1974 duster wheel ideas

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RogerCox

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Hey guys,

Just got a 74 duster, looking for some wheel ideas.
Have a set of 15” American Racing torq thrust wheels, think they look good. Wondering what some 17-18” wheels would look like, please share some photos, would love to see so more options.
 


Really like these Us mag rambler wheels. Can anyone guess the wheel size and tire size front and rear on this?
 
RogerCox said:
Hey guys,

Just got a 74 duster, looking for some wheel ideas.
Have a set of 15” American Racing torq thrust wheels, think they look good. Wondering what some 17-18” wheels would look like, please share some photos, would love to see so more options.
Click to expand...

honestly, anything over 15 looks like it doesnt belong on a classic car

but since, that is just one man's opinion, check out this thread

18" Wheels post pictures of your mopar on 18" rims | For A Bodies Only Mopar Forum
 
Found the answer to my own questions haha. There 15” wheels, and tire specs in photo.
Thanks for that link- was thinking 17”

A13DF5F8-3E82-47DD-B425-F77587FD0671.png
 
RogerCox said:
Found the answer to my own questions haha. There 15” wheels, and tire specs in photo.
Thanks for that link- was thinking 17”

View attachment 1715674007
Click to expand...

I would be cautious of running those wheels because of the specs they're available with.

The fronts are 15x7's with a 4" backspace, which isn't really enough. Especially for 235/60/15's. Which is why the wheels look like they do on that car. The ride height has been raised to keep them from rubbing on the fenders. That's actually a pretty tall tire at 26.1" tall, but the sidewall looks small in the pictures because of how high the car is sitting. Lots of air between the tops of the tires and the fenders. That car is sitting higher than stock in the front.

Take a look at how far out the tires are in the fenders
Screen Shot 2021-01-20 at 11.23.57 AM.png


And look how much space above the tire there is. Those tires would rub if the car was even at the stock ride height. It's hard to tell because of the quality of the video, but it actually looks like there are scrape marks on the shoulders of those tires. Likely from before the car was raised with the torsion bar adjusters and the tires were rubbing on the fenders.
Screen Shot 2021-01-20 at 11.24.30 AM.png


Why am I so sure those tires can't be run at the stock ride height? Well, let me tell you. The wheels on that car stick out .4" further than the 18x9's with 275/35/18's on the front of my Duster. Even back before I lowered the front end of my car and rolled the fenders those wouldn't have even come close to fitting. This isn't quite the same angle, but you can see here how much more room there appears to be on my car to the fenders, even with 275/35/18's. And these are 25.6" tall tires, so you get an idea what the ride height on that black Duster must be to put that much air over the top of a set of 26.1" tall tires. You can also kind of see that the camber on those 15's on the black duster is wrong. It likely has slightly positive camber, which would be caused by raising the car with the torsion bar adjusters and not re-doing the alignment.
IMG_5312.jpeg


The 255/60/15's on the back of that car are also 27" tall, and also have a significant air gap between the body and the tires. You can also see how high the rockers are off the floor in that video. The Duster in that link is sitting up at 4x4 height, those wheels don't actually fit in the front. You could drive that thing straight over the top of a parking block at the grocery store and still have clearance to spare.

If you get wheels that fit right, they will look right. Regardless of them being 15's, 17's, 18's etc. The 15's on that black duster do NOT look right, and not because they're 15's, but because they'd don't fit right and the car isn't sitting right.

17's on my Challenger
img_3015-jpeg.jpg

18's on my Duster (turned Demon)
img_9963-jpeg.jpg
 
72bluNblu said:
I would be cautious of running those wheels because of the specs they're available with.

The fronts are 15x7's with a 4" backspace, which isn't really enough. Especially for 235/60/15's. Which is why the wheels look like they do on that car. The ride height has been raised to keep them from rubbing on the fenders. That's actually a pretty tall tire at 26.1" tall, but the sidewall looks small in the pictures because of how high the car is sitting. Lots of air between the tops of the tires and the fenders. That car is sitting higher than stock in the front.

