66 Dart GT wheel quandary

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Jayman62

Jayman62

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My car came with mis-matched wheels. It's a 1966 Dart GT model with a slant, 9" drums all around. There's one SBP 14" rally with a R78-14 snow tire, one 14 inch steel with a 175R-14 on the back, two 13" on the front with B78-13. One 14 steel spare with a 14"

All the tires are trash but not sure where to go with the wheels, I love the rally wheel look but I have a full set of the original 13" hubcaps. If I get three extra rallys will they work in the front without rubbing, the one back R78-14 on the rally fits quiet nice, and doesn't rub.

Or do I switch to all 13's steel with the caps, and if I do that are the SBP 13's hard to find, and what about finding reasonable 13 inch tires? Are P175/75R13's going to work?

This car will be a weekend driver, no highway, just around town cruiser.

Thanks for opinions.

Jay
 
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I would go with the Rally. 14" wheels work good as long as the tires aren't too big. I can post a photo or two in a bit.
 
Small bolt circle Rally's are easy to find. Better to find them at swap meets. Saves a lot of freight. I don't remember what size tires I hve on these but I would guess 215 or 225 70 14's. I also have run 15x7's on the back with 225/70-15's.

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Here's the latest wheel/tire combo. The front wheels are skinny 15x4 1/2, the rears are 15x7. Front tires are 165 80 15 and the rears are 235 70 15. You have some options.

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toolmanmike said:
I would go with the Rally. 14" wheels work good as long as the tires aren't too big. I can post a photo or two in a bit.
Click to expand...
Thanks Mike, Love seeing pictures of your 66, makes me wish mine was further along. Anyway what is the width of the 14 inch Rally's?
 
I have a 64 Valiant that had been off the road since 1981. It had "new" 13" tires on it but they were date coded 1980. (185/80R13) The tires still had perfect nubs on them and because the guy I bought the car from never got it running had zero miles on them. They were included by the original owner but never mounted. So the guy who flipped the car to me had them mounted white walls in and they still had the blue stuff on the whitewalls. I thought it looked terrible on the black car so I had them remounted white walls out and used the 13" wheel covers. First Mopar show I went to it won second place out of 20 cars in the survivor class with 1st going to a Challenger. I should mention that all 4 tires were M&S and squealed around corners even at somewhat low speeds. I drove it that way for about a year.

I decided to go to Carlisle (700 miles total) and didn't trust those old tires on the turnpike so I went with a set of 14x5-1/2 Rallye wheels I had in my stash. Using the original 6.50x13 tire as a starting point I calculated the OD and came up with 185/70x14 as a good match. I bought Kumho tires from Tirerack and I'm still running them. They look good on the car and my GPS says the speedo is deadnuts accurate. 60 is 60, 50 is 50, etc. The difference they made over the 13" M & S tires is astounding. By the way, 13" rims are only 4-1/2" wide.

Regarding 14" rims on your car. 14" x 5-1/2" wheels were optional on Darts and Barracudas so you will have no problems. Factory K-H disc brskes require 14" wheels to clear anyway. Believe it or not, it is easier to find Rallye wheels than 14X5-1/2" black wheels these days. You could mount Rallyes and cover them with 14" full wheel covers and no one will be the wiser. Most wheel covers are cheap as not many people want them. You also might check into the optional 14" bolt-thru covers as they look very nice and would be correct.

P.S. If you want to stay with 13" I'll make you a deal on mine.
 
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Thanks for all the info Kosmic, great information, I'm leaning towards the Rally's but still not 100% decided so I may take you up on the offer for the 13's. Although I just heard of a new yard near me that has some older mopars, so it may be worth a trip there. If anyone has the right Rally's or 13's near the Philly area let me know.
 
If you don’t have a sure grip, save a 13 for a spare at least. It is about the only tire that will fit in the spare well without sticking up.
 
Here's my 64 with Rallyes. I have trim rings but they're extra weight and I spent a lot of time restoring the wheels and don't want to scratch them. I like them without the trim rings anyway.

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I think Rallye wheels look out of place on Early A's.

Sounds like you have 3- 14" steel wheels.
I would grab 1 more 14" wheel.
Add a set of 205/70-14 tires, plus a set of Dodge dog dishes, or no caps at all. Good to go.
 
Johnny Dart said:
I think Rallye wheels look out of place on Early A's.

Sounds like you have 3- 14" steel wheels.
I would grab 1 more 14" wheel.
Add a set of 205/70-14 tires, plus a set of Dodge dog dishes, or no caps at all. Good to go.
Click to expand...
Been there, done that.

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