'67 Dart wheel/tire size

'67 Dart 270 · 3 Deuce Webber Joined: 23 Nov 2011 Posts: 69

I have a stock '67 dart with small bolt pattern 13" wheels. I want to know if anyone can tell me, without me doing all the measurements, what is the widest tire I can comfortably fit under the wheel wells without having to move the leafsprings or cut anything out. I think a 14" rim is fine, I'd like to move to a 7" wide rim with 235/70R14 or similar tire. Right now it looks like I have only an inch or so clearance between the 185/80R13 tire and the leaf spring.
So, if a 185 mm tire is 7.28 inches wide,, the a 235 mm tire is 9.25 inches wide. The difference is just about 2 inches, so it seems like if the offset is measured correctly, I should be able to fit 235 in there pretty well. That's saying nothing about the front wheels which must take into account steering.

Has anyone put this specific width tire on their dart/valiant without modification? If so, what rim, offset did you get/order?

thanks!

wjajr · Post subject: (Wed Dec 14, 2011 8:30 pm)

67Dart270,

I’m running 205/70R14 mounted on small bolt Rally wheels on a ‘67 Dart. There is 1.5” clearance side wall to rear spring, and 1 7/8” side wall to fender lip turn in. Rear axel is 8 ¾”. I don’t know the off set of rim, but suspect it is a stock off the shelf wheel not custom.

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DusterIdiot · Post subject: x2 (Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:13 pm)

I'd go x2 on stock 14" rims and 205/70R14's, they fit fine under my 4 door '67 Valiant (195/70R14 work good also).

Handling improved, any wider and the tire wouldn't have clearance in the rear wheel wells.

-D.Idiot

Romeo Furio · Post subject: (Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:54 am)

On my 67 Dart I ran 235-60-15 BFG on a steel wheel that was 15x7 with a 4 1/4'' backspace with no problems with both a 7 1/4 and a 8 3/4 rear.
205-60-15 on the front. I tried 275-60-15 but was too close for comfort. The car sat at or a little below factory ride hight.
Used the same combo on my 63 Valiant and had rubbing in the rear only with 4 people in the car.(a little extra info).

Dart270 · Post subject: (Thu Dec 15, 2011 1:21 pm)

235s are fine, if offset is right. 245s can get tight, but can also be done. Bigger than that is really tight.

Lou

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Fab64 · Post subject: (Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:39 pm)

I just went through this exercise a few months ago, and it's a bit of a crap-shoot. You can thoroughly measure everything, but it's still hard to know what your car will look like once the wheels and tires are on it. I have a '67 Barracuda with 8-1/4" rear and front discs from a '73-76 A-body. I think the rear is the same width as a stock 7-1/4" but the disc spindles push the front wheels out nearly 7/8" on each side from their stock location. I don't like that look, so I used a different backspace in front, to pull the wheels in a bit. Using 14" wheels (as I did), some problems you may run into are availability of wheel width and offset, and also tire sizes. My wheels are Large Bolt Pattern Rallye style from Specialty Wheel, on BF Goodrich Radial T/A's. Here are the sizes:

Front: 14x6", 3.75" backspacing, 205/70R14

Rear: 14x7", 4.12" backspacing, 225/70R14

I think the front tires were still available from Goodrich, but not the rears (in that size). My tire shop obtained them from Coker tire.

There is still room between the rear tires and leaf springs, and I think I could have used an 8" wheel if I wanted. My front torsion bars are adjusted down slightly from stock. The rear tires are about 1" larger in diameter than the fronts. I wanted a slight rake, but nothing too radical. Plus the Barracuda wheels wells are huge, and I wanted to fill the rears a bit more. I am happy with the end result. Just take your time, measure everything, look at lots of other cars, and check availability of all tire sizes, wheel backspacing, etc. before ordering anything. Good luck!

Greg Ondayko · Post subject: (Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:29 pm)

Reed · Post subject: (Thu Dec 15, 2011 10:36 pm)

My brother's Duster has 67 Dart front fenders. It has 15x7 wheels on the front with a 4 inch backspace. It has 205-60-15 tires that do not clear the stock fender lip when the wheels are turned. Stock 67 Dart 14 inch tire size was 185-70-14, so I am eventually going to install either 205-50-15s or 205-55-15s on the front of the Duster to clear the fenders.

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2 Darts · Post subject: (Sat Jan 21, 2012 6:19 pm)

I have 205/60-15s on my DD Dart /6. The wheels are 7" Magnum 500s with stock offset. I have BBP disk brakes and a BBP 7¼" rear. There is clearance all around.

I am currently bringing a V-8 Demon back from the dead. It has the same brake and rear axle as the Dart. The wheels are stock cop car wheels with 235/60-15 on them. Stockton Wheel told me this was the largest thing I could get under the wheel wells. From personal observation, I agree. I tried to put 255s on the same wheels. They didn't fit up front and were very close to the leafs on the rear.

Your plan to use 235/60-14s should work. Watch wheel offset.

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