1969 Dodge dart rear tire fitment ???

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motobro

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Will the Mickey Thompson Spirtsman S/T
255/60-15
Fit on the rear of my 69 dart. ???
15x7 stock steel.
Backspace unknown
Big Bolt pattern
Drums
Leaf springs in stock location
No tubs
The lip on the inner portion of rear quarters has been rolled flat by a previous owner.

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It'll be close, and it will depend entirely on the backspacing. A 255 is usually a stretch for a Dart with the stock wheel wells and spring locations, especially the pre-'70 cars. With the quarter lips rolled flat it will probably work for you, but your backspacing is going to need to be spot on. And if you're running an A-body 8 3/4 with BBP axles that means you'll probably need more backspace than the stock wheels had, most of the stock 15x7's had a 4.25" backspace, which is a +6 offset. With A-body 8 3/4s and BBP axles you typically want more like +12, which is 4.5" of backspace on a 15x7. It's 5" on a 15x8, but that's pushing the limits for backspace with the stock spring locations even with the BBP 8 3/4. But it's better to have a little more backspace and correct with a small spacer than not have enough and be into the quarters.

When you get the springs on you can use a square and a tape measure to figure on the straight line distance from the springs to the quarters. Once you've got that you can subtract about an inch (1/2" clearance on each side) and that will tell you the max section width you can run. On my '71 Dart I have 11" from the stock spring locations to the quarter lip, but the quarter lip is stock. Rolling it flat would give an extra 1/2" or more on my car, so, the 255's would work with the right backspace. But that's my car, and the pre-70 cars tend to be a little tighter for space. I also have 6" from the wheel mount to the spring on that car, which has an A-body 8 3/4 with BBP axles and drums. If you figure a 5" backspace plus a 1/2" of tire overhang that gives a 1/2" of clearance to the springs. On a 15x8" the tires you listed would have a .6" overhang (assuming the measured rim width they used to get that section width was a 15x8, which it probably was), so that would be about as tight as you wanted to make it to the springs by the math anyway.
 
The wheels are 15x7 with 4 1/4" backspace.
I mounted them on the axle and they are
1 3/4 away from the leaf springs and 1 1/2 from inside of the flattened lip on the quarter panel.
The 255/60x15s have a sectional width of 10.20 in their specs. Measuring from the center of the wheel, that puts me 5/8 of an inch from the leaf and 3/8 of an inch from the inside of the quarter panel. Thats if the tire will really blow up to 10.20" wide.
 
They'll probably be a little less than 10.2" because of the 7" rim, but that's still super tight. You can manage 3/8" to the springs (that's all I've got) but to the quarter that's really not enough.
 
Its looking like i may have to step down to the 245/60 it has a sectional width of 9.5 "

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If you don't want to change your rims that's the safer bet for sure. With that nice new paint job it would be a drag to be rubbing the quarters all the time. I mean it might be ok with the 255's on the 7" rim, but, it might rub too. And some of that depends on your suspension and ride height too. The 245's should be no problem at all, and if you run them for awhile and decide the 255's will fit you can always upgrade later down the line and have a nice burnout funeral for the 245's. :D
 
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