Has anybody found the limit in tire size for early a-bodies?

I would like to set-up my '65 Valiant convertible for handling, with possibly 50-series tires. Basically, I would like the tallest and widest tires that will fit.

The best I could find mentioned elsewhere was 235/60/15 for the rear and something like 215/60/15 for the front. Is there room for more? I would probably go with 16" wheels, unless 15's are good enough.

I have 245/60-15's on the back of my '66 Valiant. However, I did trim out the inside lip on the wheelwell and rolled a pipe through the wheelwells to open them up some. They do get real close to the front lower corner of the opening too.

Lou has some pretty big skins under his '64. He'll probably pop in and fill you in on that.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

I have fit 235-60-14 all around with some lip mods.
I also trim-off the sharpe corner at the lower front corner of the front fender, that helps a lot. Getting the car real low also helped me some.
DD

My '66 Dart is running 225/50R16 tires on all four corners. I did have to roll the front fender lips a little to make this work.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

Hmm... 225/50/16 front and 245/50/16 rear should work then?... though might be a little tight.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html shows the 245/50/16 just a little shorter than a 245/60/15... or a 235/50/16 is about the same size as a 235/60/14.

Anybody have pictures of the fender mods?

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1965 Valiant Custom 100 Convertible

I did a slight amount of trimming on my '64 Dart front fender lips, and I have 245/45-16s that don't rub. The rears are fine if you get the wheel offset right. I am betting with some widening (like Dennis' pipe trick) I can maybe get 265s or 275s under the back of a '63-66 Val (my next project).

http://home.nc.rr.com/madsenkaestle/Dar ... 2202_2.JPG

Hope this helps,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Any more pictures?... That Dart looks great.

What are the specs on your wheels?

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1965 Valiant Custom 100 Convertible

Thanks!

Wheels are 16X8 SSR Integral for a '90s Mustang with 5.72" backspace, running thin wheel spacers. More pics and answers are here.

http://home.nc.rr.com/madsenkaestle/
http://www.slantsix.com/UBB/Forum4/HTML/000051.html

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

What is the biggest tire you could fit under a 66 Cuda with a 14x8 rim? How about a 15x8 rim?

Reed