Why is this a thing?

[JR_Charger]

My car will outhandle every similar car with stock tires and wheels. The rim width matches the tire width as needed and suggested. This isn't the 70s anymore, man. The old style had the tires tucked way in too far and it made the cars look like an elephant with tiny feet. No thanks.
These cars can handle quite well with some modern wheels, tires and suspension improvements. I'd never leave a classic like this:

View attachment 1570878
6" wide wheels, 78 series tires, positive camber with almost no caster at all....this car probably couldn't turn .6 Gs on a skid pad. Tires begging for mercy on a 25 mph turn?
No. This is not for me.

I can understand wanting to keep the period look, especially if those were your formative years. It is functional, if you care more about ride quality and the cost of tires than about braking and handling.

I'll be going with bigger rims and low profile tires myself. I hope the Bilsteins will make up for the extra harshness of low profile tires and stiffer torsion bars. The bottom line for me is that the car can't brake the way that it used to. Back in the day, my Charger, with it's 10" drums, made my mom's 90 Lumina feel like a quarter million dollar European exotic car. That's not what a Charger is about. It needs to be a fast car for as long as it can be upgraded. Not only will I do 18" rims, when we get "Back to the Future" flying cars, you will see my wheels tilt down and my car will fly over your head.

 

[eldubb440]

our goal back in the day, right or wrong, was to get the biggest tire under the car to get the perceived maximum amount of traction....... our modifications had a purpose.......some of it emulated the "funny car" look, for what that's worth

I see no performance advantage in having 3 inches of the corner of a tire contacting the road....... therefore; it totally sucks, emulates nothing, and is beyond stupid......

in my humble opinion, of course

 

[JR_Charger]

our goal back in the day, right or wrong, was to get the giggest tire under the car to get the perceived maximum amount of traction....... our modifications had a purpose.......some of it emulated the "funny car" look, for what that's worth

I see no performance advantage in having 3 inches of the corner of a tire contacting the road....... therefore; it totally sucks, emulates nothing, and is beyond stupid......

in my humble opinion, of course

Your humble opinion is backed by the authority of physics.

Surely this reduces the braking ability of the car to a fraction of what it was before. Like, a quarter of what it was before.

This modification should be banned as the threat to public safety that it is.

Then we'll deal with some of these truck modifications. I saw a video a while back where a guy lost a wheel that was too big for his suspension. A Kia Soul hit the wheel and was launched twenty feet into the air, flipping end over end. I pay attention when I see those trucks go by - I know most of the guys around here don't have the money to do that mod right. I knew a guy, a long time ago, who "lifted" his truck using bricks as spacers between the body and frame. As the saying goes, "Never underestimate stupidity."

 

[Ron H]

Viewing the OP’s photo, I can’t guess on any suspension modifications allowing for that much wheel slant, or affording it on a POS car. Have to guess bearing life is short, among other things. And four-cylinder engines with truck-size mufflers sticking out giving that extra fugly look, and the noise. Ouch.

 

[Budnicks]

I prefer the lower look too

but a cool jacked up Gasser look is OK too
most did it to get weight transfer when we had **** rubber & crap tires
it was for traction & like normal kids took it to another level
lots of the jacked up car with fat tire in my era

this thing is cool

High rider RR wheels up launch

former Mod here

Like I said previously
I liked them tucked in the fenders, but a lil' higher in the *** is OK...

some people (usually some wet behind the ears kid) just do it wrong
too high in the back related to the front (like that last shot in Greg's post)
& it looks shitty just as shitty as the huge camber asshats do

you say the NASCAR look on the street , well here ya' go

big fat meats & tucked, no big hoops **** here

 

[Detective D]

My car will outhandle every similar car with stock tires and wheels. The rim width matches the tire width as needed and suggested. This isn't the 70s anymore, man. The old style had the tires tucked way in too far and it made the cars look like an elephant with tiny feet. No thanks.
These cars can handle quite well with some modern wheels, tires and suspension improvements. I'd never leave a classic like this:

View attachment 1570878
6" wide wheels, 78 series tires, positive camber with almost no caster at all....this car probably couldn't turn .6 Gs on a skid pad. Tires begging for mercy on a 25 mph turn?
No. This is not for me.

Who said anything about 6" wide rims?
295 rubber fits under a lot of cars on 15" rims with enough sidewall to look old school without doing anything wierd.
I went for 275/65/15 on the monaco. They look like they should have been there the whole time. Could go wider if I got fancier with offsets or something.
Wider rubber does not require a 17 or 19" rim.

I agree 100% with the handling. Despite the social stigmas, these cars are lighter than the new ones. Weight is the enemy to cornering. Extra grip compensates. Suspension design can overcome. My 78 police car is 3 feet longer and 700lbs lighter than my '13 AWD charger. Sheet metal is not heavy lol, despite it's bulk.
It handles nice on the new mastercraft radials, no 17" rim required.

To each their own though, this is America.

 

[JR_Charger]

For me, handling concerns are secondary to braking concerns. I can only corner so hard on a public road, I don't need 18" rims and the best tires to get there. Braking, on the other hand - if I pop over a hill and there's a Menonnite and his carriage doing 15 mph - I want all the braking I can get. I know people who have run off the road to avoid hitting a horse carriage.

 

[Kern Dog]

The bottom line for me is that the car can't brake the way that it used to. Back in the day, my Charger, with it's 10" drums, made my mom's 90 Lumina feel like a quarter million dollar European exotic car. That's not what a Charger is about. It needs to be a fast car for as long as it can be upgraded. Not only will I do 18" rims, when we get "Back to the Future" flying cars, you will see my wheels tilt down and my car will fly over your head.

