Exactly What Wheels & Tires Fit C Bodies?

[amazinblue82]

Described to be 15x8, with 245/60-15's all around.

Backspacing not given, but 4.0 inches ("0" offset) bksp. tends to work fine with any C's (as long as tires not too wide)

 

[Blusmbl]

I can say for sure a 295/65/15 drag radial on a 15x8 Torque Thrust does *not* fit a 67-68 Fury unless you're willing to cut up the wheelhouses and trim the wheelwell lip. Don't recommend it at all.

 

[fury fan]

Fronts are common 15x7 factory wheels of late 70s, 4" BS, 235-60-15.

Rears are 275-60-15 on 15x8 Ramcharger wheels, 4" BS. I had the wheels, a buddy had the tires (new) from some deal he'd worked.
The wheel offset put the tires into the fenderskirt latches with the car as stock.

When we discovered the tires would rub we measured a bunch of rearends he had in his pile and found one that was mildly narrower (3/4" per side?)
So we used a Mopar Perf offset spring bracket set that moves right next to the framerail.
Moved the rear shackle brackets over - reused 1 original bolthole/weldnut and drilled 2 new ones (bolts/locknuts).
Rear axle is (I believe) a 66-67 B-body unit - it fell right onto the relo'd springs (as much as any axle drops onto the centerbolts, that is).


The tires, rearend, and spring brackets were all stuff my buddy had on his shelves and he was instrumental in making me take the plunge into 'hacking into' this 2-owner car.


It's a shadowed pic but the RWLs show the rear wheels are deeper.

 

[amazinblue82]

CORRECTED

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Nice work. Cool pics. Great Look!

My first thought, before I read thoroughly, was you got really exlnt REAR shirt/body clearance and a cool, deep look I thought would NOT be possible without mods' on a slabbie.

Then I see you swapped rear axle and leaf mounts.

Couple questions: 1. Sure the axle is 66-67 B.? 2. Can you (anybody) confirm the lengths vs stock C axles drum to drum? 3. Speedo turn out ok?

Reason I ask is, just eyeballin' the set up, you might be able to get a 295/50 back there, maybe with another inch of back spacing on rim, plus another inch of width (15x9) -- looks like ample clearance inside (between wheel and suspension) with the leaf move.

Not saying you need to/should do it cuz you got a great look now .. somebody else may wanna stretch the envelope with fatter meats in back.

 

[Blusmbl]

I've done a ton of measuring as I'm putting a Dana under my car. Stock 65-69 C body is 61.75" drum to drum, and the perches are 46" apart. It's within 1/8" of an E-body rearend, and I believe the same as A100 vans.

Pre-70 B bodies were 44" perch to perch, so it makes sense that the offset rear hangers moved the springs over to the early B perch width.

I ordered my dana with 61.3" width, and it should fit my tires a little better, but both the wheel lip and the outer wheelhouse have already been cut on my car for the 295/65/15's. There is room to move the tire in about 3/4" further closer to the leaf spring which would help some as well.

 

[fury fan]

Nice work. Cool pics. Great Look! Sorry for the primitive digital enhancements.

My first thought, before I read thoroughly, was you got really exlnt REAR shirt/body clearance and a cool, deep look I thought would NOT be possible without mods' on a slabbie.


Then I see you swapped rear axle and leaf mounts.

Couple questions: 1. Sure the axle is 66-67 B.? 2. Can you (anybody) confirm the lengths vs stock C axles drum to drum? 3. Speedo turn out ok?

Reason I ask is, just eyeballin' the set up, you might be able to get a 295/50 back there, maybe with another inch of back spacing on rim, plus another inch of width (15x9) -- looks like ample clearance inside (between wheel and suspension) with the leaf move.

Not saying you need to/should do it cuz you got a great look now .. somebody else may wanna stretch the envelope with fatter meats in back.

My first though, before I noticed it was your reply, was WTH happened to my pics?

1. No, not sure what the axle is from. 66-67 B-body was my buddy's memory. I referenced the axle width and perch specs in teh MP catalogs from years ago, measured the cars I owned, and found some of it regarding C's was wrong, which made all of it suspect (IMO). From that chart, the 71-74 Charger axle was what I needed, but when I found one a guy claimed was for that, it was wider than the C-body (was he incorrect? I don't know.) We also now know the 69 Polara axle is narrower than later years, right?

2. That would take some effort for me, at this time anyway. Plus my buddy and I found +/-1/4" variation in axles where he knew exactly what cars they came from. And/or does that include the 1/4" side-side that you noted earlier in post 38?

