74 Runner Front Rim Back Spacing

[leafdave]

I have a 74 Road Runner and am looking to purchase a set of Magnum 500 rims for it. 15 X 8 for Front and 15 X 10 for rear. Whjat Im looking for is to see if any one has 15 X 8 on the front and what the Back Spacing is. They come with 4.5 backspacing and I tried my 69 Runner Superior rims which have a 4.5 backspace and they end up binding on the caliper. I measured the distance from top of caliper to center of hub and it is 6 inches which says I need to be able to have at least 12 .5 inches clearnace in the back side of the rim. The brake caliber clearance for Backspacing is 1 inch. Does any one have a measurement of the rear inside measurement clearance of a 15 X 8 Magnum rim> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[leafdave]

I will answer myself as I bought a set of Magnum 500 rims 15 X 8 with 4.5 backspacing. They fit on the 74 Runner no problems at all. Also tried them on my 69 Runner with front disc brakes and they fit okay also. Will be running BF Goodrich P255/60R15 on fromnt of car with the 15 X 8 rims and on the rear will run P295/50/R15 on 15 X 10 with 5.5 backspacing . All fit in wheel wells and function properly. Thanks.

 

[idrivemopar]

Please post pictures of them on the car as I am thinking about doing the same thing on my 73 Runner except with Rallye wheels.o

 

[leafdave]

attachedare some pics on my 74 and once I knew they fit okay I put them on my wifes 69 runner. She liked them so much that I am now ordering another set for my 74 again.

 

[Highwaystar]

Looks good. Do the 295's fit, if the car was lowered in the back, or do you need air shocks?
I like the look of the 8" up front. I used 7" because I was hearing possible rub issues on hard braking and cornering. Let me know if you have no problems with that, because the 8" wheel looks nicer up front. Why not 70 series up front?
Thanks,
T.J.

 

[leafdave]

yes they fit when lowered. I do have air shocks but they do not have a lot of air in them. The 295 are the same height as the G14/60 R14 that came on the car. You can see that on the 69 they have lots of clearance and the 74 clearance is the same. On the front I went with the 255 because they were the closest to the overall height of 6.6 origional tires. Also the 70 series did not go as big width wise from what I could see from the charts. The fronts have plenty of clearance on turns etc and clears the front disc caliper easily, as I'm just reassembling the 74 and the motor is not in yet I could not take for a test ride but I have tested them on the 69 and there is no issue what so ever and the 74 has more clearance so will not be a problem.

 

[idrivemopar]

That's awesome looking car, and the wheel choice is perfect. I noted your tire sizes as I just ordered my rallye wheels yesterday. thanks for posting!!!!