Using LX (New Charger/Magnum/300) Wheels on a 74 Dart

-
sneke_eyez

sneke_eyez

1974 Dodge Dart 2dr 318V8
Joined
Apr 16, 2008
Messages
291
Reaction score
1
Location
Central MA
My 1974 Dart Swinger came with a set of Ford ( :angry7: ) Magnum 500 style wheels on it and some rather old tires.
Next summer I am going to be purchasing some new tires, out of necessity, and I'd like to upgrade the rims at the same time.
I've always been a big fan of the new LX rims on the A-Bodies.
I saw several cars at Carlisle with them and its a look I'd love to do to my Dart.

During the winter months (downtime) I'll be on the lookout for a set of rims in good shape for a good price.
They are out there, its just a matter of finding them.

However, what I'm not entirely sure about is how people have been fitting them on their cars.
I've got the 4.5'' bolt pattern, and those wheels are a 4.5'' bolt pattern, but I didn't think the offset was correct to work on a stock Dart.
So if it isn't what do I need to make them work?
I don't know a whole lot about offset or backspacing, so take it easy on me. :D

Also, if I do go with the 18'' wheels, what size tire should I run?
I've got air shocks in the back, and new shocks in the front, and I don't want any rubbing at all, under any circumstances.
 
PM TeamDart,he had 300c wheels on his dart.

Check with a local tire/wheel shop,sometimes you can find take offs for cheap.
 
Thanks, I will do that.

Does anyone else happen to have them on their car?
I'm curious to see some pictures, for one, and again, if I'm going to pull off the look with my own Dart, I need to figure out how to do it myself.
 
I read somewhere that the late model bolt pattern isn't exactly 4.5 inches. It is instead a metric dimension that is just wrong enough to cause lug studs to break. Research !
 
Its 114.3x5, which, if properly centered onto the hub, will fit a 4.5'' bolt pattern just fine.

I've got a lot of experience with the LX wheels, I've got Magnum SRT8 20s on my Intrepid:
IMG_3707.jpg
 
Ok, will do.
They're in good shape, with all of their center caps and all, they're just not really my style.
 
The Chrysler wheels "should" fit fine on the dart, we didn't have any clearance issues. We've put several style chrysler/charger/magnum wheels on different cars because they're cheap, and look good IMO. But the Magnum wheels we always had to mill out the center to clear the hub. The inside diameter were too small. But on the 300C wheels that we got worked just fine, no clearance needed, but we did have to make some center caps but they were easy.
Got these wheels for $300 bones with brand new tread on them.

dart.jpg
 
Hmm, mill out the center of the R/T wheels like you've got on that Coronet in your sig?
Thats kind of a pain...
The 300 and the Magnum have exactly the same bolt pattern and hub though, which is the only reason why I'm confused as to why you had to do that...
 
sneke_eyez said:
Hmm, mill out the center of the R/T wheels like you've got on that Coronet in your sig?
Thats kind of a pain...
The 300 and the Magnum have exactly the same bolt pattern and hub though, which is the only reason why I'm confused as to why you had to do that...
Click to expand...

Not a clue to be honest. The first set of Magnum wheels we tried on a '73 Charger, thought they would fit, but ended up taking a BIG aluminum hogger on a die grinder with hours of grinding to make em fit. The '66 Coronet there we just threw up on a mill with the tire still on LOL. I think it has something to do with the center caps, but I'm not sure. And another set for a different coronet we had milled out. But the Chrysler 300c wheels just fit right on.
 
Hmm this has me thinking, i really like how those 300c wheels look. Does anyone know how wide of a tire you can fit on these wheels?
 
the LX wheels have a bolt pattern of 5x4.53(5x115)

big bolt a-bodies are 5x4.50(5x114.3)

now is 3/100ths of an inch(7/10ths of a mm) a big deal? i dont know but its not exact.

dodge nitro rims and 01-07 caravan are 5x4.50
 
Actually, it isnt really like that.

The SRT8 Charger/300/Magnum have the 5x115 wheels.

The regular Charger/300/Magnum (Including R/T and C models) have 5x114.3 wheels.

I became quite well versed in the LX wheels when I was researching, searching for, and preparing to mount my Magnum SRT8 20s on my Intrepid shown up there^
 
TeamDart said:
The Chrysler wheels "should" fit fine on the dart, we didn't have any clearance issues. We've put several style chrysler/charger/magnum wheels on different cars because they're cheap, and look good IMO. But the Magnum wheels we always had to mill out the center to clear the hub. The inside diameter were too small. But on the 300C wheels that we got worked just fine, no clearance needed, but we did have to make some center caps but they were easy.
Got these wheels for $300 bones with brand new tread on them.

dart.jpg
Click to expand...

