16 inch wheels on 65 Chrysler

No but I put 17" on my '66 300.

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Looks great!


I really like them. Are you happy withe the ride?

Yes. The fronts are 17 x 8 and the rears are 17 x 9. The tires are 55 Nitto's. My mechanic who does a lot of performance car and muscle car work said the trick is not to got to high with the pressure to keep the ride good. I think they are at 35 psi. I plan to have the car out this weekend so feel free to follow-up with me after I put some miles on her as I have not driven the car since last October.
 
Yes. The fronts are 17 x 8 and the rears are 17 x 9. The tires are 55 Nitto's. My mechanic who does a lot of performance car and muscle car work said the trick is not to got to high with the pressure to keep the ride good. I think they are at 35 psi. I plan to have the car out this weekend so feel free to follow-up with me after I put some miles on her as I have not driven the car since last October.

BTW, the wheels are American Racing and they are very reasonably priced IMHO.
 
How did you determine tire size and back spacing?

I used the same backspacing that was on the slightly wider 16" wheels that were on the car when I bought it and went with a similar height and width tire. There are instructions on how to measure back spacing on the internet and on some wheel manufacturer websites. I may still have the info written down somewhere. I think the back spacing was 4.5" in the rear and 4" up front. One caveat, on my car the rear springs were moved inward a 1/4 inch.
 
Yes. The fronts are 17 x 8 and the rears are 17 x 9. The tires are 55 Nitto's. My mechanic who does a lot of performance car and muscle car work said the trick is not to got to high with the pressure to keep the ride good. I think they are at 35 psi. I plan to have the car out this weekend so feel free to follow-up with me after I put some miles on her as I have not driven the car since last October.

Hmm, 35 psi sounds pretty high. I keep my stock height 15's at 28. Looks like you may have a shorter sidewall height so you might want to keep it on the higher side to avoid pinch flats, depends on how bad the roads around you are.
 
I used the same backspacing that was on the slightly wider 16" wheels that were on the car when I bought it and went with a similar height and width tire. There are instructions on how to measure back spacing on the internet and on some wheel manufacturer websites. I may still have the info written down somewhere. I think the back spacing was 4.5" in the rear and 4" up front. One caveat, on my car the rear springs were moved inward a 1/4 inch.

May I ask how you went about the spring relocation? And given that it was only a quarter inch on each side, I'm assuming an eight inch rim would've fit without the spring relocation? The things we'll do for an extra inch!
 
No but I put 17" on my '66 300.

View attachment 286966

I went with the same 17" wheels as FURYGT but mine are 7" wide all around. No clearance issues what-so-ever and plenty of room out back for more, but my car is stock and I have need for more rubber. I upgraded my original power drums to a set of power discs off of a 73 Chrysler so I had to upgrade from my original 14" Magnum 500s as well. Some friends recommended 17" wheels due to the availability of great modern rubber at very reasonable prices in the larger wheel sizes, unlike 14" and 15" rubber. And 16" rubber may soon be harder to find, too. These wheels (American Racing VN501) with modern rubber are virtually the same diameter as the original 14" Magnums due to the lower sidewall and here is what they look like on my car.

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Hmm, 35 psi sounds pretty high. I keep my stock height 15's at 28. Looks like you may have a shorter sidewall height so you might want to keep it on the higher side to avoid pinch flats, depends on how bad the roads around you are.

May I ask how you went about the spring relocation? And given that it was only a quarter inch on each side, I'm assuming an eight inch rim would've fit without the spring relocation? The things we'll do for an extra inch!

On tire pressure you need to keep in mind that modern style low profile performance tires typically have a higher PSI, usually around 45.

A prior owner who modified the car did the spring relocation so I can't comment. The car had 16 x 10's on the rear when I got it. The 17 x 9's have plenty of room and I am actually considering putting wheel spacers on the rear wheels to push them out a little bit to fill the wheel well just a little bit more.
 
I went with the same 17" wheels as FURYGT but mine are 7" wide all around. No clearance issues what-so-ever and plenty of room out back for more, but my car is stock and I have need for more rubber. I upgraded my original power drums to a set of power discs off of a 73 Chrysler so I had to upgrade from my original 14" Magnum 500s as well. Some friends recommended 17" wheels due to the availability of great modern rubber at very reasonable prices in the larger wheel sizes, unlike 14" and 15" rubber. And 16" rubber may soon be harder to find, too. These wheels (American Racing VN501) with modern rubber are virtually the same diameter as the original 14" Magnums due to the lower sidewall and here is what they look like on my car.

View attachment 287052
Thank you for your help.
What is the tire size you used and did you use 4.5 backspacing?
 
Thank you for your help.
What is the tire size you used and did you use 4.5 backspacing?
I am not sure about backspace but my wheels have 0 offset. The wheels are 17x7 and the tires are BF Goodrich Comp-2 in 235/55/17. I got the wheels from Summit Racing (part #VN50177012500) for $180 each delivered, which I think is a very fair price. I have my original 14" Magnum 500s stored in the boxes so here is a picture of the labels on the box in case it helps you.

IMG_0387.JPG
 
I am not sure about backspace but my wheels have 0 offset. The wheels are 17x7 and the tires are BF Goodrich Comp-2 in 235/55/17. I got the wheels from Summit Racing (part #VN50177012500) for $180 each delivered, which I think is a very fair price. I have my original 14" Magnum 500s stored in the boxes so here is a picture of the labels on the box in case it helps you.

View attachment 287200
Thank you!
 
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