I'm in the process of buying wheels for my 70 Challenger and want to get a good idea of what sizes to buy.

While the rears can somewhat straight forward ie: the wheels don't turn. I'm having trouble sizing up the fronts with the widest tires. I've heard that 245s or narrower are a pretty safe bet. Anything wider may rub unless you "Bob the Fenders" Does anyone have a take on this? Pictures?

Thanks
Speedy

i had 245/60/15 on 7 in wide magnum 500, they rubbed on turns.switched to 235/60 ok.tires were bfg's

245/60/15 on a 15X7 ralley is about the widest with no interference, but 245's are non-exsistant today,...255/60/15 will "just" rub the inner rails in a full lock turn,...I got GoodYear Eagle II 255/60/15 up front and 275/60/15 out back, 275/60 is right at the rear qtrs lip edge and about 1/2" clearance between the rear spring and tire, no rubbing, but real close!

I have 255/60/15's on 8" wheels with 4" backspacing on my '74 Cuda, and I had to modify my fenders to keep from rubbing. They rubbed on the very bottom of the front of the wheel opening. 245/60/15 with 4.5" backspacing might work without fender modifications, but I don't know for sure.

I did a bunch of testing with 17" wheels and short tires which are roughly the same OD you are considering. The best way I know to test is to pull the T bar out and mount a sample wheel/tire. That way suspension and steering can be moved to all extremes for measurements. What I found: 225's fit with clearance at all extremes, 235's fit with litte clearance, 245's probably a light rub somewhere. All of the above assume backspacing is dialed in exactly.

I went with 225's on wheels with backspace built to order because I wanted clearance under extreme conditions. Someday I may flare the fenders and go wider.

I'd love to see some shots and specs on those 255s up front.
Please and thank you.

Wheel backspace is critical.

I used to have 235/60x15 on a 8" wheel with 4.75 ackspace, and had no rubbing anywhere with plenty of room.

I've recently switched to a 255/50x15 on a 8" rim with 4.5" back space. While everything fits, it is very close and body roll will deterimine interference. I'm thinking I may need to roll the fender lip to avoid cutting the tires. That difference in .25" spacing may be the difference.

235



255

Mickey Thompson S/R, HR26x10x15. I'm putting HR26x12x15 on the rear once the axle goes back together. I have noticed that their actual dimension tend to be a bit shorter than advertised and a hair wider. So, I may be closer to 255/55.

I have 255/60/15's on 8" wheels with 4" backspacing on my '74 Cuda, and I had to modify my fenders to keep from rubbing. They rubbed on the very bottom of the front of the wheel opening. 245/60/15 with 4.5" backspacing might work without fender modifications, but I don't know for sure.

Do you have any pictures of your fender modifications?

I'll shoot you a picture later today when I get home (I work the night shift) I was just working on my front wheel openings yesterday in getting the car ready for paint. The modification is small, and is really not noticeable. I did it years ago and have never rubbed, with hard driving and hard cornering.

Here's a more extreme perspective.

I've had 255/50/16's on 16x8 rims on the front ov my 72 Rally Challenger no issues. The backspace was a bit extreme for my tastes, 5 1/2" but i had a 1/4" spacer in there for a total 5 1/4" backspace. No issues, but looked a bit off. Still better than a narrower tire that fit better in my opinion though.

Right now i've got 275/50/15 BFG's on a 15x7 steelie on the front ov my 70 Challenger. So far its passed the sit in and crank the wheel test, and i even took it around the block very slowly (solid rear susp at the time and no insurance...) and the fronts seemed fine. But driving at speed might be a different story.

Mitch Lelito's T/A had 255/60/16's on 10" rims up front, with (if i remember correctly) 5" backspace. That car was lowered and raced, but i'm not sure if his fenders were modded or not.

My 70 will have 275/40/17 or wider and i'll make them fit without ruining my virgin fenders.

Actually, right now i've got 295/50/15 BFG's on the front ov that car, sitting. That with 15x8 steelies and they pass the sit and crank the wheel test too, though i'm not optimistic about the drive test. They REALLY fill the wells, and are especially close to the lip ov the front ov the fender. Maybe theres a way to make those work too... Hmmmmm... . . .

Here's the pics I took today. Sorry about the quality - The only digital camera I've got is my cell phone, and I've got cramped quarters in my garage.

The first one shows the area I had to modify. All other areas of the wheel opening are unaltered and have no issues.

The red line shows the approximate original line of the fender. The wheel is turned to the right (about half way) in all these photos.

This one shows that the edge of the lip has a slight triangular shape to it. I didn't cut any metal when I made the modification, I just re-did the 90 degree bend on the lower section, creating a trianular shape to the edge

Another shot showing the trianular shape of the bottom edge of the lip. I re-did the 90 degree bend for the lip by straightening the lip out some, then using 5 or 6 big vice-grips, clamping them on, and then moving them all at once to create a new 90 degree bend at the angle I wanted, then using a hammer and dolly to get it the right shape. I'm sure there are better ways to do this, but I was working with what I had available.

Last one. This is a closer shot from the side, from down low, with the wheel back on. With better tools (and someone that does better body work than I do) you could make this modification so that no one would notice it. Hope these help!

The above mod is about what i was thinking about for my Challenger. That tip is really the only place that even really wide tires hit. I'm just having trouble bringing myself to mess with perfect, original fenders.

Thanks for the Pictures...I'll show these to my body shop. I'm sure that with your images and description we'll make it work. Who knows, after the mod, maybe I'll be able to squeeze 275s in

Thanks again

Speedy

Quote:

I'm just having trouble bringing myself to mess with perfect, original fenders.


That's a 'problem' I didn't have. My original fenders are long gone - the car was a rust bucket when I got it, and they were not salvagable. The swap meet replacements that I have are far from perfect, so I didn't have any problem with modifying them, but I can see where you might not want to modify yours.