What's the widest wheel and offset that will fit on 68 cuda

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growdude

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What is the widest wheel and tire combo that will fit a 68 notch back cuda ,pics appreciated.
 

Is it an A-body 8 3/4? With stock A-body width?

What diameter rims are you wanting to run?

Are you just asking about rear wheels?

Is the body raked up at all in the back? Lowered, stock, worn original springs, SS springs, aftermarket. Do you have a side picture of he car's stance?

Have you or are you willing to roll the upper fender lips?
 
I'm thinking 4-1/2" BS would best case or maybe even a touch too close. But really you need to measure to be sure what will fit.
It's not difficult. Bolt a straight edge on the lugs and measure. Once you know the numbers subtract room for clearance. Check BOTH sides as they will vary.........

upload_2017-7-18_12-14-42-png-png.png
 
I'm thinking 4-1/2" BS would best case or maybe even a touch too close. But really you need to measure to be sure what will fit.
It's not difficult. Bolt a straight edge on the lugs and measure. Once you know the numbers subtract room for clearance. Check BOTH sides as they will vary.........

View attachment 1715081749

In the rear:

245/60/15 with 15x7 rim with 4.25" backspace. If it's the orignal small bolt pattern it might need 1/4" spacer.

If it has new large bolt conversion axle it won't need spacer.

If you roll the outer lip, you should be able to run 15x8 4.5" backspace. And get a 265/50/15 or 275/50/15 in there.

When you are pushing the limits, every car is a little different. Especailly considering any collision or rust repair in the last 40 years you might not know about.

With stock a body 8 3/4 rear end with stock small pattern axles redrilled for large pattern (same width as SBP) on my 68 Barracuda I've ran:

225/60/15 15x7 4.25 backspace. Original old 340 springs

225/50/15 15x7 4.25 backspace. Original old 340 springs

245/50/15 slightly wider than normal autox race tires. 15x7 4.25 backspace. Original old 340 springs

235/60/15 15x7 4.25 backspace. Original old 340 springs

245/50/15 15x8 4.5 backspace. Original old 340 springs

245/50/15 15x9 4.125 backspace. completely rolled upper outer lips. Still some tiny rubbing w/Hotchiss rear lowered springs.

In chronological order.
 
If you do the rear offsets and roll the lip you should be able to fit a 295 in the rear.... with the proper back spacing that is
 
If you do the rear offsets and roll the lip you should be able to fit a 295 in the rear.... with the proper back spacing that is

Is that a car with some rear rake to it. Is the top of the rear tire just a little under the top fender lip?
 
I'm running 275x60x15 555R Nitto Drag radial on a 15x8" with 4.50 BS and 002/003 SS springs. This is on a 68 Barracuda.

My 68 Barracuda-5.jpg


My 68 Barracuda-7.jpg
 
Lowered with hotckis springs.... car sits pretty low and flat....i run a 285 right now but can fit a 295.View attachment 1715081865

On a Barracuda there's more room on the outer side. When you start going wider the backspace needs to decrease a little.

The lower profile tire don't have the side bulge as a 275/60/15. And the 60 series fat tires will side flex when cornering.


Kris,
Are the top fender lips rolled?

Those ET are my next rims. What diameter/width and backspace rims. What tires: Rear AND Front?

What rear end width and brakes?

What front brakes? Stock spindles?
 
Well, a couple of years ago to make all this measurement stuff easier....

I just bought a set of original 68 Barracuda notchback wheel wells out of a car my friend was parting out.

So maybe I should put them to work!

Some pics I just took earlier and just now:

IMG_7406.JPG


IMG_7407.JPG


IMG_7409.JPG


IMG_7405.JPG
 
There's 12" from inner fender vertical to uncut outside 1/4 lip.

BUT, the limit really is this shallow outside wheel well ledge/indentation.

IMG_7407.JPG


IMG_7404.JPG
 
More measurements showing shape of the wheel well where it will run first on top.

IMG_7410.JPG


IMG_7411.JPG


IMG_7423.JPG


IMG_7421.JPG
 
On a Barracuda there's more room on the outer side. When you start going wider the backspace needs to decrease a little.

