Newbie - - Wheel Info

[ktekst]

I am in the early stages of a 70 D100 project. I have all the pieces laying here to do the Scarebird Conversion on the frontend and have been struggling to find any solid information online stating what the maximum backspace and overall wheel width is for one of these trucks.

I would like to do something other than factory steels.

Is 3.75 The maximum backspace on a 70 D100 ? Any modifications necessary to do more?

The wheels I have been looking at don't seem to be available with any less than 4" backspacing ( 7" overall width).

[shopguy]

You may have to search to find what others are running. sorry...I'm kinda in the same boat.

I have a 65 that came with 70's mopar 15x7 steelies. I think they are 4.25" BS. I'll have to check.
I think that the 60s stock C body cars came with 15x6 with 3.75 BS. maybe that will work?

As far as Scarebird stuff is concerned, I do NOT know if a 15x7 with 4.25 will clear....OR if it does, if the rubber tire will hit .

Anyone with a SB installation can shed light on RIM sizes used up front????????

[67andOneHalfD200]

I am in the early stages of a 70 D100 project. I have all the pieces laying here to do the Scarebird Conversion on the frontend and have been struggling to find any solid information online stating what the maximum backspace and overall wheel width is for one of these trucks.

I would like to do something other than factory steels.

Is 3.75 The maximum backspace on a 70 D100 ? Any modifications necessary to do more?

The wheels I have been looking at don't seem to be available with any less than 4" backspacing ( 7" overall width).

My D200 is a different animal but I sympathize your desire to find any info regarding a backspacing spec for your D100.
The factory manuals don't seem to help.

I was looking to replace some 18 year old tires on 15” rims, on the back of my truck.
Wanted to get a matching set of 16” rims that would also replace the 16 ½” stock wheels on the front since 16 ½” tires are quickly going obsolete.

At first I got some used '90's Chrysler made 16” wheels but discovered that they wouldn't work on the front of my truck because the tire was up against the tie rod end & steering arm when the lug nuts were just started.
These wheels measured approx 5 1/8” backspace.
The D200 OEM 16 1/2” steel wheel backspacing measures approx 4 1/4”. It's close but the tire clears the steering arm just fine.

Put your factory steel wheel on & measure how much more backspacing can be tolerated before getting too close to the steering arm.

Even though I'm talking about 8 lug wheels I suspect that 4” backspacing may be about maximum for drum brake '61-'71 Dodge trucks.
If you get lucky you might find somebody on craigslist with a set of 5 lug wheels with 4” backspacing.

You mention the Scarbird conversion so you might talk their tech regarding what if any wheel backspace variation that might result from fitting disc brake hubs to your truck.
Whatever you do make sure you try fitting your wheels on the front (and rear) just to be sure everything clears before committing a new tire to it.

I found that suppliers like “Wheel Vintiques” & “Cragar wheel” carry wheels with various backspacing (4” seems to be the minimum).

The “Wheel Vintiques” wheels are listed in the Coker Tire (and wheel) catalog that is worth downloading from their website.
The wheels there are bit pricey I know.
But if you study the spec sheets on the Cragar wheel website these are less expensive.

Maybe someone out there with a wheel off the front of their D100 could measure the backspacing to verify if indeed 4” works.

[WD]

I run 1978/79 L'il Red Express stock wheels on my 69 (still drum front). Which are 15" designed for disc brakes. Even those technically need to be spaced farther out if you have even a fraction of an inch of kingpin slop. Inner sidewall, driver side, has been ground down into a whitewall, and the steering pieces got polished by the tire. To the point they need to be replaced... The wheels do work w/o issue since having the axle overhauled. And I'm still using the date code to 1994 tires...

Spec the wheels for a "pop top" Ramcharger.

[ktekst]

Thanks for all the replies to my original post. I am getting to where I need to get something found or ordered for wheels and your replies are helpful.

WD - - All of the front suspension been reworked, king pins, steering arm, tie rods, etc. etc. So hopefully I have that working in my favor at least. I will try and spec out the wheels you are referring to.

I run 1978/79 L'il Red Express stock wheels on my 69 (still drum front). Which are 15" designed for disc brakes. Even those technically need to be spaced farther out if you have even a fraction of an inch of kingpin slop. Inner sidewall, driver side, has been ground down into a whitewall, and the steering pieces got polished by the tire. To the point they need to be replaced... The wheels do work w/o issue since having the axle overhauled. And I'm still using the date code to 1994 tires...

Spec the wheels for a "pop top" Ramcharger.