Wondering how much room is in the front fenders with a Dakota frame swap?

Does it require negative offset wheels? or can it run normal offset wheels? Like a 15x6.5?

Thanks

Been fitting the sheet metal on my 39 to a 89 Dakota chassis. Dakota wheels wont work but haven't got far enough to know what will yet.I have some 14" a body wheels that I will try

Car or truck,,,,,,doesn't really matter...... poorboy will know.

The track width of the 1st gen (88-96) Dakota is about 60". That would be with the standard Dakota front wheels that have a slight inset. The standard Dakota also came with 15 x 6" wheels. Nearly all the 1st gen Dakotas that came with the wider aluminum inset wheels also have the rubber fender flairs, so I would assume the wider inset wheels would probably increase the track width accordingly, probably about equal to what a standard offset 15 x 6" wheel would compared to the inset Dakota wheel.

The next issue is, if you have a Dakota frame on your 46 Dodge, you will be making your own front sheet metal mounting brackets, which may, or may not position the 46 fenders in the correct location. For anyone to sit at a keyboard and tell you your wider then stock, wider offset, wheels bolted on a Dakota front suspension will or will not clear the fenders you have mounted on your 46 Dodge would be guessing.

If I had a 5 bolt Dakota pickup that was still intact, I would bolt on a set of standard offset wheels and I could tell you if they cleared the stock Dakota 5 bolt truck front fenders, but all I have here is a 6 bolt Dakota with the rubber fender extensions. I can tell you the 15 x 7 factory 6 bolt "mags" put the front tires at the edge of the fenders if there wasn't the rubber extensions.

I can also tell you the Standard Dakota 5 bolt steel wheels clear the modified fenders on my 48 Plymouth. I have pictures of the stock 15 X6 Dakota stock wheels bolted to the stock Dakota 8 1/4 rear end with the unmodified 48 Plymouth fenders still factory attached to the stock body Plymouth while it was under construction. Gene

The rear view of the other side, and the finished product with the 5th ave 15 x 7 wheels on the rear with 235r 75 15 tires.

Thanks for the edit.

Sorry, but I'm not so sure. The front track on the 46 truck is 55.8 in (1.42 m) from wikipiedia, (would they lie to me?)

wikipiedia

Here is a lot more info, most of it misleading, they also say that the Dakota will work.

http://p15-d24.com/

As Gene says "The track width of the 1st gen (88-96) Dakota is about 60". I have just done a Dakota front frame transplant (build pictures on this site) on a '56 car with a measured wheel mounting surface (WMS) to WMS (not the exact same as track but close) of a 58 1/2", The Dakota WMS to WMS is a measured 62" and even with very negative off set wheels (Mustang) it is almost to wide.

from the HAMB, guaranteed to confuse you;

hamb

More HAMB, great pictures;

hamb 2

OK, I quit.

When I did my Plymouth pick I ended up using front runners and they fit well to the fenders. The width is max for these trucks but the higher the cab sits the more room you have to play with.

Please excuse my lack of knowledge, what are front runners ?

Here in Canada they are the front skis on a sleigh or snowmobile.

front runners are very skinny tires used mostly in drag race applications. sort of like the skis you referenced.

And that would pretty much bear out what the numbers said. Dakota front track around 60", early 40s Dodge trucks almost 56", that would be 2" less clearance per side. Using the Dakota offset front wheels would have probably allowed a wider tire on the pictured truck, because even the front runners look to be the standard offset.

The truck fenders are pretty big, I suspect a guy could gain a couple inches per side with a little customizing of the fenders. Wouldn't be the first time fenders were modified for clearance.

Another thing you need to keep in mind is that after WWII vehicles selling like hot cakes, I suspect more emphases was placed on getting them out the door then was placed on the vehicles being spec sheet correct. That could mean things would clear on one truck, but maybe not a different truck off the same line the same day. Gene

I WANT YOUR TRUCK!!!
Let's argue!!

Weld wheels that are 15x5 with 3.5" backspace are the best wheels to bring front wheels in for clearance that I know of. Better than 15x4 and 15x3.5

It went to Germany in 2016.

OK, so I went out and did the unthinkable today. I took a tape measure, a straight edge, and a level and measured the distance to the outside of the tires on my 39 Dodge truck sporting a Dakota frame.

The original Dakota was a 1992 standard cab, long box with a 3.9 5 speed. It had the steel 6 bolt wheels on it.

The 6 bolt rotors were swapped over to a new pair of 5 bolt rotors. New bearings and new brakes were added.

