouble to narrow a housing and axles, damned if I wouldn't mini tub it and relocate the springs 3" in.
Click to expand...

Agreed, mine may get the "treatment" after a while.

I'm picking up another 8 3/4 and some axles and I'm strongly considering it.
 
So here are my options
1. Get new wheels and tires.=$$$$- really this is just a band aid.

You don't need new tires; you can reuse the ones you have on whatever rims you order; unless you've already damaged the sidewalls too much. You think this is $$$$, but it is probably your cheapest solution as you can sell your current rims to recoup some of the expense.

2. Get a correct A body housing + axles or narrow the ones I have to fit

Narrowing your axles is not a possible solution; you have to find truck or C-body axles if you are going to narrow an axle and have it re-splined. Your B-body axles are stepped down and can't be re-splined.


3. Narrow my housing.

You will still need to get axles if you go this route; not a cheap solution.
 
If I were to do my A body over again I would narrow the rear to be about 2" on each side and buy new axles. This would allow me not to have too buy such a large backspaced wheel. As for mini tub and moving the springs in I would do that again but keep in mind that moving the springs may cause you to have to remake the exhaust tailpipes and the space for those pipes would be much tighter than they are now. Best of luck
Rod
 
I narrowed mine to fit "Off-the-shelf",10" wheels with 4.5 inch backspaces. A whole world of wheels are at or near 4.5. Also moved my springs inboard with the Chrysler kit. 68 Formula S clone, 325/50-15s, lowered quite a bit.Thats the maximum tire size to fit in oem tubs.I have several pairs of rear wheels, for different applications. The interchangeability was very important to me. No lips were rolled, only slightly trimmed. The tubs were heavily massaged,on the inboard side, because of the lowered ride height. The 325s will rub when provoked. They are DRs for track use so no biggy.My regular wheels are 295s, and theres plenty of room for them.
-For you it could be a tough call. The wheel-money is spent. The options are few.If you narrow the rear to fit your wheels, youre married to the set-up. It may be cheaper to narrow it, than to buy new wheels, today. But you may be limiting your options, in the future. Sounds like a really tough call. Umm, I guess only you can make it.
 
As easy a job as it is to mini tub and move the springs inboard and narrow the housing, you have to wonder why Mopar didn't offer a "drag package" from the factory that included all of that. How cool would that have been?
 
If I had just one wish from Ma, it would be 5-speeds. I mean, back in the day 5 speeds. So they would be here for us today, cheap and easy swaps. If I was brave enough to add up all the money I ever spent on chunks and 4 spds, and the time spent swapping, fixing, modding,and debugging them; Solved by just one more gear......
 
AJ/FormS said:
If I had just one wish from Ma, it would be 5-speeds. I mean, back in the day 5 speeds. So they would be here for us today, cheap and easy swaps. If I was brave enough to add up all the money I ever spent on chunks and 4 spds, and the time spent swapping, fixing, modding,and debugging them; Solved by just one more gear......
Click to expand...

If they had 5 speeds from the factory then I bet we'd all be wishing for 6 speeds. If one overdrive is good then two is great right?
 
RustyRatRod said:
As easy a job as it is to mini tub and move the springs inboard and narrow the housing, you have to wonder why Mopar didn't offer a "drag package" from the factory that included all of that. How cool would that have been?
Click to expand...

That would make, too much sense.
 
Bad Sport said:
They look like they have plenty of clearance, you may need to get something stiffer in regards to shocks or springs to keep it up off the tire. NOT air shocks please, lol.

Perhaps a set of XHD springs would do the trick. From here it looks like the quarter is up off the tire.

Is it rubbing when you hit a dip or a bump??
Click to expand...

Ive noticed both but bumps seem to be the cause of the majorty of the rubbing.
 
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