Take a look at how far out the tires are in the fenders
View attachment 1715674093

And look how much space above the tire there is. Those tires would rub if the car was even at the stock ride height. It's hard to tell because of the quality of the video, but it actually looks like there are scrape marks on the shoulders of those tires. Likely from before the car was raised with the torsion bar adjusters and the tires were rubbing on the fenders.
View attachment 1715674094

Why am I so sure those tires can't be run at the stock ride height? Well, let me tell you. The wheels on that car stick out .4" further than the 18x9's with 275/35/18's on the front of my Duster. Even back before I lowered the front end of my car and rolled the fenders those wouldn't have even come close to fitting. This isn't quite the same angle, but you can see here how much more room there appears to be on my car to the fenders, even with 275/35/18's. And these are 25.6" tall tires, so you get an idea what the ride height on that black Duster must be to put that much air over the top of a set of 26.1" tall tires. You can also kind of see that the camber on those 15's on the black duster is wrong. It likely has slightly positive camber, which would be caused by raising the car with the torsion bar adjusters and not re-doing the alignment.
View attachment 1715674099

The 255/60/15's on the back of that car are also 27" tall, and also have a significant air gap between the body and the tires. You can also see how high the rockers are off the floor in that video. The Duster in that link is sitting up at 4x4 height, those wheels don't actually fit in the front. You could drive that thing straight over the top of a parking block at the grocery store and still have clearance to spare.

If you get wheels that fit right, they will look right. Regardless of them being 15's, 17's, 18's etc. The 15's on that black duster do NOT look right, and not because they're 15's, but because they'd don't fit right and the car isn't sitting right.

17's on my Challenger
View attachment 1715674107
18's on my Duster (turned Demon)
View attachment 1715674108
Click to expand...


Man love those 18” wheels on your duster!! I agree Im more worried about having to much poke in the rear, I like them to be just slightly inside the fenders.

I have gerst tubular K member for front, and am cutting down a Dana 60 in the rear, so not worried about figment in the rear.

which wheels are those and what tire size/brand would you recommend as final choice?
 
RogerCox said:
Man love those 18” wheels on your duster!! I agree Im more worried about having to much poke in the rear, I like them to be just slightly inside the fenders.

I have gerst tubular K member for front, and am cutting down a Dana 60 in the rear, so not worried about figment in the rear.

which wheels are those and what tire size/brand would you recommend as final choice?
Click to expand...
I’d email Carl about the Gerst and running 17” rims. I think they hit the upper ball joint they will on my Gerst but it’s a drop spindle set up.
 
Dartsun said:
I’d email Carl about the Gerst and running 17” rims. I think they hit the upper ball joint they will on my Gerst but it’s a drop spindle set up.
Click to expand...

Thanks man- I’ll check with him. I Probabaly won’t run that wide, I was thinking 275 rear and 235 or 245 front. What tires are you running and how do they hook up?
 
RogerCox said:
Man love those 18” wheels on your duster!! I agree Im more worried about having to much poke in the rear, I like them to be just slightly inside the fenders.

I have gerst tubular K member for front, and am cutting down a Dana 60 in the rear, so not worried about figment in the rear.

which wheels are those and what tire size/brand would you recommend as final choice?
Click to expand...

So first, talk to Gerst about what fits and how that suspension changes the front track width. I run a factory '74 V8 k-frame (reinforced of course) with the factory style torsion bar suspension. Other than the K-frame and spindles pretty much everything else is aftermarket parts, but the track width is basically factory. I know that compared to the 73+ track width the RMS and HDK set ups don't significantly widen anything, but I'm not sure about the Gerst. All of them tend to increase the turning radius. With 18's on a factory style suspension all the suspension parts clear or fit inside the rim, so you can go with the big backspaces needed to run much wider tires.

With that said, the wheels on my Duster are Enkei RPF1's. The fronts are 18x9 +35 and the rears are 18x10 +38's. I also have DoctorDiff's 13" cobra style front disk brake kit, which adds about 5/16" to the track compared to a stock '73+ disk set up.

The tires are now Falken Azeni RT615K+'s, which have a treadwear of 200. Front's are 275/35/18 and rears are 295/40/18. They grip really well, even compared to the BFG KDW 2's I had on the car before. I've been happily surprised that they grip well even in the rain and cold, because they're summer performance tires and usually the grip drops off when the temps are below about 45°.

As for tires, I look for performance tires that have treadwear ratings between 200 and about 340 with wet traction ratings of A or AA and temp rating of A. Basically I go to tirerack and looks for "extreme" or "max" performance summer tires. Pretty much all of the tires that are in those categories with a treadwear between 200-340 are good tires, they don't all have a lot of sizes available so your tire size choice will play a big role in what your options are. I wanted taller tires in the back this time around and the 275/35/18 in conjunction with the 295/40/18 only left the Falken's. But the 295's in the back really narrow the field. As long as you stay away from stuff with treadwear ratings over 400 you should do pretty well.