3. No speedo was not OK, but also went from 3.23 to 3.55 during the swap, so it was not expected to be.

4. We did try a 295/50 tire also (my buddy had a pair of them also) and they looked absolutely stooopid on there. (so bad that I don't even remember if they would fit, if we tried pre- or post-rearend swap).
The sidewall was pretty tall even at 50-series, but the problem was that the tire was so long compared to the wheel opening that I absolutely hated it. It looked like a super-swamper tire.

 

[amazinblue82]

NOT MINE - 70 Fury GC Paisley Ohio Ebay
Seller description: "Authentic Brand New Weld Weldstar RT wheels 15x8 4.5 bs rear, 15x6 3.5 bs front. Cooper Cobra RWL 255/70 & 225/70"

 

[fury fan]

http://[URL][URL]https://www.forcbo...body-wheel-and-tire-survey.28445/post-1087119

[/URL][/URL]

View attachment 530811

Wheels: 18x8 Centerline Boulevard wheels with as-cast centers instead of polished
Tires: Michelin MXV4, front 235-50-18, Rear 255-55-18

On the heels of this one blue 64 300K, here's a car I discovered the other day on FB.
Took a little digging, I thought they were Lincoln wheels, turns out they are 96-98 Ford Explorer.
They take what appears to be a snap-on center hubcap, which I think could be modified to fit a custom Mopar-ish emblem to de-Ford them a little bit.
Within minutes I found a $5 cap with $5 shipping, so I'll know as soon as I hold it. But the pic below gives me confidence.

But need to learn the backspace on this wheel somehow, I don't want to pursue these wheels if they are gonna tuck under more than a standard Mopar wheel.
So far all the wheels on ebay are $80-100 each and need refinishing, and found none on FB, so I'm not terribly excited on this yet.
But they look neat to me, perhaps only because I hadn't seen them on a Mopar thus far.

 

[amazinblue82]

that's a nice wheel. "de-forded" as desired, the size looks like it would go easily on many a C. diameter and width good, and backspacing looks like its suitable too.

I'd bet good specimens could be had cheap...

 

[fury fan]

Yeah, I would think I should be able to find a set for $200-250, just can't expect to find them instantly due to their age.
But if I'm gonna spend $100 per wheel from ebay and then need to polish them, I'll just spend $200 on new wheels that are ready to use. Or refinish the Magnum GT or '79 300 wheels I already have. I'm getting to the age where cheap has a high cost of time. But the allure of something different, outside the box, has a strong hold on me.

The backspace does look good, but I want to make sure, if they are going to retreat 1/2" further then I really don't want to pursue, our wheelwells swallow our stock wheels enough already.

UPDATE:
Cap arrived and the center emblem was easily popped out. There's a nice recess for piloting some type of homemade emblem to suit the non-Ford car it would go on, and sufficient space for using 3 small fasteners to keep such emblem in place. My CNC router can handle making such an emblem from aluminum.

As soon as I stumble across the backspace measurement, I'll know if I'm interested or not.

 

[amazinblue82]

A little detective "opinion" if anyone has one? Thoughts?

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1968 Sport Fury

First, this is a nice car to me. Good look, wheel/tire combo gives aggressive stance, wheels are classics. So, ain't DISSIN' the car. hope it finds a good home.

The ad does not detail the specs on the wheel/tire combo. Speculation/experience has to fill in the blanks. That, plus some really good pics help out.

The tire size, as read off a closeup, is 245/60-15. Eyeballing the fitment of mounted wheel, its "look" in the wheel wells, I would ESTIMATE a 15x8 wheel, with backspacing between 4.0 and 4.5.

One other closeup above, of DRIVER REAR tire, looks like it has/is "rubbing" on the inner fender (the "uniform", circular "scar" on the white letters). I have seen this on my own cars when it happens.

All around the circumference, top 1/2 of the ALL the letters. My observation is DRIVER SIDE (most likely place in slabbies in my experience on my own stuff) has about 0.5 inch LESS clearance than it needs between tire & fender.

My simple tests, not a substitute for actual measurement, is I gotta get all four fingers between the tire and and skirt/quarter, up to the knuckles on my hand, to feel good. Similarly, I gotta get index finger between the tire and the full length of the leaf on the inside.

DUNNO what's going on with THIS car. Rubbing, not rubbing, rubbed once and never again, rubbed on some other car, etc.

The point is, broken record, do your measurements before you commit time/money/safety with inevitable interference issues. Nothing spoils a beautiful look faster than a tire/wheel rasping on metal.

 

[amazinblue82]

UPDATE:
Cap arrived and the center emblem was easily popped out. There's a nice recess for piloting some type of homemade emblem to suit the non-Ford car it would go on, and sufficient space for using 3 small fasteners to keep such emblem in place. My CNC router can handle making such an emblem from aluminum.

