[arod15]

I am completly confused when it comes to wheels, with the whole back spacing, bolt pattern and what not. I have a 67 Dart which has upgraded disks up front and a stock small bolt pattern rear end. I currently have SS cragers up front which are 15x7. I want to get matching rims in the back but am lost on what is the correct bolt pattern, back spacing and any other variable I may not know. I bought an adapter which goes over the small bolt pattern in the back and allows the use of the bigger bolt pattern wheels to mount. My question is what are the specs I should look for when deciding on the backspace and bolt pattern?

 

[Lars]

You really should change the rear bolt pattern to match. Adapters are really unsafe, plus it'll make fitting the wheels up a lot easir, because you won't have to buy some funky backspacing to make them fit.

 

[guzzimike]

On my '68 Dart, we flattened the inner lip and installed an offset spring mount kit. This kit moves the springs inboard about 7/8", about even with the inner fender tub. In other words, it's about as much room as you're going to purchase without minitubbing and re-welding spring mount boxes..

I have Cragar SS wheels, 15 X 8" with 5 inch backspace. This combination leaves me about 1.5" space on either side of the sidewall with a set of BFG 255/60R-15 tires.

 

[Guest]

To get a basic understanding of backspacing, read the page in the Tech Pages on measuring for rear wheels.

Bolt pattern is simple - you have 5 on 4" now, the "small pattern" - most other Mopars and all Fords have 5 on 4.5"(big pattern) and GM's have 5 on 4.75". The small 4" is a bitch because no one makes wheels for it anymore. If you switch to the big pattern, you can get any wheel you want as long as the correct backspacing is available. Plus what Lars said - the adapters are unsafe and they move the wheel closer to your quarter opening, requiring even more backspacing to keep the wheel centered in the opening.

An interesting side note - 80's Daytonas used the 4" bolt pattern - it was a metric measurment, but the 4" wheels fit. Also, alot of new cars use the 114.5mm bolt pattern, which happens to be 4.5"....

 

[arod15]

How hard is it to change the bolt pattern from 5x4 to 5x4.5. I know one method is to replace the rear end with the 8 3/4, but is there way to just change the spindles?

 

[b569rr]

Here is another resource for defining wheel backspacing.

http://www.wheelvintiques.com/pdfs/wheel_fitment.pdf

Tom