Hi all, after blowing up the SBP 7.25" rear at the recent lemons race in Sonoma its time for me to upgrade. I've been running the SBP Kelsey Hayes disks as well but I plan to upgrade them to the 73+ A-body LBP brakes I have on the shelf. I'm debating about running 15" or 17" wheels. Currently I run 195/60/14 Falken Azenis RT615K's and have been happy with them. I currently run 14x6" slot mags but they aren't ideal. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on my option below.

If I run 17" I'll probably use a 97-04 mustang rim with a 225/45/17 RT615K. I currently have a 68 B-body 8.75" I would run since its a inch wider on each side to make up for the offset difference with the mustang rim. This wheel/tire setup weights a bit more than what I have now, but tire availability in 17" is much better.

If I run 15" I would use stock car style steelies with a 205/50/15 RT615K. In this case I'd either have to narrow the axle housing I have and get new axles or find a different axle. This setup weights about the same as what I'm running now. I need to run a gear <3:1 or I run out of RPM on the front stretch at Thunderhill so the common 8.8" explorer swap isn't a good option for me.

I guess the simplest option would be to try to source a SBP 8.75" and keep running my KH disk setup with a better 14" or 15" wheel, although I think I would prefer the LBP upgrade overall.

Thanks for any input, let me know what you guys are running as well!

-Jon

Hi Jon,

The 68-70 B Body Rear is a bit too wide in my opinion. ( have one in my '64 dart and unless yet somehow get 17x8 in +52mm (or more ) offset there will be rubbing.


I would shoot for the 65-67 B body axle ( I am hunting for parts to make this swap complete now).

Another option is a ford axle (8.8") from a rounder off explorer late 90's- early 2000's?
(sorry I see that won't work for you)



17X8 all around with up to 245 45 17 or even 245 40 17's should work well. Long Axle studs and playing with wheel spacers will work for this.
If you get ford wheels you will need to lathe r die grind maybe 0.050" forom the center bore of the wheel to fit it over Chrysler axles / hubs.



Greg

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How wide exactly is the B-body axle? We ran a Jeep Wrangler 8.25 axle for years with high offset 17" wheels from a late-90s FWD Chrysler and only had a tiny bit of rubbing. I think the Jeep axle is actually a hair wider than the F-body 8.25, but I don't know how the B-body unit compares. The Mustang rims you mention also might not have quite as much offset as the Chrysler wheels we use.

225-45-17 Falken Azenis is exactly what we've been using. We're only now starting to think about more rubber in the rear after adding a big turbo. I think you'll be quite happy with the single-piston front discs as well, especially if you have the longer caliper brackets for 11.75" rotors. I would probably bite the bullet and get some ST43 pads while you're at it. We're switching to those after years of hearing about them from Anton and various other members of the Illemonati.

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Somehow I ended up owning three 1964 slant six A-bodies. I race one of them.
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This is what I am working from..


The 65-67 B Body is a skosh narrower than the 68-70 B body Axle..

I have the 68-70 B Body 8.75 axle in my Dart and it's a bit too wide for my liking.

If I had a Duster / demon / Dart Sport or 60-62 A Body with open tops on the rear wheel openings it would be fine... but I want the keep the 17X8's tucked under the factory sheet metal.

Greg

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Thanks for the replies! The 68-70 B-body 8.75" rear is 60_1/8 wide drum to drum compared to the A-body at 57_1/8" drum to drum. Basically a 68-70 B body rear will be 1.5" wider per side. The earlier 65-67 B-body is 59_1/2" drum to drum so its probably the best option with a modern offset wheel, but I have the 68 axle sitting here for free so if I go with the big wheels I may try to make it work. If my notes are correct the 97-04 mustang uses a 5.72" backspacing on a 17x8 wheel compared to a traditional 4.5" or 4.25" backspacing you might use on a 15x8 with a standard axle.

On the plus side, whatever I go with, its a beat up and well used lemons car so there will be no shame in modifying the fenders as needed..

To SpaceFrank's other question, yup, I have the 11.75" disk caliper adapters left over from another project so that would be the plan on brakes.

-Jon

Yep, cutup them quarters... At least, that's what I would do.

Lou

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