Wide street tires for back of my 68 Charger

[68charger440]

I would like some wide tires for my 68 Charger.  Evrey time I find a size that I like, It either is only good for under 7 or 8 ,000 miles if you are really lucky, or I can't get it at all.  I would like to go with 18 x 10 wheels and 285 40 or wider tires. 295 40 or 45 would be great.  Does anyone know wnere I can find any that won't be dead in a year?

[Kern Dog]

I have a set of Nitto 555 295 45 18 tires on the back of my 70 Charger. They have about 40% tread left after numerous burnouts and 10,000 miles. I bought them in 2003 so I am replacing them simply due to age!

[68charger440]

I hear they used to have two different tires, one for mostly street use and one that was street legal, but wouldn't last because it was more of a drag tire; and that now they don't make the former anymore.  I don't know if this is true at all, but I see a whole lot of people saying that 10000 mile is a stretch.

[myk]

I don't know about you guys but I always end up replacing my tires due to age, never because of wear...

[WHITE AND RED 69]

What's the plan for the car? All season driver or summer only? Cruiser or performer? Most tires in that size are going to be a summer performance tire so the tread life will be shorter. But still should get 20,000 miles as long as your not doing too many burnouts.

I've had great experiences with my BF Goodrich KDW's (10000+ miles and they still look perfect) but they have discontinued my sizes. So my next tire will be the Falken Azenis RT615K in a 245/40 & 295/40. Its a performance tire but being in California im not worried about extreme weather.

http://www.falkentire.com/tires/car-tires/azenis-rt615k-tire

Another good option for a 285/40/18 is the Continental Extreme contact.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ExtremeContact+DW&partnum=84YR8ECDW&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Nitto's like Kern Dog's are an excellent choice as well and they have a great selection of sizes.  

[68charger440]

It is a summer cruiser with an occasional trip to the track.  I was all set on using Nitto until I heard people saying  they were only getting 7000 or so.  Then I got scared off of them because i drive it quite a bit in the summer.  It will stay in garage in winter.  Maybe I'll rrconsider them and also look at the other links too.

[68charger440]

I have a set of Nitto 555 295 45 18 tires on the back of my 70 Charger. They have about 40% tread left after numerous burnouts and 10,000 miles. I bought them in 2003 so I am replacing them simply due to age!

Kern Dog... Do you have some pics somewhere on the site showing the 295 45 18 on your charger?  I havent found any yet.

[Kern Dog]

Sure.

[Kern Dog]

Wooo

[Kern Dog]

These rear tires are a 235 60 15. I only had them on the car because I was getting the left fender repaired and didn't want to risk getting any overspray on the wheels.

[Kern Dog]

Picture

[68charger440]

Thanks...  It kills me how hard it is to decide on wheel/tire combos.  I have changed my mind more times than my wife picking out a new dress.

[Kern Dog]

I went round and round for awhile too. I didn't want to go to 20" wheels because the sidewalls are too short for me. 15" tires in a 27" diameter don't handle as well though.

[68charger440]

Are your wheels 10", and what back spacing? Is everything stock back there as far as fitment? I.e.rear end, tubbing brakes etc.

[Kern Dog]

The wheels are 10" wide, 4 3/4" backspacing. The axle is from a 66-67 B body which is narrower than a 68-70 housing by almost 3/4". You could duplicate the look with a stock 68-70 housing by just going with about 5 1/8" backspacing.

[Kern Dog]

Stock wheel tubs, but I do have MP XHD springs and one inch lowering blocks.

[Mopar Nut]

Sure.

Very nice!   

[68charger440]

The wheels are 10" wide, 4 3/4" backspacing. The axle is from a 66-67 B body which is narrower than a 68-70 housing by almost 3/4". You could duplicate the look with a stock 68-70 housing by just going with about 5 1/8" backspacing.

I'm confused, wouldn't adding 3/8" backspacing push the wheel inward more?  Wouldn't I need 4 3/8 backspacing to duplicate the look?
Also, are the fronts 18" wheels too?

[68charger440]

Never mind, I think I understand your setup, but I still do want to know what size the front wheels are.