The wheels on the front of the truck are 15" x 7" steel slots with a 4" back spacing (measured from the wheel mounting surface to the outside of the tire mounting surface.)

The tires mounted on the wheels are 225 60 R 15, they are 4 year old Furtura tires with 30 lbs of pressure. The sidewalls of these tires bulge out about 1" from the wheel edge (I did not actually measure it).

Measurement was made with the tires on the ground, a 5.9 Magnum (360) and its auto trans (motor sits 4" behind the original V6 location), aluminum radiator, a grill and the hood, no fenders and no bumper, and still using the original V6 springs. The front suspension is not lowered, the rear has 2" lowering blocks between the axle and the springs.

A straight edge was set against the bulge of the tire (the widest point)in a horizontal plane. The level was stood up against the rear edge of the straight edge with the bubble centered in the sight glass. The tape measure was extended out and the end was set against the inner edge of the level, or the same position of the outer edge of the tire at its widest point, at ground level. On the other side of the truck, the straight edge was placed across the tire bulge, the level stood up at the rear of the straight edge with the bubble centered in the sight glass. The level marked the tape measure at 70 and 1/4". Just so we are clear, I repeated the measuring process at both the front and the rear of the tires. The 70 and 1/4" is the rear measurement. The truck has just had the rack and the outer tie rod ends replaced and the toe has not yet been set. The front measurement came in at 70 1/8" My tires are about an 1/8" toed in right now.

So to the widest point on the 225 60 r 15 tires mounted on 15 x 7" wheels with 4" back spacing, on a 92 Dakota with the 5 lug rotors is 70 1/4". The track width is usually measured at the center of the tire. If we assume the tire bulge is actually 1 inch wider then the wheel, that gives us 2", and then the tire should be centered on the 7" wheel, so 1/2 of the 7" on both sides gives us another 7", plus to 2 = 9" to subtract from the 70 1/4 = 61 1/4" track width. Hmmm!

It was raining today, maybe I will get the measurements off my coupe. It has a 90 Dakota frame that was an original 5 lug rotor truck and it has a pair of Dakota 15 x 6" wheels on the front with 225 75 r 15 tires. Gene

Here is where I am at currently 15" rears and 14" fronts are stock wheels from a 73 Dart on a 89 dakota chassis,fronts make a full swing and clear the fenders.

what size 14" on the front ? looks like about 215 or so ?

OK, I had the chance to measure the width of the tires on my 48 Plymouth coupe on the Dakota frame today.

The frame is a 1990, the last year for the factory 5 lug wheels. The chassis is unmodified except the wheelbase was shortened 7" It retains the factory 8 1/4 3:55 limited slip, the 3.9 V6 (a 91 V6 was installed to replace the tired 150K original motor), the ax 15 5 speed, and the stock springs all around. The brakes were all replaced with new replacement parts. The cab and the motor & trans were moved back 7" and the drive shaft was shortened. The original cab floor and lower firewall were also retained.

The front wheels are the original Dakota 15" x 6" steel wheels and the tires are 225 75 R 15. The tire bulge exceeds the wheel width by 1 1/4" on each side of the wheel. The wheel backspacing is 3" (the hubs are actually centered, though they don't look like it).
I used the same method as before. A straight edge was set horizontally across the widest part of the tire bulge. A level was stood up with the bubble centered in the sight glass at the edge of the straight edge to represent the outer most point on the tire. A tape measure was set against the edge of the upright level at the ground level and goes across the ground at the front edge of the tire.

On the other side, the straight edge was placed across the tire bulge, the level stood up with the bubble centered in the sight glass and the edge of the level marks the tape measure.

Outside the tire bulge to outside the tire bulge measures 67". The tires have been on the front end of the car for 20,000 miles with no abnormal wear. I see no reason the rear edge would need to be measured as well, and the rear of the fender would be an issue with standing up the level.

If we take the 1 1/4" per side bulge measurement away from the 67", we have the wheel edge at 64 1/2". The track width is generally considered to be measured from the center of the tire tread width to the center of the tread. We can assume the tire will be centered on the wheel width, so we can take 1/2 of the wheel width from each side, or 6" in this case.

67" (bulge to bulge)
- 2 1/2" (bulge on each wheel)
--------
64 1/2 outside of wheel to outside of wheel (tire mounting edge)
- 6" (1/2 of each wheel width added together to subtract)
--------
58 1/2" the track width, as normally measured. Gene