Brakes, wheels and tires. What combination???

The first project for my new 70 Satellite convertible is brakes, wheels and tires.

One of the rear brakes is sticking, so a rebuild is in order. I haven't popped the wheels off yet to examine them. Were 10" drums standard on a 318 auto with an 8 1/4 rear? I will probably do a front disc conversion also. That topic has been covered quite a bit so not going to rehash that. But, is it worth while replacing the rear shoes with ceramic ones if I'm doing front discs? Or is that just a waste of money.

The next question is wheels and tires. I currently have 14" police rims with dog dish hubcaps. I want plenty of clearance for the disc brake conversion so I'm going to step up to 15" tires and probably rallye rims. I think ride is better too and definitely the look as the wheel wells look a little empty with the 14's. Any size suggestions? My 70 RR had 225/60/15 front and 255/60/15 rears. Should I go bigger on the rears? How big can I go? Here's a pic of how it stands now on the 14" police rims.

Also, what are the best Rallye rims out there? Saw these at Summit , $200 each with trim rings, center cap and new lugs.
Wheel Vintiques 56 Series Chrysler Rallye Silver Wheels 56-5712044
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wvi-56-5712044

I would just replace the stock 10" parts including shoes. With a front brake conversion to disc there is less of a need to upgrade the back. Be careful of where you get your 10" brake parts. I got mine from classic and ended up with bad parts, had to re-use the retainer spring on both sides because the kit springs were not correct. Rick ehrenberg sells 10" stuff, check his ebay site.

wheel vintiques wheels are great. I run 275 bfg radial t/a rear on my 70 that is about the max I would go without making other changes as I have had the shoulders rub on the inner wheel house in corners. I also use an 8" magnum 500 wheel and the 275 r15 looks no wider than the 255 r17 modern rubber i have on the 67 gtx. You can also run 255 r17 all around on a 70, but I like the look with 15's better.

If you go with a 275, consider using a 9" rim to avoid sidewall bulge. 8" rims are on the small side for 275.

SlinktRR said:

I would just replace the stock 10" parts including shoes. With a front brake conversion to disc there is less of a need to upgrade the back. Be careful of where you get your 10" brake parts. I got mine from classic and ended up with bad parts, had to re-use the retainer spring on both sides because the kit springs were not correct. Rick ehrenberg sells 10" stuff, check his ebay site.

wheel vintiques wheels are great. I run 275 bfg radial t/a rear on my 70 that is about the max I would go without making other changes as I have had the shoulders rub on the inner wheel house in corners. I also use an 8" magnum 500 wheel and the 275 r15 looks no wider than the 255 r17 modern rubber i have on the 67 gtx. You can also run 255 r17 all around on a 70, but I like the look with 15's better.

If you go with a 275, consider using a 9" rim to avoid sidewall bulge. 8" rims are on the small side for 275.

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I actually emailed Rick yesterday and was planning on buying his rebuild kit and wheel cylinders. I've gotten good stuff from him before.

What size are you running on the fronts?

Beautiful car. I'm planning to put ceramic shoes in back of mine... why not? I've "heard" 275-60x15's (28" diameter) are the biggest that can fit on the back, but I'm just hearing now that 8" rims are a little narrow for them (I have 8" in back). What I'm wondering is if 28" diameter tires (? 225-70x15 or 235-70x15?) fit the front.

I think those Summit 15x7 rallye's look really good and appear to be pretty close to the OEM wheels.

NJRR said:

I actually emailed Rick yesterday and was planning on buying his rebuild kit and wheel cylinders. I've gotten good stuff from him before.

What size are you running on the fronts?

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I run 235/70 R15 on the front of a 70RR with 15x7 rims, 275/60 R15 with 15x8 rims. On a 67 GTX I have 255/50 R17 all around, and have swapped this set onto both cars. The 17" rims big benefit is it really opens up the tire choices. I prefer rallyes and magnum 500's on the 68-70 B bodies, just me, so I keep the 15's and below average classic BFG's for the 70.

PurpleBeeper, I have seen pictures of 295's on 8" rims mounted onto our cars. I'm not a fan of the sidewall bulge, but plenty of people like that look. It will run fine but what I run into with the 66-70 b bodies is the shoulder from the bulge of a 275 or 295 tire mounted on small-ish 7.5-8" rim can rub the inside of the rear quarter panel. You can overcome this by running SS springs or changing your rear suspension. One benefit of the bulge is preventing curb rash on your wheels...but I dont parallel park these cars that often.

Thanks slinktRR! So to me, it sounds like 275/60-15 rear and 235/70-15 front will fit no problem. Personally, I like the idea of this tire combination because I believe both tires have right about 28" diameter so you don't need any special brake proportioning valve and you can carry one spare! My concern was the front tires hitting the frame or inner wheel well.

So, to NJRR, I think this is your answer. Note that I'm running 15x8 rear wheels, but I believe Summit sells some stock-looking wheels in larger sizes than they were available stock. Now that I think of it, my "stock stamped steel" 8" wide rear rims are from Summit. I believe you can get 8" wide rally wheels too from them.

SlinktRR and PurpleBeeper- Thanks for the input guys. I think it's going to be the 235/60/15 front and 255/60/15 rear (maybe 275's- gonna check some measurements still) on the WheelVintiques Rallye rims.

Now to the tires. I guess the gold standard is BFG Radial T/As ( had them on my RR).
Anyone use the Cooper Cobra Radial T/As? They are a third less than the BFG's ($100 vs $150 per tire). That's $200- pays for a spare on a rim. Opinions?