How Tall a Front Tire Can I Go On My 74 Duster?

Done with getting the rear tires I want so on with the front. I have P215-60/15 BF Goodrich T/A's on the front now that seem small. Anyone try putting P215-70/15's up front on their Duster w/o rub on the fenders? I have 61C Cragar SS's, 15X7 with 4" back space.

I had 225-70/15 Goodrich T/A's on factory style rally's and they really filled out the wheel well very nicely. However when backing out of my drive way I got a slight fender rub when cranked all the way to the left. My driveway had a fair grade, and that is the only time it ever rubbed, backing out of my driveway, nowhere else.

I have 225-60/15 Goodrich T/A's on rally's wheels on my '75 Valiant Brougham, no problems. I know, not a Duster, but similar.

IMHO, installing anything fatter than a 215 on a true 7"wheel, would be a waste as at proper tire pressure, it will push the center ribs up, and they will take all the wear. Therefore, to get a long tire life, you will have to begin to reduce your tire pressure. and away goes your handling.

and BTW
Have you run those 4"bs wheels before?
I tried that on my 68 Barracuda, and 235s come dangerously close to rubbing either on the Strut rods or on the Frame , just at ride height, never mind at full jounce/rebound or most importantly, while braking.
I realize Your Duster has a slightly wider track, so maybe it won't be an issue; still, you might want to consider it.
Whereas to "how tall"?
215/70-15s math to about 26.9 tall, which is pushing it.
Personally, I'm not a fan of that look, but it does make charging over speed bumps easier on "under the steering" headers.
and Lord knows I love to charge those things, lol.

AJ/FormS said:

IMHO, installing anything fatter than a 215 on a true 7"wheel, would be a waste as at proper tire pressure, it will push the center ribs up, and they will take all the wear. Therefore, to get a long tire life, you will have to begin to reduce your tire pressure. and away goes your handling.

and BTW
Have you run those 4"bs wheels before?
I tried that on my 68 Barracuda, and 235s come dangerously close to rubbing either on the Strut rods or on the Frame , just at ride height, never mind at full jounce/rebound or most importantly, while braking.
I realize Your Duster has a slightly wider track, so maybe it won't be an issue; still, you might want to consider it.
Whereas to "how tall"?
215/70-15s math to about 26.9 tall, which is pushing it.
Personally, I'm not a fan of that look, but it does make charging over speed bumps easier on "under the steering" headers.
and Lord knows I love to charge those things, lol.

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I do have the same 61C wheels but SB and Mastercraft tires on my 68 Barracuda with P215-65/15’s on the front. Was going to go the same route on the front of my Duster with BB 61C’s and T/As but am just curious if the taller 70’s would work with no rub.

TimS said:

Done with getting the rear tires I want so on with the front. I have P215-60/15 BF Goodrich T/A's on the front now that seem small. Anyone try putting P215-70/15's up front on their Duster w/o rub on the fenders? I have 61C Cragar SS's, 15X7 with 4" back space.

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I had 225/60/15’s on my ‘74 Duster on 15x7’s with a 4.25” backspace. That’s with BBP disks. No issues.

Tire height is VERY ride height dependent, but if you go too much past 26” tall it’s common to have issues.

You can get BFG TA’s and Cooper Cobra’s in 215/65/15, they’re right at 26” tall. That’s still more than 3/4” taller than the 215/60/15’s, and shouldn’t cause you any clearance issues.

AJ/FormS said:

IMHO, installing anything fatter than a 215 on a true 7"wheel, would be a waste as at proper tire pressure, it will push the center ribs up, and they will take all the wear. Therefore, to get a long tire life, you will have to begin to reduce your tire pressure. and away goes your handling.

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Hogwash. The measuring rim for a 225/60/15 is a 15x6.5”, so BFG thinks that’s the ideal width. The manufacturer recommended width range is 6”-8”, which means all warranties would apply to a 225/60/15 on a 15x6”. Think they’d recommend that if it was gonna cost them money?

A 225/60/15 on a 15x7 has no tread wear issues at proper tire pressure, and absolutely no ill-handling effects. That’s combination is dead center, straight down the middle of the recommended range.

SpikeWills69 said:

I had 225-70/15 Goodrich T/A's on factory style rally's and they really filled out the wheel well very nicely. However when backing out of my drive way I got a slight fender rub when cranked all the way to the left. My driveway had a fair grade, and that is the only time it ever rubbed, backing out of my driveway, nowhere else.

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Are these on a Duster? Sounds promising.

TimS said:

Are these on a Duster? Sounds promising.

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Barracuda’s have less space to the front lower corner of the fender opening. Pretty much anything taller than 26” will rub on a barracuda unless you’re running at 4x4 height.

I would like to use the P215-70/15’s that are 26.65” tall. The 65-15’s I know will work that are 26” tall.

On Krusty, a 28" front-runner is too tall for comfort. My 26" versions fit nicely. I'm gonna look for a 27", next time.

TimS said:

I would like to use the P215-70/15’s that are 26.65” tall. The 65-15’s I know will work that are 26” tall.

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I really don’t think that will fit a Barracuda.

