i probably know the answer already, but has anyone used the original design torque thrust wheels with disc brakes ?
i'm not a fan of the curved spokes used on the torque thrust D.
could a spacer be used ? if so, how thick would be safe ?
longer wheel studs would be a must, of course.

Not all wheels require caliper clearance, but you should pull a wheel off your car and see where the caliper sits in relation to the wheel mounting surface so you know before buying anything.

American Racing has straight spoke wheels, but not near as common as the D wheels. https://www.americanracing.com/american-racing-vintage-tt-o

Also ET makes straight 5 spoke mags, but they do cost more than the American Wheels.

MoparX,
Some aluminum Americans will clear, some will not. Can't really generalize.
There are some American lookalikes in aluminum that will clear.
I have not found an American in magnesium yet that will clear disc brakes.
These are all straight spoke, or "D-spoke", wheels.

**************

Sometimes the clearance is pretty close, a little grinding on the caliper or on the back of wheel will work,
or just a thin spacer, maybe 1/4-inch.

I would think that a wheel spacer would make more room between the caliper and the wheel as it would move the wheel outboard. Here is my '69 GTX with TT's and front OE disc brakes, no wheel spacer.

Mike

I have been running 15" Torque-Thrusts' for almost 20 years on my RoadRunner with disc brakes from a 73 A body...
No clearance problems..

Just my $0.02...

I love the wheels, but can't hardly ever find them in a 4-1/2 bolt pattern or they always have some goofy back spacing that is never enough
Don't run them with any kind of power or with slicks. It will break the spokes..

If they are 14" I doubt they will clear. American 220 S 14" wouldn't clear my factory disc. That being said they didn't hit by much. Some grinding on the caliper may get enough clearance. One way to find out.
Doug

[/b]

GEEZ, Simple solution. dump the disc's and put drums on 🤪🤣🤣. Back in the day many cars ran them with discs.
The answer will be how far the calipers hang outwards of the wheel mounting surface, and whether the back of the spokes are flush to that wheel mounting surface. I think you may find most are not for the exact reason you are concerned about. Attached s a pic of a 60's torque thrust wheel showing reliefs I would assume were for caliper clearance

[b]EDIT:Also on the spacers, I'm not a fan of them even with longer wheel studs as it just adds more leverage on the studs

My 66 satellite has vintage torque thrusts on it.
And. Added 73 and up A body disc brakes.
And I have no interference issues

[img]http://https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPou8uIV5kcBPJN2Pg64h0obQ61elrwDW6uadq1[/img]

If the spacer is thick enough the existing studs are used to bolt the spacer on. The spacer will have additional studs of it's own to mount the wheel. Those seem to work fine. You can get a set cheap on Amazon, which are fine for test fitting, imo. But for use I'd go with some US made ones.

https://www.uswheeladapters.com/shop/5x4-5-1-2-wheel-spacers-hc/

thanks all.
i was looking for real world experience, so i feel more comfortable now.
my charger needs new shoes, so now is the time to swap out the wheels.
i have been looking at 5 spoke offerings from rocket, american, et 3, and cragar, as well as "generic" brands.
whatever i decide, they have to be direct bolt pattern, no uni-lug stuff.
i was kind of surprised it was stated not to use slicks because they would break the spokes.
back when our cars were "new" lots of guys were using slicks with 5 spoke wheels, and i don't remember any problems with spinning the spokes out of those wheels.
what has changed ? material ? construction/manufacturing processes ? probably "country of origin"...........

What changed ? Probably power ! DVW cracked the spokes in his 200-S Americans awhile back, but that's a very stout piece that I think is in the 8s.
FWIW I had 200-S wheels on a Z28 that I used for attacking teh SoCal canyons, never had an issue, but back in the day apparently the '69 Mustang TA cars had cracking issues with their Americans.
We ran a similar wheel on a Vintage TA car with no issues, but IIRC those weren't Americans but a spendy reproduction race wheel.

I just recalled that I had an old set of "mags" that lppked like straight-spoke TTs on a '63 Savoy with drums - they fit fine when I converted to discs. That kit (not Scarebird, don't recall the actual maker) used GM calipers.
I don't recall much if any cut-away on the backside of the spokes, so that may be less-than-helpful info...
That said, as I recall, the Ds with curved spokes were made to clear Vette disc brakes...that memory being from 50 years ago...

Probably a combination of power and tire compound aka "traction"

I would never consider using wheel adapters on any vehicle that has little bit of power and is going to be driven hard on the street, let alone raced at the track. That is a crash waiting to happen

Lots of wheel spacers are used on racecars. The studs don't have to be longer than standard either and the wheel doesn't know if it is sitting against the car's OE hub or the wheel spacer when mounted correctly. The wheel spacer bolts to the OE hub and the spacer has new wheel studs installed on it. No different than getting a thicker OE hub in most cases. They are not the kind of auto parts wheel spacers that slip over the existing OE studs.

People put that style of spacer on Dakotas in order to run Viper wheels and sometimes Viper brakes. They are plenty strong.

And might be why sanctioning bodies don't allow them

another thing i am leaning toward is a hub centric wheel, or one a hub centric ring could be fitted to.
if rings couldn't be found in the size needed, i could easily make them.