have a customer at work who wants some 17 to 20" foose wheels on his challenger, it's a 73 with no particular suspension or brake modifications from what I can tell besides the fact that the car was sway bar deleted at one point in time, likely due to it becoming a track only car for x duration of it's life... otherwise, seems stock with no signs of spring relocation etc.

looking to find the widest larger rim size that can fit the stock wheel wells in the back, as well as figure out what to do up front...

in the rear, I measured 6 1/2" from the outer drum surface where the rim mates with it, to the outer edge of the leaf spring, and 6 1/4" from the same point, outward to the inner most area of the wheel lip...

this guy is also looking to get an aftermarket brake set up to compliment the retro modern look of the new wheels, as well as to gain the more solid braking comfort and safety of a big brake upgrade...any help in this department would be greatly appreciated.... espescially since my son has a 74 challenger that we'll be transfering much of what we learn from on this challenger toward his...thanx

wheel sizing being the most urgent concern as whom'ever was drag racing this car before this guy got it, put centerlines on it with longer wheel studs to meet the rules, and simply chopped the heads off the old school shaft style wheel nuts in orger to accomodate the longer studs...as well, the wheel nut shaft section that passes through the rim seem to have been too long for the with of the centerlines, and it appears that they chopped them on that end too; however, atleast 2-3 wheel nuts on each wheel, bottom out on the hub before gripping the rim, so the car can't be driven until we deal with the wheels.... thanx in advance

I have fit 17x9s all around on my Challenger. It is VERY tight in front. The rears are set up with 0 offset (5" backspace). The fronts are 5 1/16" backspace (2 offset). I'd highly recommend 8" wide up front with 0 offset (4.5" backspace).

I'm currently running relatively short tires 275/40s on my 9" wheels, and 245/45 tires on my 8" wheels.

thanx cuda'... great info

solved the immediate wheel concern by putting on the cars original ralley wheels...and scored a nice old school set of centerlines for my duster project at the same time...woot!

Good you got it rolling again.
I would suggest doing the brakes first, then the wheels.
If you go with discs in the rear, they will space out the wheel.
The front may or may not change, depending on what's installed.
It would suck to get a great combo then have issues after the brake swap.

very good advice Rod', thanx muchly

thinking of steering him toward a power rack and pinion set up combined with select hotchkiss, or similar suspension modifications, likely wilwoods on all corners since you can get a solid matched kit front and rear, and an ez fuel injection set up so he has a fire it up and go driver oriented car that retains the pure essense of the soul of the beast so to speak... with a few uniquely me custom touchs in the mix of course

On a '70 I went with 17x8 4.125 backspace on the front and 17x9.5 with 5.5" backspace on the rear. The front came out just right. It does have "Hemi style" increased clearance front fenders even though it wasn't a Hemi car. If I did I'd again, I'd use a little less backspace on the rear - 5.00 or 5.25".

PS: Bigger wheels alone without brake upgrades may actually hurt stopping distance. Also a stiff short sidewall tire with stock suspension may not respond so well to turns and real roads. Agree do the brakes first or along with the wheels and at least plan on a set of really good shocks if not additional suspension upgrades.

Just curious... Does he have some sort of budget or limit to what he is willing to put into wheels, tires, and brakes?