4 wheel power discs with 13" and 12" rotors will surely stop faster and safer than any drum brake car, no skidding either.
Sticky tires with a 100 treadwear rating sure beat the 350 rating you see with any 15" Radial T/A or Cooper. The lower the number, the more grip the tires have.
I agree, the heavily negative camber cars look stupid but they are just doing what they think is cool. I don't like low riders or big, lifted diesel pickups but the owners are just as passionate about their stuff as we are.

 

[JR_Charger]

I can respect their passion, but I don't want things I do for function to be put into the same category as things they do to "pose." I also think their vehicles should be "for exhibition purposes only," not street use.

 

[Kern Dog]

In the 90s, there was a fad for dudes with FWD cars (mostly Hondas) that were fitted with 13 or 14" wheels with a LOT of offset an d super short profile tires. They looked like skateboards. Before that, we used to see lowered mini trucks...Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and sometimes a Chevy or Ford. These were often so low, you could almost measure the clearance with a feeler gauge.
Fads come and go and the fads with cars and trucks do too. I shake my head at some of them.

I recall this car:

I went through all my old Hot Rod magazines years ago looking for the article with this car but couldn't find it. I remember reading it when the issue was new. It does have the NASCAR look that I love with the tires set out wide the way that I like them.

Thanks Budnicks....I do love the look of that car!

 

[Kern Dog]

I hope the Bilsteins will make up for the extra harshness of low profile tires and stiffer torsion bars.

I'd welcome just about anyone to go for a ride in mine.
Those guys with more talk than experience always say it will ride so rough, it will knock the fillings from your teeth.
No. That is not the case here despite 1.15" torsion bars, a 1 1/4" front sway bar, 40 series tires and Bilstein shocks. This car rides about the same as our 2015 Challenger R/T. I love the way the car rides. Yeah, it is firm but not harsh. I don't care for a floaty ride.
Now...shocks seem to carry a greater responsibility for ride quality than the spring rates. I had 1.0 torsion bars and KYB shocks and yeah...it didn't ride as well. The better shocks are worth the money.

 

[JR_Charger]

I don't want a floaty ride car to be my only car, but I would like a nice 80's or late 70's boat with pillow top seat cushions. The more American luxury, the more better.

 

[Kern Dog]

Getting older has a profound impact on what you like.
10 years ago, a 4 door was a hard NO. Nowadays, the idea of having a comfy cruiser C body or a Cordoba sounds nice.
(Along with my hot rods!)

 

[eldubb440]

Getting older has a profound impact on what you like.
10 years ago, a 4 door was a hard NO. Nowadays, the idea of having a comfy cruiser C body or a Cordoba sounds nice.
(Along with my hot rods!)

if I had a 4 door.....I'd make it a 2 door

 

[JR_Charger]

Getting older has a profound impact on what you like.
10 years ago, a 4 door was a hard NO. Nowadays, the idea of having a comfy cruiser C body or a Cordoba sounds nice.
(Along with my hot rods!)

There's no reason why you can't have more than one car.

I never saw the point of having one uber-expensive do-it-all car when you can have two or more cheap cars that specialize.

 

[33 IMP]

I'm pretty sure the car that was the original subject of this thread, is on airbags, and is not driven in the condition it was parked.
It probably still has way too much camber while being driven tho too.

 

[khryslerkid]

 

[Kern Dog]

I'm pretty sure the car that was the original subject of this thread, is on airbags, and is not driven in the condition it was parked.
It probably still has way too much camber while being driven tho too.

I'd be interested in knowing how any air-bag system would be fitted into a car with that suspension design. I've seen them in framed trucks and framed cars but I haven't seen it done in a unibody car. Those look to be MacPherson strut types, right?

This is where they start:

Then the clowns take it further and further out to comical levels....

It is as gaudy as some low-rider paint jobs, as silly as the ridiculously high pavement pounder F-350 diesel pickups but the owners sure seem to like them.

 

[Detective D]

America!
People can do what they want.

I think this is pure nonsense. It is also a critical part of achieving the original car's "stance".
It's actual layers of nonsense.
People can do what they want.

 

[beanhead]

Tilting the wheels is a drifting thing.

My car will outhandle every similar car with stock tires and wheels. The rim width matches the tire width as needed and suggested. This isn't the 70s anymore, man. The old style had the tires tucked way in too far and it made the cars look like an elephant with tiny feet. No thanks.
These cars can handle quite well with some modern wheels, tires and suspension improvements. I'd never leave a classic like this:

View attachment 1570878
6" wide wheels, 78 series tires, positive camber with almost no caster at all....this car probably couldn't turn .6 Gs on a skid pad. Tires begging for mercy on a 25 mph turn?
No. This is not for me.

Yup.
My car isn't built to carve like yours, but two things I personally can't stand are classic Mopars (or any make) with those ridiculously skinny wheels like in that picture, and going the other way with wheels that stick out of the fenders with the car sitting up over them..."period" or not. I always enjoy the 'Bullitt' car chase, and I also always laugh at how lame that Charger looked with those narrow rear wheels

View attachment 1571139

America!
People can do what they want.

I think this is pure nonsense. It is also a critical part of achieving the original car's "stance".
It's actual layers of nonsense.
People can do what they want.

Yes, do as thou wilt....ir to each his own.
That stretched tire look has to be THEE most ridiculous thing ever though....