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53Hornet

What size rim width have you guys installed on a stock Hudson spindle.

I have early dodge rims 5.5" and can get rim widths of same type in different widths. 6, 6.5,7 and up. I currently use 215/78 tires. As I work on handling I believe a wider rim will help when it comes to tire roll over when high speed cornering giving a little more tread to the road. I could of course get a rim mount a tire and try each different width checking for clearance, but if someone has already done it with a wider rim than I that would save a bunch of trips to the tire shop. I am also considering a move up to a 225/78. I am measuring rims bead to bead and not outside total width. I don't think that a lower profile tire would suit my car from an appearance perspective so want to tacle rim options first.

Thanks

Hudson308

When you start going beyond a 5.5" wide rim on a stepdown, you run out of clearance at the bottom rear of the fender skirts. This is the limiting point for wheel width. You can use up to 7" wide rims with the correct back spacing/offset if you remove or modify the skirts. Factory stepdown rims have a neutral offset, which means they have the mounting flange located midway on the wheel width. Your wheels will fit best in the stepdown wheelhouses if you use rims with back spacing (the distance from the rear mounting surface to the outside face of the rear bead surface) that is 1/2 of the rim width. I'm using 16 x 7" rims with 3-1/2" back spacing on my '49 Super 6, but I had to create a little "bump out" on the bottom of the skirt about 3/4" toward the rear for tire sidewall bulge clearance.

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