Wheel Size Question.

67notchb said
Being new to mopars and cars in general the importance of backspacing is not lost on me but hearing others experience and opinions is a much bigger help than doing it myself. Sound advise and experience given off my measurements is why I come here and many people seek out 72bluNblu just for that reason. On that note I have another question, A-R 515 wheels and even others come in a 4.81" BS size, would that be a good option for the rear with a .25 spacer with plenty of stud engagement or would the 4" BS be a better option? I saw a picture of your challenger with the vision 17 and they did look really good, Id prefer polished wheels but still considering those. Thanks again

In your particular case I think the 4” backspace would fit better. But spacers aren’t a big deal at all as long as you use properly fitting spacers and long enough studs to get the proper thread engagement on the lug nuts. My cars have been lug centric for over 100k now between them. Most aftermarket wheels are, and those little hub centric rings are a joke for most applications.

With a 4.81” backspace you’d still probably need spacers with 245’s. They might be a touch thinner, but it would one that much. With 245’s you’d also be safer with the 4” backspace though. You could run 245’s all the way around, see how they fit, and next set of tires go 255’s in the back if you have the room.

A 1/4” is as big as I like to go for a spacer though. The spacer/adaptors that start at about 3/4 thick and have their own lug studs are fine, less than a 1/4” plain spacer is fine. Between 1/4”-3/4” is no mans land for me, I don’t like plain spacers that thick and it’s too thin for a separate set of studs.

The only other thing is the rear brakes. If you’re considering converting to rear disks you should go with more backspace. Rear disk kits usually add about a 1/4” of width to each side. With your 4” backspace wheels you’d have no extra clearance to do that, you’d need new wheels again if you added rear disks. With the 4.81’s you’d need a spacer with your current drum brakes, but if you added disks you could toss the spacers and not need new wheels.