As soon as I stumble across the backspace measurement, I'll know if I'm interested or not.

View attachment 590334

@fury fan , one source suggests slightly positive offset. 3/8 to a little over 1/2 inch (+10mm to +14mm -- dunno why the range but anyway it appears small if this source is accuratel).

By my calculation understanding, the backspacing would be for a 15x7 wheel, 3.875 to 4.0 inches, which was about how it looked eyeballin' it.

I'd try to get another source, better yet access somehow a real example, and measure it.

Good luck man.

source: 1998 Ford Explorer - Wheel & Tire Sizes, PCD, Offset and Rims specs

 

[fury fan]

Thanks for digging up that info!
The brake rotor is somewhat deep, like on our cars, which suggests it's not going to have a lot of BS like a late-model/FWD wheel that pairs with a much flatter rotor.
I found a set listed in a JY about 2 hours south of me. Their price is fair but a long drive. I'll keep eyes peeled, this will surely be a 3-4 month proposition for an answer and to find a set.

 

[has2bmopar]

'67 New Yorker
295/65-15s on 15x9s
225/70-15s on 15x7s if I remember correctly.
Leaf springs are moved in I believe 1" on a B body width Dana 60.

 

[amazinblue82]

1968 Fury owner reports 15x7, 225/70 in front, and 15x8, 275/60 in back with no interference issues.

 

[amazinblue82]

Trying to clean up the slabbie picture thread with this wheel discussion that applies to all C's. Excerpt below from @SPF Required 's specific inquiry about six inch wheel backspacing.

Hoping someone on here might know the stock backspacing…. Otherwise I guess I am going to be taking off a wheel and measuring per @GOLDMYN advice.

Sorry to tie up this slabies picture thread with this wheel conversion.

@SPF Required

dunno your answer exactly, but my experience from memory is six inch width, 14 or 15 inch diameter, steel wheels from American OEM's to be ~4.0 inch "backspacing" (bksp), which is about an inch of positive "offset".

Boiling all that down, a 14-15 inch diameter (6,7, or 8 inch width) Magnum (or any wheel), with 4.0 - 4.25 inch bksp, , with tire NO "wider" (e.g., like a 255/60, or about ~10 inches) and NO "taller" (e.g., like a 215/70 or 225/70, or ~27-28 inches in diameter), you should be golden - IMHO.

You'd have to make a aesthetic choice on what "look" (e.g., big & little, all same size, fat or thin, etc.,) you wanted, and not worry much/at all about interference on an UN-modified slabbie.

hope that helps. good luck chief.

Yup - that math works out better! Thank you

I measured backspacing on 15x6 Road wheels. @HWYCRZR said he would post Mopar OEM bksp. specs he has gathered as well so I am looking forward to that from him and/or anyone with similar authoritative referenced.

100 years ago, this is how I learned the concepts of "backspacing" and "offset".

The former is 's basically "bead seal" to "back of hub area" (where wheel touches rotor or drum) of the wheel. "Offset" is a different measurement, and could be "zero", "positive", or "negative."

Using any wheel right in front of you, a good bksp. approximation (it will be a little high, because the bead seal is a bit closer to the wheel centerline) is to take a straight edge, lay it on back of wheel, and measure down to the back of the hub area from the bottom of the straight edge.

I did this today when I got home on one of my 15x6 Road Wheels. You can see you get about 4.0 inches backspacing (red arrow).

My experience, across several American OEM makes, is that a six-inch wide wheel has this backspacing, OR a slightly POSITIVE offset (offset measured from the centerline of the wheel to the back of the drum/rotor contact area.

If anyone thinks/does/understands the concepts differently, lets discuss please. If I have been wrong for 100 years, I can still learn new things.

We (the forum) were trying to focus the "wheel" questions, dozens a year in my 9 years here that are about ALL C's, into ONE thread for easier reference.

So again, this would otherwise be inside a great thread focused on slabbies only in this example.

Thanks for your help in any event.

 

[SPF Required]

This tutorial is VERY MUCH appreciated. Thank you!

 

[amazinblue82]

Wheel and tires sizes (looks like a 1968 Polara to me .. i can only tell by the taillights but Im not sure)

owner reports "17x7 wheels with 235/45r17 on front and 245/45r17 on today. 0 offset which is about 4". Wanted to change it up a little."

 

[amazinblue82]

Wheel Vintiques 15x8 with 4" backspacing, painted body color (SKU 69-581204)

Hankook Kinergy ST - front 225/70R15 - rear 255/70R15

1967 300 vert owner graciously reported this wheel/tire choice and no fitment issues.

C-Body Wheel and Tire Survey

 

[amazinblue82]

1974 New Yorker Brougham

255/50-17, 17x8, 4.0 in bksp.