Wheel Sizes - Battling Everyones Dilemma

[Dino]

Myk, be aware that ONLY the 17 x 9.5 has the wide machined lip, all others look like my front wheels.

I have 4.5 bs on the front and 5.5 on the back but 5.5 is too much.  The rear should be 5 or maybe even 4.5 but yeah it will get damn close with the latter, if not touching.  Lookup my before I start thread and see what the 5.5 did to my wheel wells.  Nothing major but just so you know.

245/45 18 is roughly 26.7" tall and 245/40 is only 25.7.  That's less than stock.

My rear tire is 275/50 17 and is almost 28" tall.  For an even look having all the same tires I would get the 245/45 or maybe look into a 255/45 at just over 27" tall.  The bs on the front will have to be dead on though so hopefully the 255 wide tire owners can chime in on their backspacing.  Why do I not see the bs on the discount tire website??

Well in that case the 4.5" backspacing should be fine for the rear then; you have 4.5" backspacing on your fronts so my car should look like yours, the only difference being the diameter.  I've learned that Discount shows offset, not backspacing; I had to use a backspacing/offset calculator to try and convert their offset numbers into backspacing.

Wait a minute.  If backspacing measures the distance from the mounting point to the inner wheel surface then my 18x8 wheel with 4.5" backspacing will be tucked in further into the car than your 17x9.5 wheel with 5.5" backspacing.  The 17x9.5 Old School that you have is no longer available, btw...

No you're fine.  The more backspacing, the deeper the wheel moves inward.  Less backspacing means that the distance between wheel hub and axle is shorter so the distance between axle and outside of the rim is larger.  A 4.5 bs will stick out more and thus closer to the fender lip than a 5.5 will.

My front tires are only 245 wide so I think you should be fine with that or a 255 in the rear with 4.5 bs.  My 275 with 4.5, that may be a problem but nothing a little tweaking can't fix.  I would love to bring my rear tires out about a half inch, that would be spot on and stop the rubbing, although that is rare to happen.

The 17x9.5 Chrome wheel is on the site.  When I first found the wheels on the dt site they had chrome and the gunmetal ones I have so I printed off the sheet for the latter.  A week later they were off the site so I went to my local dt and they punched the number in the computer and found dozens.  If the discontinued them , they are still available.  Just go to or call dt and ask for the 17x9.5 in gunmetal.  It's still available I'm sure.

[1974dodgecharger]

Myk,
Huh i just had my 14 inch magnums on could of told ya.

As for the 4.5 rear backspace yes it's closer to the inner car from what i understand my magnums are 4.5 bs and man it makes the car swallow the tire/rim combo.

[myk]

Myk, be aware that ONLY the 17 x 9.5 has the wide machined lip, all others look like my front wheels.

I have 4.5 bs on the front and 5.5 on the back but 5.5 is too much.  The rear should be 5 or maybe even 4.5 but yeah it will get damn close with the latter, if not touching.  Lookup my before I start thread and see what the 5.5 did to my wheel wells.  Nothing major but just so you know.

245/45 18 is roughly 26.7" tall and 245/40 is only 25.7.  That's less than stock.

My rear tire is 275/50 17 and is almost 28" tall.  For an even look having all the same tires I would get the 245/45 or maybe look into a 255/45 at just over 27" tall.  The bs on the front will have to be dead on though so hopefully the 255 wide tire owners can chime in on their backspacing.  Why do I not see the bs on the discount tire website??

Well in that case the 4.5" backspacing should be fine for the rear then; you have 4.5" backspacing on your fronts so my car should look like yours, the only difference being the diameter.  I've learned that Discount shows offset, not backspacing; I had to use a backspacing/offset calculator to try and convert their offset numbers into backspacing.

Wait a minute.  If backspacing measures the distance from the mounting point to the inner wheel surface then my 18x8 wheel with 4.5" backspacing will be tucked in further into the car than your 17x9.5 wheel with 5.5" backspacing.  The 17x9.5 Old School that you have is no longer available, btw...

No you're fine.  The more backspacing, the deeper the wheel moves inward.  Less backspacing means that the distance between wheel hub and axle is shorter so the distance between axle and outside of the rim is larger.  A 4.5 bs will stick out more and thus closer to the fender lip than a 5.5 will.

My front tires are only 245 wide so I think you should be fine with that or a 255 in the rear with 4.5 bs.  My 275 with 4.5, that may be a problem but nothing a little tweaking can't fix.  I would love to bring my rear tires out about a half inch, that would be spot on and stop the rubbing, although that is rare to happen.

The 17x9.5 Chrome wheel is on the site.  When I first found the wheels on the dt site they had chrome and the gunmetal ones I have so I printed off the sheet for the latter.  A week later they were off the site so I went to my local dt and they punched the number in the computer and found dozens.  If the discontinued them , they are still available.  Just go to or call dt and ask for the 17x9.5 in gunmetal.  It's still available I'm sure.

Dino thanks for the follow-up; it seems you're right, for some reason my internet-fu wasn't working right and I didn't see it.  Well, I'm PROBABLY going to go with the MB Old Schools in 18x8, 4.5" backspacing/0 offset, with a 245/45-18 tire on all corners, unless you guys have anything else to suggest.  I feel stupid paying what I am for the tires considering the car will get MAYBE 2,000 miles on it in a year, but oh well...

