Pro's and Con's of 7" rims up front

[68 Coronet RT]

What are the Pro's and Con's of running a 7" rim on the front of a 68 Dart with a 205/60/15 tire

 

[Fisher]

What are you running now? I am running 15x6 with 205/70/15 up front on my duster, car drives nice no complaints.

 

[Fisher]

They recommend a 5.5"- 7.5" rim for a 205/60/15

 

[Mopar Tim]

Issue I am having is the backspacing. With other then stock disc brakes, it is too wide, hits the lower fender turning. Am going to get a 17 inch by 7 rim with 4.87 Back spacing, hope it works. now have a 17 by 7 with 4 inch back space.

 

[68 Coronet RT]

What are you running now? I am running 15x6 with 205/70/15 up front on my duster, car drives nice no complaints.

I'm running 14" BBP rims with E70/14's (205/70/14) Bias Ply red lines, they were on the car when I bought it. Absolutely hate the way it handles with the Bias Ply tires. I was hoping to put the Cragar 510 series Mags on but Cragar discontinued the 15X6 wheel I can only get 15X7's. Would love to put 15X8's on the back but might have a clearance issue with the stock rear suspension. 68 and 69 Darts don't have the clearance that the 70 and up A bodies do in the rear. I have a set of Wheel Vintiques 500 Mag wheels 15X6's and 15X7's on order with Summit but delivery keeps getting pushed back.

 

[Fisher]

Oh yeah get rid of the bias ply tires, and go with radials all around. the car will drive way better. I had radials on the front and bias ply on the back, that was a huge mistake.

 

[AJ/FormS]

I run 7.5s on the front of my 68 Barracuda, with 235/60-14s, with lotsa clearance, if that helps. I think the bs is 3.75 or 3.375. They are circa the 70s,ET-IIs/Kidney-bean aluminum slots. I love those.
Mathematically they are 25.1 tall.... compared to your 205s at 24.7 tall

 

[68 Coronet RT]

I run 7.5s on the front of my 68 Barracuda, with 235/60-14s, with lotsa clearance, if that helps. I think the bs is 3.75 or 3.375. They are circa the 70s,ET-IIs/Kidney-bean aluminum slots. I love those.
Mathematically they are 25.1 tall.... compared to your 205s at 24.7 tall

I want to run a little shorter tire up front. The rears are 26.6 inches tall as I'm looking for a little rake in the way she sits.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Well, you do know that it takes an inch less of tire height, to drop the front only 1/2 inch right? You sure you want to do it this way?It's kindof expensive......
And 205s don't have a lot of grip for emergency stopping, not to mention cornering
And have you considered how those smaller tires will look in those wheel-openings.
Jus asking... not judging.

 

[Retnuh22]

I’m running a 205/60r15 on 7 inch rims up front. No rubbing and no issues. I’m using a CPP disc/spindle. Wheels have either 4 or 4.25 inch backspace.

Cheers!

 

[MRGTX]

I thought that 7" wheels were usually fine? I had stock 15x7 rally wheels up front with no problems. IIRC, the offset and tire outer diameter can be a problem when they hit he front/lower corner of the wheel arch...

Fitting wheels shouldn't be difficult but it is. Measuring is tricky because there's steering and suspension travel to consider.

I tried to get away with a 15x8 +10 offset/4.9" backspace...just barely rubbed on the UCA...but I liked the wheels and they were as close as I could get to Minilites that I could afford...so I broke down and had them narrowed by an inch to 15x7 (results in a 4.4" backspace) and they fit!

 

[leblanc]

My front rims have been 15X7 for a long time and permit you even a wider tire although I am running 205/70's. They permit a less rounded tire, which means more rubber on the road compared to narrower rims. 15 X 8 rims on the rear are a tight fit on a Dart but on a Dart Sport they look a lot better than the factory rims!

 

[cudajames]

I am running 17x7s (215/45) up front with wilwood disc and hellwig 1 1/4" sway bar with out any problems. Running 17x8s (235/45) in back with stock leaf spring location. I probably could have gone 245s

Moving to the 17 or above wheel opens up tire selection.

 

[cudajames]

our use a tool like this to take a lot of the guess work out. I used a similar one. Ingenuity Fab & Speed LLC

 

[Kegan B]

I run 15x7s with 4.25bs and 225/50 tires all around with no issues. Granted mine is also lowered.

 

[Mopar92]

If you get a little low a 225 will rub with factory back space. From my 2 A bodies both rub if low.

 

[Ddaddy]

What are the Pro's and Con's of running a 7" rim on the front of a 68 Dart with a 205/60/15 tire

I’m running 215/60/15 on 7” wide wheels up front on my ‘69 GTS and don’t have any issues.