Hey Andre!
Thanks for the Wheels of Steel #. The reason for the 285/70/15's was
for a 'fat tire' look in the back as I plan to drop the truck 3" front
and rear. Also, since it's my daily driver, the 285/70's will take
some of the rpm's out of freeway cruising and still keep me better
than the 215/75 - 3.21 rear standard setup. With the 4.01 first gear
I probably won't notice a difference and I'll actually get more mph at
redline than current.
A 4 1/2" backspace on a 8" wheel would put the mounting surface at the
centerline of the wheel (8" bead to bead + additional 1/2" per side to
edge of wheel which is where backspace is measured from). The current
engineering prints for the '97 15x8 wheel show an approx. 5 1/2"
backspace and this puts a 235 tire right out to the edge. A 285 tire
is 0.98 inches bigger per side. To keep the tire at the same outer
edge everything else must shift in 1". 5.5" + 1" + additional 1/2" to
scoot inside fender lip = 7" backspace. I know it sounds ridiculous
and it is really and therein lies my problem. I guess I'm just asking
for too much.
The price you mentioned for the Wheels of Steel sounds great, though!!
I'm going to give them a ring and see what they can do. I'm sure the
7" backspace is going to be impossible though unless they can manage
some kind of front drive rim/dakota center bolt pattern combo.
I actually first considered a 275/60/15 but I'd like to eliminate as
much space between the top of the tire and the fender lip without
lowering the truck too far. I really need 295/60 size tire but can't
find a radial in this size. When I finally get the truck to the strip
I plan to run a set of 275/60/15 B.F. Goodrich Drag Radials....been
hearin' good things 'bout 'em. I'm thinking about the Dunlop's after
reading your post. The price's are good and like the fact you said
the traction was excellent.
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: shortening axle housing
Author: dakota@ait.fredonia.edu at INTERNET
Date: 2/13/97 2:31 PM
> ATTENTION SEAN!!!
I think you are measuring the backspacing incorrectly. 5 1/2" back space
means that 5 1/2" of the wheel will be from the edge of the brake drum
towards the inside. This leaves only 2 1/2" towards the outside. unless
Dodge did something very strange, this should be fine. I had steel
wheels custom made for my 95 (15x8) with 4 1/2 or 5" backspace and they
are perfect(I can fit a 10.5" wide tire in there without wheelwell
contact). 7" backspacing would mean only 1" of the wheel would be
towards the outside of the brake drum(this sounds ridiculous and wrong).
Take your back wheel off and place a level against the brake drum. Have
an assistant hold another ruler straight down from the wheelwell edge.
This will tell you how much room you have on the outside. Do the same
for the inner limit of the wheelwell. The sum of the two will tell you
maximum tire width and then you can visualize the offset you'll need. My
guess is thet the 5 1/2" will be right. If you need custom steel wheels,
there is a good company in California that built me two nice chrome
blade types fore about $60 each called WHEELS OF STEEL ph#(209)627-2703.
Why in the world would you want to install a 285/70/15??? This tire
would be extremely tall. A 255/60/15 or 275/50/15 would work much
better. Hope this helps.
Andre Mauboussin
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:07:31 EDT