Tire/wheel sizing issues

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rod7515

rod7515

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Im putting this in this forum because it is more general then just being suspension or early A body. I doubt if i'm the first person to ever run into this problem and I'm sure there are many different ways to solve this.
I'm building a 66 Dart that has an 8 3/4" rear.
Stock A-body dimensions meaning the housings never been cut(yet!).
I have done a mini tub, spring relocation and I have 2 sets of wheels and tires.
1st set 15x10 with 6.5" bs / 295/50R15 they are 26" tall street tires (Weld Pro Star Wheel)
2nd set 15x8 with 5.5" bs 28x9.5 slicks (ultra Fast Five Wheel)

Problem is that as the car sits now the slicks hit the inner fenders at the inner fender wheel lip but have all but 3" clearance on the inside frame. See pics below for inside clearance while touching inner fender at wheel well lip

View attachment DSCN0354.jpg

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Now heres the inside clearance with the street tires

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And heres the clearance on the wheel well lip with street tires.

View attachment DSCN0367.jpg

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Now another factor in this is a 1 1/2" spacer lifting the rear housing off the rear springs. I havent removed that yet but I will later this week to see if this would take the slicks out of the inner fender and maybe they wouldnt be high enough into the fender to hit at the wheel well lip. I wanted the car to have a very low stance but an 1 1/2" wont make that much of a difference.

So here are my thoughts, I could narrow the rear housing but the street tires dont allow that as they only have about a 1 1/2" clearance before they would hit the inside frame (meaning i could only narrow by 1/2" to 3/4") although the slicks have almost 3" clearance.
Another way is to change wheels for the slicks. I can buy 15x8 6.5 back space but not 15x8 7.5 bs. Now there are 15x9 with 7.5 bs but i dont think that will move the tire off the lip any more then the 15x8 6.5 bs?
Either way i am sure my costs are at least $400 or more to fix this. I know the wheels are $220 each and to have axles and rear housing cut with shipping wont be cheap.


So are there any other options in your mind? What are your thoughts on rim size changing? If you were to try wheels would you just buy 1 at a time in case it doesnt work out I would only be stuck with one?
Options Options Options! Nothing is easy when doing this!
Thanks Rod
 
You could probably get a b-body or c-body 8 3/4 rear cheap and have it cut down to your measurements. Then sell the a-body rear for what you have into the modified rear.

On my D/Dart, I have M/T ET Drags that are 28.0/9.0-15's mounted on 15x6 rims. The rims might have a 3.5 bs (measured from the outside edge of the bead to the mounting surface) on them. With this tire and rim setup, the tire sidewall balloons out a bit. But that's what you have to put up with when you buy used stuff. Mine only cost me $125 at a swap meet. If I had the room, which I don't, I'd go with another 1/2 backspace on mine to clear the inner fender.

I have SS springs that are located in the stock position, so it sits high. The passenger side is where I ran into a problem with the forward leaf spring clamp contacting the inside sidewall of the tire. I used a 0.190" spacer to help clear the clamp. The top is close to the inner fender but seems to be far enough away where it wouldn't hit at launch. Almost like yours.

Alan
 
Alan, even if i bought another housing selling mine and shipping it (cause nobody close ever needs what you need to sell) would be a pain and it would still be expensive. Plus with the street tires i can only narrow by 3/4" each side because of inner clearance at frame as you can see on my pics. Im thinking about trying the 15x8 with 6.5 bs and hope it will work. Bad thing is those wheels are over $200 each. Maybe once i get the spacer out from under housing the slicks will clear because they wont be as far up in wheel well!
Thanks Rod
 
And they never want to pay what it is worth. Try Craigslist. You're close to York. Should be a bunch of A-Body guys around that area that might be interested in the axle/rear end. Should be some machine shops in the York area that could shorten a rear end.

I've got a 64 Belvedere that has Cragars and BFG's on it. I tried them on the rear of the Dart a year or so ago. The Belvedere fronts were/are P215/70R15 mounted on 15x7 Cragar SS's, PN 61715 + 3 STD. They fit real good on the back of the Dart. The rears were/are P275/60R15 Comp T/A Drag Radial mounted on 18x8 Cragar SS's, PN 61815 -6 STD. I'm pretty sure that they fit like the setup I have now. Running into the spring clamp on the passenger side. They were close to the inner fender. That's why I didn't leave them on the Dart. I know -3 and +6 are the offsets but I'm not sure what they equate to.

I've got pictures of the Darts springs and inner wheel well area with the drag radials on it. Just have to find which file I have them in.
 
Found the shots. It actually looks good by the leaf springs. My wheel lips are rolled.
 

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Took some time tonight and removed the spacers that were lifting the rear housing up from the SS springs. They were 1 1/2" tall. With these out it looks as though the 15x8" with 5.5 bs and 28x9.5 slicks look like they will be ok. Im going to roll the dice at this point and hope it works out.
Rod
 
Yes, once i remived the spacers for the rear end housing everything fits ok. I havent had it out on the street but ive got about 3/4" clearance between inner fender and slicks. If you want i can take some pics and send to you.
Rod
 
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