I did it!! 325's on the rear of the 65 dart(barely)

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gtmopar

Phuckin A!
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Got these tires for a mock up on the rear. Man they look bad *** but i think i may have to go with a 315 or maybe a 305. There is enough travel in the fenderwell but i dont want to chew up a new set of 450.00 a piece tires. Whats the biggest anyone has stuffed under a 65? When its lowered im going to loose a bit of width clearance. For 1 goodyear f1 was 516.20 an f-ing piece. Whats the widest on the front i can go without running into turning interfearance. Your comments are well appreciated.
 

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Gonna look great! Personally I like 18 inch rims, and have 18x 8.5 Mustang GT rims on my 65 Dart. Stock wheelwells, 255 x 50 18 rear 225 x 40 18 front. Gets tight up front with 6.7 back space but it clears.
 
I went with 285-40-18 the main reason was I wanted a taller tire. They are 27" tall compared to 25.5 for most of the other wide tires
 

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How come I didn't know you when I lived in California (Los Banos, San Jose, Hayward, Mountain View)? I moved in 90. I have a 68 coupe, slant six, going to a V8. Needs no sheet metal but will need the front and rear suspension work upgrade. How'd you learn to do the work on your Barracuda? That is some of the most impressive work I've ever seen. I can't wait to get to work tomorrow to use their printer and print your post.
 
That is a wide tire. Sure looks neat.

For the front ones I had 205/70/14 and that was close to the front frame. I had them on 14" ralleys.
 
Im running Mickey Thompson 26x12x18 A little shorter than Tincups at 26.6 and not quite as wide as your 325 A 325 is 12.79 wide and mine is 12
 
Inspector71 I got into the hobby of mopars in 95. Just missed ya. I taught myself all the fab work on my own. I think if people would actually try something new instead of running from it, who knows they might find a hidden talent like I did. I enjoy doing it because it's never the same twice and I don't consider it work. The car is coming together nicely and I even considered opening a shop to build tricked out mopars. Problem being is that California is the worst state to open a business and the EPA constantly is up your *** for everything. I had a business that I sold due to the bullshit. I am by far not an expert but I enjoy learning new things everytime I tackle a new project.
 
Inspector71 I got into the hobby of mopars in 95. Just missed ya. I taught myself all the fab work on my own. I think if people would actually try something new instead of running from it, who knows they might find a hidden talent like I did. I enjoy doing it because it's never the same twice and I don't consider it work. The car is coming together nicely and I even considered opening a shop to build tricked out mopars. Problem being is that California is the worst state to open a business and the EPA constantly is up your *** for everything. I had a business that I sold due to the bullshit. I am by far not an expert but I enjoy learning new things everytime I tackle a new project.

That is so thru. It's part of the journey. You start from zero, learn and do mistakes, asking new folksand al of a sudden you get to teach others. What you "get" from others in the beginning you give back later on.
 
You said it ulf. Did you get my message I sent you about the factory spare?
 
See, I knew it. I told my wife any fool with money can buy a Viper, Corvette, and so forth but what I really admire are the guys who build their own cars like yours. I am not kidding, I would climb over expensive toys to get a look at a nice early A body. Okay, I'm taking your advice. I am working on my cars on the weekend. It has been a big help to come here and talk with folks who have done it. I still can't get over the quality of work I am seeing on this forum. My kids laugh as I sit here and drool with envy.
 
I have 295/55-15 M/T drag radials under mine and they are a nice fit.
I could maybe squeeze a little more in there , but I reckon they'll do.
How ?
Mini tubbed , housing moved back 1 " , axles shortened 2 " per side and 15 X 10 rims with 6 1/2 " backspace.
I have to use a 3/8" spacer between the flange and rim to center them in the wheel well and have plenty of clearance between the spring and the outer lip........probably 3/8th " at the closest point.
More tire would be asking a lot , and isn't worth the hassle of making it work for me.
If I need more , I'll back half the car.:D
 
Amen inspector71 that's what I like to hear! There are so many true craftsman on this forum and the best part of it is that MOST of them are extreamly helpful. I agree about the viper and vette owners, it's the guys that stuff a viper motor in a car that has no business having something that stupid big in it. That's the fun part! Pushing the envelope and doing something that you can take to a car show and say "I did that!" not "we did that" referring to the guy who actually poured his blood sweat and tears into it. That has always bothered me. I understand the guys who own businesses that do restorations for a living and I have all the respect in the world for them, it's the owners that take the credit for their hard work that irritates me.
 