The lower profile tire don't have the side bulge as a 275/60/15. And the 60 series fat tires will side flex when cornering.


Kris,
Are the top fender lips rolled?

Those ET are my next rims. What diameter/width and backspace rims. What tires: Rear AND Front?

What rear end width and brakes?

What front brakes? Stock spindles?
ahhh, didnt assume he was staying with a smaller diameter wheel. So yeah the sidewall flex will hurt him much more then someone running a 17 or 18 :)

yeah i rolled the Lips almost flat up top. Also running a dana 60 (hub to hub measurement was 57 1/2) in the rear with QA1 adjustable shocks and Hellwig rear sway bar and Dr diff offset shackle kit to work with the hotchkis leafs. Up front im running PST tubular UCA and QA1 Tubular LCA with QA1 strut bars and PST torsion bars and QA1 adjustable shocks. Below are the specs from my order.

up front im running a 245/40/18 (tire is slightly stretched on the rim, will get 255 on the next order) and in the rear i am running a 285/40/18 (was going to go 295 but tire rack was getting rid of the 2016 cont extreme contact tires and only cost me 120.00/ea rear tire, couldnt pass the deal up) the rear section width measures almost the same as my buddys 295 bfg's. i am running the 73+ disk brake setup.


· Bolt pattern – 5x114.3

· Thread pitch for lugs – ½ lugs

· Center bore for hubs on vehicle -2.85”

· Lug style (acorn or mag) - Acorn

· Backspace – 18x9.5 HP (6.5 Backspace), 18x10s ( 5.5 Backspace)

but yea if you have any other questions let me know. and i love the ET wheels. the finish and quality is excellent, have been very happy with the purchase!

Kris
 
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More measurements showing shape of the wheel well where it will run first on top.

View attachment 1715081883

View attachment 1715081884

View attachment 1715081885

View attachment 1715081886

That's interesting. I wonder if you lost some space by having those parts off of the car? Like, maybe they're stretched a bit when welded into the chassis.

I know that AJ/FormS had his fastback measured at 13.25" from inner wheel tub to outer, below that bump in the outer so you'd lose room there still. But your measurements would put the absolute max at about 12.5".

Maybe the fastback and notch's really are different in the wheel tubs...
 
That's interesting. I wonder if you lost some space by having those parts off of the car? Like, maybe they're stretched a bit when welded into the chassis.

I know that AJ/FormS had his fastback measured at 13.25" from inner wheel tub to outer, below that bump in the outer so you'd lose room there still. But your measurements would put the absolute max at about 12.5".

Maybe the fastback and notch's really are different in the wheel tubs...

I've got access to a 68 fastback with original unrusted 1/4's. It's stripped as a shell, so would be an easy measurement.

And later this week I could take a rear wheel off my Barracuda notchback. It's got original 1/4's too.
 
I've got access to a 68 fastback with original unrusted 1/4's. It's stripped as a shell, so would be an easy measurement.

And later this week I could take a rear wheel off my Barracuda notchback. It's got original 1/4's too.

Yeah I'm a little curious, the measurements AJ took from his fastback match my Duster almost exactly. Within the standard body tolerances these cars have anyway. Your measurements are almost the same as my '71 Dart, which got me thinking maybe the notch's used the other outer wheelhouses. I was operating under the impression that the Barracuda's were pretty much identical to the Duster/Demon/Dart Sport wheel houses. I don't know why the notch's and fastbacks would be different though. The inner wheelhouses are all the basically the same '67+, the outers were different by body style. But I would have thought the quarters on the fastback's and the notch's would have been in the same place at least. They came from different tooling though, so maybe not.

Like how the 67-69 darts seem to have a little less room than the '70+ Darts. The frame rails and quarters should all be in the same place, but the tooling for the quarters changed because of the re-design and the 70+ Darts seem to have a bit more space than the 67-69 cars. Not a ton and there are exceptions, but the 70+ run on the wide side of the normal body tolerance while the 67-69 Darts seem to run on the narrow side. I dunno.
 
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