Those look darn good - what exactly are they?
 
sneke_eyez said:
Actually, it isnt really like that.

The SRT8 Charger/300/Magnum have the 5x115 wheels.

The regular Charger/300/Magnum (Including R/T and C models) have 5x114.3 wheels.

I became quite well versed in the LX wheels when I was researching, searching for, and preparing to mount my Magnum SRT8 20s on my Intrepid shown up there^
Click to expand...
interesting and good to know. it drives me nuts that they(mopar) do that though, why cant they just make them the same.
 
I think the SRT8's all came with 20" wheels correct? If so that's kind of too big for an older car without body mods, the 18" wheels barely clear our cars.
 
I drive my car too hard and fast to take chances with mismatch bolt patterns. Yeah they might work for a while but if the wheel breaks off during a shift change or taking a curve at high speeds, then what?

Too bad the new Chrysler went metric but then what do we expect / the old Chrysler died off long ago back around 1990 I far as I care. The name is the same, about it nothing more.
 
dodge freak said:
I drive my car too hard and fast to take chances with mismatch bolt patterns. Yeah they might work for a while but if the wheel breaks off during a shift change or taking a curve at high speeds, then what?

Too bad the new Chrysler went metric but then what do we expect / the old Chrysler died off long ago back around 1990 I far as I care. The name is the same, about it nothing more.
Click to expand...

I'll check out what size tires they are, they're just the stock ones.

These wheels are VERY strong DodgeFreak! How strong exactly? Strong enough to be beatin to death by 580lbs of small block torque everyday... tons of sideways action, smokin off the tires etc. Ok... so that might not show exactly how strong they are... These wheels ALSO survived a roll over in the car (that we fixed over night to get back on the road). Did the whole body of the car get tweaked? yup. Did the front suspension bend a knuckle and a couple control arms? Yup. Did it pop any tires off the beed? Yup. Did it sheer the leaf spring pins off the spring and twist the rear end? Yup. Did it bend any wheels at all or break any studs? NOPE. After body and suspension was addressed, the car drove fine on the same wheels.

Needless to say, I feel confident that we've throughly tested these wheels, and I honestly can't think of any more abuse to put them through than what we put them through. Really sucks the car's messed up now, but at least the wheels survived :-D
 
The wheels themselves are fine its the mismatch bolt pattern I have hear breaks the lug bolts off.

At least that is the second info I have seen. I went with late 80's police rims for my ride, not sexy but bullet proof. Even police cars today run steel rims but those SUVs run aluminum rims so they must be tough but if all the bolts are not center in the rim how are the lug nuts going to tighten up and stay tight.
 
For the third time, the LX wheels are IDENTICAL to the 4.5'' bolt pattern of the BBP Dart, because 114.3 = 4.5.
So there ISN'T a difference in bolt pattern and there ISN'T any issues with them.

I also think its complete and utter CRAP that the "old" Chrysler died long ago.

As for the 20s, TeamDart, you are definitely correct.
I'm only looking for the 18s, like you've got.
Simple question for you though:
Are you running the stock LX size tire on them?

I just want to be able to pick up a set of wheels and tires and pop them on, no different tires, no extra work. And I'm looking for a deal too.
 
sneke_eyez said:
For the third time, the LX wheels are IDENTICAL to the 4.5'' bolt pattern of the BBP Dart, because 114.3 = 4.5.
So there ISN'T a difference in bolt pattern and there ISN'T any issues with them.

I also think its complete and utter CRAP that the "old" Chrysler died long ago.

As for the 20s, TeamDart, you are definitely correct.
I'm only looking for the 18s, like you've got.
Simple question for you though:
Are you running the stock LX size tire on them?

I just want to be able to pick up a set of wheels and tires and pop them on, no different tires, no extra work. And I'm looking for a deal too.
Click to expand...

Yea we're running stock sized tires. That's what we have on all the vehicles, they're just so cheap, and IMO look great, kinda hard to pass up when you find them. Though, on our Dart, they are really close to the front of the wheel opening on the quarterpanels, but we're also running cal tracs
 
Hey Team Dart,

Were you the same guys that were on Bull Run? If that was you I gotta say that I was really rooting for you. You should have won that show!
 
They were, just FYI.

Bumping this up because I found a guy selling a set on craigslist in PA (too rich for my blood) that had had them on a 74 Duster.
I emailed him to see if he had done anything special to them, and he said that they fit fine, he didn't have anything at all modified about the car.

This excites me, now I just gotta keep searching!
 
3/100th of an inch is a no big deal. I bet if you check the old cop car (or any old wheel), you will find more that that in variance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top