I know these are wider tires, but there are multiple members that have done this modification on their Barracuda’s just to fit 26” tires. Unless you use super narrow tires 26” is about all you’re going to clear without modifications

1968 Barracuda Front Fender Modification for 26" Tires

actually,
a 225 has a section width of ~8.86inch. With a checking size of 70%, this is thus 6.2 which rounds to 6 inches.
Doing the math backwards
for a 7" wheel, I get
7/.7=10 and 10 x 25.4=255 tire size. IMHO, that's ridiculous. Ima putting that on an 8 incher.
But the truth is, a checking rim is only used to determine the accuracy of the branded tire size; and nottachance would I run a wheel-width according to the checking percent.....and the reason is this;
>In that case, a 295 would go on an 8"rim, and I can tell you flat out, that if you do that, you'll run the centers off real quick, . Even on 10s I gotta drop the pressure down to 24psi, to get decent tread life. Lessee , my math says a 10" is 86% of 295, and like I said, it's borderline too narrow.
>When I used to run 275s, I ran them to bald on 8.5s which is 78.5%, and guess what, I had to run them at a reduced pressure to keep from burning the centers off.
>I have for over two decades, and will continue to, run 235s on 7.5s, which is 81% but the pressure has to be reduced to 28/29
>Therefore, in my experience, to run a 225, I'm gunna use a 7.5 wheel, which is 84.7%.
> when I was growing up, long before we had ever heard of metric tires, I worked in a Major Canadian-chain tire-shop. The rule of thumb there was, the wheel width should be about equal to the tread width. Guess what the tread width of a 295 is. Course in those days, Polyglass tires had sharply defined corners; while bias ply tires were a bit more of a guessing game....... sortof like radials.
>You like the 70% rule?
That's your choice/your opinion;
but I sure wouldn't preach it as the be-all/end-all; and I don't give a hogwash about a manufacturer's recommendation that has a 2inch stinking hogwash-window.
In my barn, I use the 85% rule. That's my choice/my opinion. Which is based on good old-fashioned empirical testing, in 55years of experience. This rule spits out a pretty accurate number, and the tire-pressure seals the deal.

On another note;
Why does it always have to be an argument with you?
How about you just check in, state your opinion, and check out; and not denounce another man's opinion.
Let the OP evaluate whatever opinions are offered, and let him make his decision.

AJ/FormS said:

On another note;
Why does it always have to be an argument with you?
How about you just check in, state your opinion, and check out; and not denounce another man's opinion.
Let the OP evaluate whatever opinions are offered, and let him make his decision.

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Pot, kettle, black and all that. You're the last one who always comes back to argue.

AJ/FormS said:

actually,
a 225 has a section width of ~8.86inch. With a checking size of 70%, this is thus 6.2 which rounds to 6 inches.
Doing the math backwards
for a 7" wheel, I get
7/.7=10 and 10 x 25.4=255 tire size. IMHO, that's ridiculous. Ima putting that on an 8 incher.
But the truth is, a checking rim is only used to determine the accuracy of the branded tire size; and nottachance would I run a wheel-width according to the checking percent.....and the reason is this;
>In that case, a 295 would go on an 8"rim, and I can tell you flat out, that if you do that, you'll run the centers off real quick, . Even on 10s I gotta drop the pressure down to 24psi, to get decent tread life. Lessee , my math says a 10" is 86% of 295, and like I said, it's borderline too narrow.
>When I used to run 275s, I ran them to bald on 8.5s which is 78.5%, and guess what, I had to run them at a reduced pressure to keep from burning the centers off.
>I have for over two decades, and will continue to, run 235s on 7.5s, which is 81% but the pressure has to be reduced to 28/29
>Therefore, in my experience, to run a 225, I'm gunna use a 7.5 wheel, which is 84.7%.
> when I was growing up, long before we had ever heard of metric tires, I worked in a Major Canadian-chain tire-shop. The rule of thumb there was, the wheel width should be about equal to the tread width. Guess what the tread width of a 295 is. Course in those days, Polyglass tires had sharply defined corners; while bias ply tires were a bit more of a guessing game....... sortof like radials.
>You like the 70% rule?
That's your choice/your opinion;
but I sure wouldn't preach it as the be-all/end-all; and I don't give a hogwash about a manufacturer's recommendation that has a 2inch stinking hogwash-window.
In my barn, I use the 85% rule. That's my choice/my opinion. Which is based on good old-fashioned empirical testing, in 55years of experience. This rule spits out a pretty accurate number, and the tire-pressure seals the deal.

On another note;
Why does it always have to be an argument with you?
How about you just check in, state your opinion, and check out; and not denounce another man's opinion.
Let the OP evaluate whatever opinions are offered, and let him make his decision.

Click to expand...

AJ, I’m going to make this really simple.

Between a guy that “worked in a tire shop” what sounds like many decades ago, and the engineers that work for BF Goodrich, I’m going to go with the people that actually make the tires. They’re the experts.

I don’t care what size wheels you put your tires on. Couldn’t care less. But you said putting a 225/60/15 on a 15x7 would cause poor handling, and that’s absolute hogwash.

TimS said:

Are these on a Duster? Sounds promising.

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Yes, they were on my 74 Duster. I sold the car a while back. I am trying to find more photos, but the tan one is (was) mine.

Cut the tops of the fenders out and put 44s on it.

72bluNblu said:

Barracuda’s have less space to the front lower corner of the fender opening. Pretty much anything taller than 26” will rub on a barracuda unless you’re running at 4x4 height.

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They won’t fit a Barracuda but will 26.65” tires fit a Duster?

TimS said:

They won’t fit a Barracuda but will 26.65” tires fit a Duster?

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They wouldn't have fit mine. Maybe a skinny enough tire and a wheel with enough backspace to get it away from the fender and enough ride height.

With 225/60/15's and a 4.25" backspace on 15x7's with the 73+ disks I was pretty close to the rear corner of the fender opening on my Duster. I'm sure I could have cleared 26" tires, but frankly I don't think anything much taller than that would have cleared.