Valiant rims

[xempirex]

I'm looking at 17" rims for my 74 Valiant. What width will fit without modifications? The ones I like are 17x8.5. Will they fit? What tire size?

 

[xempirex]

anyone?

 

[valiantpatrol]

I'm not into these big wheel combos, however I can offer you some advice. Your cars limitation is the rear. I run a 32" overall diameter tire and it just clears. It rubs slightly on the inner wheelhouse if one wheel is up and the other is down like going up a driveway. You can look up tire data online and look for an 18" with an outside diameter at or near 32". Wheel offset is also a major factor. Offset is the relative position of the mounting face or wheel center section to the rim. The cop wheels I run are 15 x7 with a 3.5" (I believe) back spacing. At 4" of back spacing the wheel would rub the spring (assuming my 3.5 quoted earlier is correct) Likewise if it was 3.0 the wheel would rub the outer edge of the fender lip or wheelhouse.If you can get a trial fit at a tire shop make sure you do it with the weight of the car on the tires. If they put a wheel on and the axle is unloaded or hanging, you'll be decieved as to the amount of actual clearance. Hope I was of some help.

 

[pauly v.100]

17 x 8 will fit depending on, as mentioned, backspace measurements. lots of folks here including me are using mustang rims with 5.72" backspace. that compares to 4.5" which is the stock bs. some people use spacers of various thickness to keep the rear from rubbing on the springs. i'm using a b-body rear end which centers the wheels perfectly in the well. current tires are 245-45x17

 

[xempirex]

Thanks for the info. May stick with the 15's I have been looking at so I don't have issues.