Guys, I am looking for some opinions. I am going to upgrade my wheels to get some modern rubber under my car and the old 14 inch coopers are due for replacement. I have decided to keep the small bolt pattern so I am limited to wheel choices and think I am going to go with polished show wheels streeters. Now the question is, do I go with 17 inchers all around or do I go with 17's in the front and 18's in the back. I am planning to go with a 215/50R17 tire in front and would really like to go with a 245 width tire in the rear. If I go with the 17s I will use a 245/50R17 and will mount it on a 7 inch wide rim to get the 6mm offset the streeters have in the 7 inch wide rim. The tires will fit pretty well dead center in the wheel well. If I go 18 in the rear I would like to fit a 245/45R18 but that size requires an 8 inch wide rim and the streeters only come with a 0 offset in that width. The 18 inch tire has a slightly smaller section width than the same width 17 due to the shorter sidewall but mounting to the wider rim pretty much cancels that out and it will fit standing still but will not be centered completely in the well and I will have only about .75 to a .5 inch to the wheel lip which may cause problems. I really like the look of the wider 8 inch wheel in the back showing more wheel lip but I am not sure I like the idea of the tire being so close to the fender lip. I would like some advise on what you guys think. I have put up some pictures of the car it is pretty well bone stock with a factory 8.75 rear and kh discs and sway bar up front. I am trying to modernize the look a little and like the style of pro touring cars but want to make sure the car can go back to original. Just tired with the stockish look for now so I added some fabricated valve covers under hood and think some new wheels and tires are needed to change the vibe of the car. Let me know what you guys think of the staggered 17/18 look. Thanks!
17s all around or 18s in back
- Thread starter BGTLS
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fstfish66
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IMO it looks killer the way it is,,,,put some finned valve covers on it and drive it,,,beautiful dart
It seems like you've done your homework. I'd go with the 17" wheels all around. Your tire sizes are definitely safe choices.
The 245/45R18 tires are about 26.7" tall. So, unless you jack up the rear or have larger tubs, I'm pretty sure you'll get some rub at the top of the wheel well. Especially where that little indent is.
If you get Streeters, I think the ones with the black centers will look the best on your car.
http://motechperformance.com/product/17-black-streeter/
The 245/45R18 tires are about 26.7" tall. So, unless you jack up the rear or have larger tubs, I'm pretty sure you'll get some rub at the top of the wheel well. Especially where that little indent is.
If you get Streeters, I think the ones with the black centers will look the best on your car.
http://motechperformance.com/product/17-black-streeter/
roccodart440
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x2 /\ /\ /\
My advice would be to buy offset shackles for the rear of your car. No tub, just offset shackles. Easy to install and they allow a 10.5" section width. I would also advise you to use spacers on the front leaf spring mount and move the rear end back at least a 1/2". I moved mine back 1.5".
I'm a big fan of the black and machined look.
You can see how it pulls the black stripe (3rd pic), vinyl top and black interior all together.
I've got 17x8 on the front 18x8 on the rear back space is 4.5 on both with 225/45/17 and 235/40/18. Stock suspension no rubbing front or rear even with the torsion bars cranked down. Think I could go a size or two wider with no problems
roccodart440
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Just my 2 cents. The stagger wheel look works great on some vehicles. I don't really care from it on a dart due to the wheel openings. Also, when you do a stagger, typicaly you use a 2" drop. I.e. 20's in back, 18's up front, etc.
That ornage dart looks god. But you almost don't notice the stagger
That ornage dart looks god. But you almost don't notice the stagger
I run 4 of same so I can rotate them regularly and get my moneys worth out of them. Tires cost too much. But hey, If you'll smoke away the rear tires faster than you wear the corners off the front tires, ignore my comment.
roccodart440
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Great point
They do make your existing wheels in 17" now... Just saying.
Please ditch the white letters!
I mostly agree. I'd run 17's all the way around. If you want a taller sidewall out back you could run a 245/50/17. I wouldn't worry about the 26.7" tall tire, it should fit ok with everything in the stock locations in the back. I was going to say that +6 might not be enough offset to run a 245 in the back, but I see you're keeping the SBP so actually that should be fine. Most of the BBP guys are using more like +13 to +18, but the BBP axles add about 5/16" (7 to 8mm) to the width of the axle.
The 18x8" wide rim with 0 offset would be pretty tight with a 245. Again, because you have the SBP axles it might be possible, but I think you'd have to trim back the quarter lip to keep it from rubbing.
16's are a disaster. They don't allow for any additional backspace compared to a 15", so you're still stuck with a 7" rim up front and nothing really wider than a 235. And good luck finding any kind of decent tire, there's even less selection than in a 15" rim. And that's basically already nothing if you don't want hockey pucks.
Sort of. The Year One Rallye's don't come in the right backspace for an A-body. Best you can do is 17x8 with a 4.5" backspace (and BBP, which won't work for the OP). With that backspace on an A-body the widest tire you'd be able to run is a 225, which pretty much completely defeats the point of going to an 8" wide rim. All assuming that you're not running at 4WD ride height of course.
Thanks everyone for the kind words about the car and the suggestions on wheel size. I think you guys have made up my mind to go 17s all around. That was my original plan until I saw a chevelle rolling around town on a 17/18 stagger. It looks great, but I think to fit the car, 17s all around are the right way to go. I am going to look into seeing if I can get the 17x8 streeters in sbp with a +6 offset for the rear. That is not the standard size but I know some places stock blanks and drill them when ordered and the stock bbp 17x8 streeter has the +6 offset, I would just need them to drill that blank with the sbp. If that is not possible then I am stuck with the 7 inch wide rear wheels. A +6 offset just fits better than a 0 offset and if I am going to have the tire sit closer to the leaf spring or fender lip I choose the spring because it moves with tire when it flexes around corners where the fender lip does not. 215/50r17 and 245/50r17 tires should fit especially if I use the planned General g-max tires that my local dealer can get for me. Their 245/50r17 rear has a spec of only 26.3 inches tall and a little narrower section width than some other tires of similar size. Now your posts bring up another question though. Originally I planned to go with the black centered streeters but over the last month or so and looking up some pics of yellow cars with black vs polished wheels the polished finish has grown on me and I am leaning that way. The black just does not seem to stand out as much and the wheel center design just seem to get lost to me. That does not mean I can not be swayed though so lets hear your thoughts or see some pics preferably of yellow cars with either black or polished wheels. Here is a couple pics of a dart with polished wheels maybe some of you with photoshop skills can do your thing to change the centers to black. It is not my car and just a couple pics I found while looking at other cars. Thanks again for the help and kind words!
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