Which is also why I don't run 15's anymore. Nothing street legal in a 15" rim that you can get in decent sizes and a treadwear under 400. The BFG T/A's and Cobra's are absolute hockey pucks compared to the modern tires I've run.
 
RogerCox said:
Thanks man- I’ll check with him. I Probabaly won’t run that wide, I was thinking 275 rear and 235 or 245 front. What tires are you running and how do they hook up?
Click to expand...
My car is a complete project heap. I plan on running an 18” rim at some point with 275 Rear and 235ish up front. As of now it sits in pieces.
 
89on35s said:
I thought so too until I replaced them with the Centerline.

Cley
Click to expand...
I blame Revell for my dislike of centerlines
That is thier go to wheel with every single kit, and I just grew tired of em

(Now, I do have a real nice set in the shed, with great tires, but no car to put them on)
 
I had a set of slots on my cars in the seventies, early eighties. Liked 'em then, dont care for them at all now. My least favorite wheel. My personal opinion only.
 
Street legal,DOT tires.....

:lol::rofl:

When my car is parked I can hear the tires wearing out but they sure do hook up.
 
Cope said:
Street legal,DOT tires.....

:lol::rofl:

When my car is parked I can hear the tires wearing out but they sure do hook up.
Click to expand...

Yeah it’s all fun and games until you hydroplane and take out a pole. Or someone hits you, the CHP cites you for the illegal tires and the whole thing goes on your tab because of the citation. Yeah, it can work like that, doesn’t even have to be your fault.

My tires hook great, I can still drive every day (even if it rains!) and not worry about a damn thing. Stops on a dime, my brakes won’t even fit into a 15” rim. Oh and it’ll turn corners too. 15’s just neuter your performance for an outdated “look”.
 
Had a set of AR torq thrust 15” wheels I put on just to test. On stock axle and only 235 front tire, I needed 1.5” more of backspace. Which would be 5.25” BS for only 235mm. Where do I even find wheels with that much backspace??

will ridler or enkei make custom wheels to specific BS?
 
RogerCox said:
Had a set of AR torq thrust 15” wheels I put on just to test. On stock axle and only 235 front tire, I needed 1.5” more of backspace. Which would be 5.25” BS for only 235mm. Where do I even find wheels with that much backspace??

will ridler or enkei make custom wheels to specific BS?
Click to expand...

In 15’s that would have to be a custom rim. And it wouldn’t fit up front anyway, with a 15” rim much more than 4.5” of backspace puts the rim into the ball joints and brake parts, they hit hard parts.

A 17” rim is needed to get past 5” of backspace up front, most 17’s are good up to about 5.6” of backspace up front. Some do a little better than that but the outer tie rod end interferes if you go too far.

18” rims clear pretty much everything suspension wise, the outer tie rod end fits inside the lip of the rim. My Enkei’s are off the shelf, the fronts have 6.4” of backspace, which is an 18x9 with a +35 offset. The rears have 7” of backspace. Most 17” or larger wheels have a lot more backspace than 15’s do.
 
RogerCox said:
Had a set of AR torq thrust 15” wheels I put on just to test. On stock axle and only 235 front tire, I needed 1.5” more of backspace. Which would be 5.25” BS for only 235mm. Where do I even find wheels with that much backspace??

will ridler or enkei make custom wheels to specific BS?
Click to expand...
Check out late model mustang wheels, or rather, aftermarket wheels intended for late model mustangs. Same 5 on 4 1/2 pattern ( unlike late mopar wheels) and lots of backspace. Torque thrust m's (m for mustang.)
 
33IMP said:
Check out late model mustang wheels, or rather, aftermarket wheels intended for late model mustangs. Same 5 on 4 1/2 pattern ( unlike late mopar wheels) and lots of backspace. Torque thrust m's (m for mustang.)
Click to expand...


Oh thank you! I figure the more backspace the better, can always put a wheel spacer.

I do kinda like the idea of going 17-18” with a modern tire, really that much better hook up than BFG TA radials huh? Engine will be 500hp
 
If a raised white letter is mandatory, your choices go down in a hurry. I dont even know of any for wheels larger than fifteens, but there might be some.
From what i have read here and fbbo, most like the cooper cobra (if they can put up with the cobra/ford association) tho there is a Korean tire, cant remember the name, that some like too.
Time to do some research.
(I run t/a's just to run around on, for times when i want traction, i use either m/t e.t. streets, or real slicks.)
 
I couldn’t find much for raised white letters on anything 17” besides truck tires. There is a website called tirestickers.com you can put white raised stickers on tires.
 
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