17" wheel info needed

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Losi

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I know this topic has been beat to death.... tried finding some info in the other threads but links to build threads and articles seem to not load anymore...
So vehicle:
67 Barracuda Notchback
Front currently 5x4 stock with drums
Rear 8 3/4 Rear 5x4 Stock drums

Current plans"
Doctor diff 13" cobra front conversion to disc with large pattern
Rear new axles with larger pattern and there rear disc conversion kit....

I am interested in running these wheels RAMBLER
Rear 17x8 4.54 backspace advertised
front 17x7 4.04 Backspace advertised.

Are these wheels and specs doable ?????
Thanks in advance... or if there is any comparable better swaps available
 
Doable? Yes. But neither is really a great choice because they’ll limit your tire width pretty significantly.

Those brake kits will widen your track width even from the 73+ Mopar disks, which are already a significant increase in track width. Both work great, I run DoctorDiff’s 13” viper kit and 11.7” disks on my Duster.

But if you want to maximize your tire width you’ll need more backspace front and rear. You haven’t said what size tires you’ll like to run, but even if you’re not trying to run wide tires you’d want a least a little more backspace.
 
not trying to maximize tire size.. didn't mention a tire size because i have no clue currently... those wheels only come in that backspace it seems so was seeing if that would work.. 245/60/14 is currently what was in the rear so i suppose something comparable.
 
Losi said:
not trying to maximize tire size.. didn't mention a tire size because i have no clue currently... those wheels only come in that backspace it seems so was seeing if that would work.. 245/60/14 is currently what was in the rear so i suppose something comparable.
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The back isn’t as bad as the front. If you wanted to run a 245/45/17 or 245/50/17 in the back that would work with the backspace on that 17x8.

The front is a bigger issue. A 17x7 with only a 4” backspace will stick out further than the 18x9’s I run on my Duster. You’d probably be able to clear a tire up to about a 205, but even a 215 would give you less tire clearance than I’ve got with 275’s.
 
72bluNblu said:
Doable? Yes. But neither is really a great choice because they’ll limit your tire width pretty significantly.

Those brake kits will widen your track width even from the 73+ Mopar disks, which are already a significant increase in track width. Both work great, I run DoctorDiff’s 13” viper kit and 11.7” disks on my Duster.

But if you want to maximize your tire width you’ll need more backspace front and rear. You haven’t said what size tiret a least a little more backspac
Click to expand...

72bluNblu said:
The back isn’t as bad as the front. If you wanted to run a 245/45/17 or 245/50/17 in the back that would work with the backspace on that 17x8.

The front is a bigger issue. A 17x7 with only a 4” backspace will stick out further than the 18x9’s I run on my Duster. You’d probably be able to clear a tire up to about a 205, but even a 215 would give you less tire clearance than I’ve got with 275’s.
Click to expand...
The front is running currently a 215/60/14
 
Losi said:
The front is running currently a 215/60/14
Click to expand...

Sure, but you’re probably running 14x6’s. With the 73+ spindles you’re adding about 3/8” per side to the track width, with the 13” cobra’s you’re adding another 5/16’s, so your track width is going to increase by well over a 1/2” per side compared to your current SBP brakes.

Like I said, those 17’s are doable, but I wouldn’t be upgrading to 13” brakes to be stuck running 205/50/17’s. With a 17x8 in the front with 5” to 5.6” of backspace you could run 245’s up front if you wanted, rotate your tires and take advantage of those big brakes.
 
72bluNblu said:
Sure, but you’re probably running 14x6’s. With the 73+ spindles you’re adding about 3/8” per side to the track width, with the 13” cobra’s you’re adding another 5/16’s, so your track width is going to increase by well over a 1/2” per side compared to your current SBP brakes.

Like I said, those 17’s are doable, but I wouldn’t be upgrading to 13” brakes to be stuck running 205/50/17’s. With a 17x8 in the front with 5” to 5.6” of backspace you could run 245’s up front if you wanted, rotate your tires and take advantage of those big brakes.
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fronts would be 7's but i hear you on matching wheels to rotate.. i haven't been able to find a lot of wheels with that much backspace, maybe i need to look at 18's also?
 
I run Ridler wheels that look pretty close to the ones you’re looking at. They’re 18X8 with 4.5” backspacing. Tires are 235/40-18 all the way around. This is on my 71 Dart.
IMG_1719.jpeg
 
1971 CY Dodge Dart said:
I run Ridler wheels that look pretty close to the ones you’re looking at. They’re 18X8 with 4.5” backspacing. Tires are 235/40-18 all the way around. This is on my 71 Dart.
View attachment 1716170499
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@72bluNblu Would these work i feel like it would be the same situation or by going to 18" make it better??? does a dart have better wheel openings or is it because of the disc brake conversion
 
Losi said:
@72bluNblu Would these work i feel like it would be the same situation or by going to 18" make it better??? does a dart have better wheel openings or is it because of the disc brake conversion
Click to expand...

So that combination is actually worse than your 17x7’s with a 215.

A 235/40/18 with 4.5” of backspace puts the tire 10mm closer to the fender than my current set of 275’s, and the rim itself is 17mm closer to the fender. Those are shorter tires though, and it looks like his ride height is higher than mine. Which makes a big difference. But the way my car is set up and the way I drive my car on the street that combination would rub on my car.

18’s are typically a bit easier to find in higher offsets (more backspace). And unlike 17’s they won’t interfere with the outer tie rod end once you get to around 5.6” of backspace, so, with 18’s you can run even more backspace. Which is how I can run 18x9’s with 275/35/18’s up front, I run 6.2” of backspace. But other than selection they don’t change much unless you’re trying to go bigger than a 245 up front.

Some of my recommendations are definitely more conservative than what other people run on their cars. There’s two main reasons for that. My car sits pretty low, which really reduces clearance. The other is its daily driver status- it sees parking lots, speed bumps, steep pitches and driveways, Costco trips with heavy loads, etc and thousands of miles a year. That means I actually have to run clearance to keep the tires from rubbing, I don’t trailer it or just cruise local roads to the car show. So some folks can run less clearance than I do. But I run as much tire as will fit on my car without rubbing with the way it’s set up, and with the body tolerances on these cars there’s no guarantee that one person pushing the limits means it will work for somebody else.
 
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