Thank for the info tubtar I'm thinking I will stay somewhat conservative and run a 305 or 315. I just need to figure out what offset I will need on a 17x11 rim so I won't have to narrow the housing at all. I'll have to do some research and see what I can come up with
 
Thank for the info tubtar I'm thinking I will stay somewhat conservative and run a 305 or 315. I just need to figure out what offset I will need on a 17x11 rim so I won't have to narrow the housing at all. I'll have to do some research and see what I can come up with

Great work on your car. When considering tire size, you need to keep in mind that a 315 tire is not necessarily smaller in the ways you are hoping. When I was doing this to my car, I created the chart below. As you can see, on a 15" tire (BFG ET Street Radial) the 315 is almost 2 inches taller in the car based on the sidewall height. It is also a little wider from a section width perspective then the 325.

  • Name.....................Size...........Rim..........Sec.......Dia.......Tread
  • ET Street Radial.......295x55x15....9.5.........12........27.8......10.9
  • ET Street Radial.......315x60x15....9.5.........13.4......29.8......11
  • ET Street Radial.......325x50x15....10..........13........27.9.......11

On my car, I am running 315x60x15. If I were to do it all over again, I would go with the 325x50x15 as they are almost 2 inches shorter, which would have solved a ton of issues with tires hitting the front of the fender. It would have also given me almost a half of an inch in width, which definitely helps with the fender lip. Lastly, the car would definitely sit much lower.

Dart5_med.jpg


I am not sure how well this translates into the 17' rim world, but it may help you some.

Thanks!

OldMoparsRule!
 
Hey oldmoparsrule thanks for the info I have one question, what's the width and back spacing of your rim? The rears I'm looking at are 17x11's. I have an 8.75 out of a later A body as I'm sure you do. Bitchin ride by the way. What power plant?
 
Hey oldmoparsrule thanks for the info I have one question, what's the width and back spacing of your rim? I have an 8.75 out of a later A body as I'm sure you do. Bitchin ride by the way. What power plant?

Thanks for the feedback. My rims are 15x10, 5" backspace. My 8.75 is out of a C body. I had the housing cut, and the axles cut and re-splined.

It is still the reliable as heck Slant-6. I wanted to get the brakes and subframe connectors, etc done before I started the engine swap.

Thanks,
OldMoparsRule!
 
Does anybody make subframe connectors for our years or do you have to make them from scratch? I'm guessing scratch probably. So I guess I should probably buy one of those wheel offset simulators to make sure I order the right size rim because I'll be stuck with some wrong sized rims.
 
gtmopar,if you have a stock width A-body 8 3/4(52 5/8 housing end to end)with a 10 inch rim you will need 7.5 b.s.Rims are hard to find with this b.spacing,atleast 15 inch.This is why I had my rears narrowed for wider rims.Hope this helps some.:D
Early-A,s Rule!
 
I did my own sub frame connectors.......2X3" rectangular , and it comes up through the floor behind the drivers seat.
They butt up to the torsion bar cross member in front and enter the front of the rear subframe at the back.
Tying them into the floor really adds additional stiffness.
There are other ways and I seem to recall seeing kits for these cars too.
But it is a lot cheaper to do it your self.
I have seen round tube and 2X2 " that don't go through the floor , and there is a company that makes connectors that follow the contours of the floor pan with a "U" channel and weld to the bottom of the car that look pretty slick.
I can't recall who , but U.S. autobody rings a bell.
 
Used 2 x 3 rect tubing,
 

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