[1974dodgecharger]

Buy used tires with 50% thread left.....that be half price or so.

[Lord Warlock]

I don't have side pics yet,  the blue car on the right is in the way right now, when i can move the car out of the way I'll take side pics of the charger.  I doubt they are stock height in the back, I need to put the old wheels next to the new wheels and check the difference. 

[myk]

Well I finally pulled that trigger: 18x8 MB Old School wheels, 4.5" backspacing/0 offset, 245/45-18 rubber; let's see if I hit the mark.  

[1974dodgecharger]

nice...im sure they gonna look good...no matter what anyone saids 

[myk]

nice...im sure they gonna look good...no matter what anyone saids 

Assuming everything fits and works properly I'll post up some 'pics ASAP; might get the wheel/tire package in a week or so.

-Wait a minute.  Those of you running aftermarket wheels, did the aftermarket lugs have a left-hand thread set?  Our cars have left-hand threads on one side, right?

[Lord Warlock]

The original lugs on our cars are LH on the Left side, and RH on the right.  Thats gonna change when i put the new rotor on the left side tomorrow, as it uses RH on both rotors for the front brakes.  When i ordered new lugs recently they sent 20 lugs in a bag in the mail, think they are all RH threaded, were supposed to be half RH and half LH, but think i got snookered...  then again i ordered those before i ordered the new rotors and now it makes more sense to just replace the rear left with RH threaded studs, two are already out of the axle. 

[myk]

Myk,
Huh i just had my 14 inch magnums on could of told ya.

As for the 4.5 rear backspace yes it's closer to the inner car from what i understand my magnums are 4.5 bs and man it makes the car swallow the tire/rim combo.

I'm "guessing" that 14" wheels and matching tires on an otherwise stock '69 Charger is about 26.1" in overall tire height.  The wanna-be Vector's with the 245/60-15 I'm running right now are at 26.6" in height.  The wheel and tire setup I just ordered will come in at 26.7" in height.  It didn't occur to me that my new setup will fill the exact same space in the wheel well, just with a different rim diameter...

[myk]

First wheel is on, now I have to stop and think....

Take the wheel well lip moulding off or leave it on?  What do you guys say?

[1974dodgecharger]

i say take it off just me since you have a black rim if it was chrome then leave it on.

lookin nice bro seems you and i are working at the same pace on wheels/rims 

[myk]

i say take it off just me since you have a black rim if it was chrome then leave it on.

lookin nice bro seems you and i are working at the same pace on wheels/rims 

I saw that-looks like you're coming along rather well also...

[1974dodgecharger]

I looked at your pic again and I know like it with the chrome piece....

[mauve66]

take it off, take another pic and post them both side by side so we can tell you which one WE like on YOUR car

[myk]

I looked at your pic again and I know like it with the chrome piece....

But, but....you said to take it off!  Lol.  Obviously I can't decide either.

take it off, take another pic and post them both side by side so we can tell you which one WE like on YOUR car

That's the plan!  Stupid as it may sound I'm going to remove one side and leave it that way until I make up my damn mind...

[Mopar Nut]

Take the wheel well lip moulding off or leave it on?  What do you guys say?

I say buy another Charger without it, there you go one with and one without. Best of both worlds.

[myk]

Take the wheel well lip moulding off or leave it on?  What do you guys say?

I say buy another Charger without it, there you go one with and one with. Best of both worlds.

No.  I am never going through this old-car song and dance again.  Like marriage and kids, once is enough for this life and the one after it...

[TXcharger70]

I agree definitely off

[myk]

I agree definitely off

Thank you!  I'm going to try taking them off tomorrow and seeing how it hits me.

Thank you!

Thank you!


I want to thank everyone in DC.com, especially in this thread, as well as a special salute to Dino for finally helping me decide on the wheels and tires; much like the rest of the car I wouldn't have accomplished this without all of your input.  What else is there to say?  I've loved this car since I bought it 19 years ago, but seeing it as it is now I'm definitely in love again...

Bye bye old wheels!  Thanks for 20 years of service and timeless memories!


Now...What do you guys think about a non-R/T tail stripe?   

[Mopar Nut]

I like the R/T tail stripe, but again, it looks good without too.

[chargerboy69]

I like the R/T tail stripe, but again, it looks good without too.

I agree. I am not a fan of the non-R/T tail stripes.

[myk]

I wish there was a way you could put something like a stripe on temporarily, like a vinyl decal or something.  Like you guys, I think it looks good with and without...

[JB400]

A little too much orange in my book.  I'm in the same boat though not having a vinyl top to set off the main color.  How about a pinstripe just along the top of the fenders and quarters?  I seen a newer orange Charger that had the pinstripes on it in black and didn't look too bad.   

Personally, I'm tired of seeing R/T stripes on almost every car.

[myk]

A little too much orange in my book.  I'm in the same boat though not having a vinyl top to set off the main color.  How about a pinstripe just along the top of the fenders and quarters?  I seen a newer orange Charger that had the pinstripes on it in black and didn't look too bad.   

Personally, I'm tired of seeing R/T stripes on almost every car.

I saw a Year One 'ad in one of the first pages of a recent Mopar 'mag; it featured a rendered '69 in burnt orange, with a black vinyl top, black R/T stripe, black wheels and a hood with some black on it.  I figured it was too much black on the car, but it did inspire me to think about breaking up the "too much orange" on my own car...