[myk]

Thanks...  It kills me how hard it is to decide on wheel/tire combos.  I have changed my mind more times than my wife picking out a new dress.

Don't feel bad, it took 10 years for me to decide what wheels to go with, and even now I'm thinking about changing again...

[Kern Dog]

The wheels are 10" wide, 4 3/4" backspacing. The axle is from a 66-67 B body which is narrower than a 68-70 housing by almost 3/4". You could duplicate the look with a stock 68-70 housing by just going with about 5 1/8" backspacing.

I'm confused, wouldn't adding 3/8" backspacing push the wheel inward more?  Wouldn't I need 4 3/8 backspacing to duplicate the look?
Also, are the fronts 18" wheels too?

With a wider axle housing like the 68-70, the 4 3/4 backspacing isn't enough to avoid rubbing at the outer edge. Since the axle is 3/8" wider at each side, you add 3/8" to the 4 3/4" backspace. Since backspace is measured at the back side of the rim, this effectively moves the "hoop" of the rim ( The part the tire rides on) inboard for an identical fit. The wheel doesn't look as deeply inset with the wheel center further outboard.

When I was trying to determine proper fitment for wheels and tires in 2002, I took a 17x8 wheel I had and used it as a fitment template. I measured how much additional width I could add before hitting anything. My goal was a solid 3/4" of clearance from the leaf springs and outer wheel lip molding. Up front I was limited to the 18x9 size. As it is, the tire will rub the frame rail at the rear at full lock. No biggie, since it is smooth metal and only wears off the paint there. The front edges of the tires do not touch anything. When I had the stock .88 torsion bars, the top edges of the front tires would sometimes touch the fenders at a turn when backing out of the driveway. Oddly, they never rubbed there going forward....I installed the 1.0 MP bars and it almost totally eliminated that. There was never any damage in the form of kinked metal, just some slight rubbing.
Front size is an 18x9 with 4 3/4" BS just like the rear.

[68charger440]

Yeah, when I sat and thought about it some more last night it made sense. 
I have that slight rub when backing out of a driveway too, but never when pulling in. Wierd. 
It's funny, sometimes I like the 18s then other times I think the 18s might be too tall and I might like 17s more.   I have also thought about bringing the wheel out as close to the inner lip as I can without rubbing, and keeping the ride hight to where that little hump doesn't cause too much of a problem.  Are you happy with the setup you have or would you change anything if you had to do it all over again?
...and Myk, what are you thinking of changing to?

[myk]

I love my wheel style; it's based on the Coy's 55 Old School, but I can't get it any wider than an 8 inch rim, and I've decided I want a wider tire in the back.  So, I may just go with the classic Torq Thrust D, M, or 2 in 18x8 up front, and an 18x10 in the rear.  But, Torq Thrusts are so over done I don't want to be like everyone else...

[68charger440]

I have been thinking more and more about getting these American Racing Gasser VN 474, but I don't see them on their website, so I wonder if they are being discontinued?

[68charger440]

When I was trying to determine proper fitment for wheels and tires in 2002, I took a 17x8 wheel I had and used it as a fitment template. I measured how much additional width I could add before hitting anything. My goal was a solid 3/4" of clearance from the leaf springs and outer wheel lip molding. Up front I was limited to the 18x9 size.
Front size is an 18x9 with 4 3/4" BS just like the rear.

Kern Dog, you said your goal was 3/4 clearance on the outer lip.  Is that in fact what you ended up with?

Can you double check my math with me?
I want to get as close to the outside lip as I can, so I am thinking that 4 3/4 backspacing would give me 1/4 " clearance from the inside lip to the tire on a 10" wheel running the same tires as you. 
My car has 13.625" from the hub mounting surface to the inside lip of the wheel well.
The 295 45 18 is 11.61" section width. With 0 offset/backspacing that leaves 13.625 - 11.61= 2.015 total space to play with.  That is 1.0075 on each side of wheel. 
So a negative 18mm offset will make the backspacing roughly 4.75"  leaving roughly 1/4 " space between inner lip and tire sidewall.
Does that sound right?