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Front radial suggestions to go with rear MT |
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Gizmo456
AMC Apprentice Joined: Apr/15/2016 Location: Vancouver, CA Status: Offline Points: 155 |
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Posted: Nov/19/2016 at 10:18pm |
Hi guys and gals,
I'm new to tire selection and I'm trying to select a proper front tire for my procharged 401 Gremlin. I've settled on the following rear wheels and tires with some tub work and 4 linked rear end. Weld magnum drag 2.0 15x10 - 3" backspace 325/50/15R or in inches 28/13.50R15 Mickey Thomson ET Street R drag RADIAL (DOT APPROVED) Weld magnum drag 2.0 15 x 3.5 - 1.75" backspace My questions is, because I'm running a 28" tall tire in the rear, should I try to match the front for total tire diameter? The only RADIAL tire I have found in the same 28" size is the following Mickey Thompson sportsman S/R 28"x6"-15. Now I'm really not partial to this tire but it is the only street radial in a 28" size. The rear ET Street R is actually a true DOT radial so I don't want to mix Bias Ply tires with a rear drag radial. Can I go with a smaller diameter front tire? Maybe a 27"?? Can anyone suggest other front radial tire sizes or options? |
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blaine H
AMC Apprentice Joined: Feb/24/2012 Location: Bethlehem, Pa Status: Offline Points: 72 |
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I'm running a 195/70R-14 tire on the front with a 24 3/4" diameter for a short roll out to get a good reaction time. I have M/T ET Street drag radials in the back. 235/60R 15s - 26" diameter and it handles nice. I used to run Hoosier bias ply in the rear but it didn't want to go in a straight line on the top end. Shorter diameter is shorter rollout and quicker reaction. It depends a lot on how quick the car leaves.
blaine H. |
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NHRA Div 1 Bracket Finals - 2000, 01, 02 and 07.
I may be slow but I go first! |
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Gizmo456
AMC Apprentice Joined: Apr/15/2016 Location: Vancouver, CA Status: Offline Points: 155 |
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Thanks for the reply Blaine h. My car is intended for a strip/Street car that I want to be able to drive comfortably and safely on the street. Would a difference of 1 to 3 inches in total front wheel diameter affect the street ability ie. Turning stopping of the car?
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401harry
AMC Addicted Joined: Sep/27/2011 Location: Clearwater,Fl Status: Offline Points: 758 |
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I run a 26" tall rear MT 275/50-15 drag radial in my Spirit on 15x 10 wheelswith 4.5 BS and they fit perfect inside the flares. A 28 tall tire out back is going to be tight and a 28" tall tire in front most likely will rub the fenders when turning depending on BS and wheel width. I measured my Spirit wells at 29" across at the bottom of the front fenders. Gremlins should be pretty close to the same
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blaine H
AMC Apprentice Joined: Feb/24/2012 Location: Bethlehem, Pa Status: Offline Points: 72 |
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I have no problem with street driving. No problem braking (on the strip I'm over 100 mph and have to bring it down pretty quick due to a short shut down)and that's with drums all around. On my Hornet I know there isn't a lot of room for a tall front tire and I'd suggest nothing much over 25" diameter with a stock front end. I think you could get by with a 27" tire on the back but unless you do some rear wheel well mods I don't think anything larger will fit in there.
Blaine H. |
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NHRA Div 1 Bracket Finals - 2000, 01, 02 and 07.
I may be slow but I go first! |
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Gizmo456
AMC Apprentice Joined: Apr/15/2016 Location: Vancouver, CA Status: Offline Points: 155 |
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Thanks Blaine H.
I am 4 linking and mini tubbing the rear to make room for a 28". I'll have to measure the front of my car to see what type of clearance I'll have.
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401harry
AMC Addicted Joined: Sep/27/2011 Location: Clearwater,Fl Status: Offline Points: 758 |
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The interference point will be the front bottom of the rear fender. Mini
tubbing wont solve that problem unless you trim the wheelwell too. I would stick with a max 27" tire to
account for tire growth if racing. If you are only running a 15 x 10 you
can still get a tire under the sheetmetal with a 4.5 BS without
tubbing. I am running the Cal Trac mono leafs and bars in mine with 1
inch drop and 1 inch blocks. Here is a pic of my 15 x 10 centerlines on the car
with the Mickeys for reference
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DaemonForce
AMC Addicted Joined: Jul/05/2012 Location: Olympia, WA Status: Offline Points: 1070 |
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Okay, here's the thing. You're starting with a great body. A great set of wheels and tires. Even have backspacing figured out but the fact is no amount of your suspension will be able to compensate for outrageous tire sizes.
My Eagle wagon uses 27.1" tires on 15" rims and I intend to keep it that way until I can get rid of the 2.72 gears in some cheap manner. Can I go bigger? Yes. But it requires a lift kit and a bunch of other engineering that I'm not willing to commit to before getting it running for the first time in 3 years. My Javelin came with all kinds of weird mixed sizes of wheels and tires. The wheels were 14" and 15" while I had compact spares that locked the front brakes and a 225/70R15 that was WAY too big for the front but could sit well enough on the rear axle. Here's what I did: Figured out the measurement size on the STOCK wheel and tire size, then increased the wheel size and matched a tire to stay as close to the factory size as possible. I currently have a 225/40R18 tires up front on 8" wide US Mags. I'm probably going to go with 9" wide Mags for the rear and possibly put in a 275/35R18 package. If I were to put such an outrageous wheel and tire package up front, I would get more fender rubbing like I did with an oversized tire. The way the front wheel and tire package is at the moment, allows for 1cm of room on either side of the fender and 5mm space between whatever else when fully turned in a bumpstop. Do your own dimensioning work and you'll catch these problems before you have to physically deal with them. |
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Hurst390
AMC Addicted Joined: Apr/20/2008 Location: secret Status: Offline Points: 5822 |
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A radial tire wont grow like a bias tire does..I had about an inch clearance at one time and when I went to a bigger engine and the car turned into a 140+mph machine I lost all that clearance and had smoke rolling off the tires... I have 12x30 et streets and 10.5x29.5 slicks with a stock wheel tub but the lower corners of the inner tub are squared off and the 1/4 panel wheelwell has been lengthened to accommodate what I run..
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SC/Hurst Rambler
11.62 120 100% Street Legal |
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Gizmo456
AMC Apprentice Joined: Apr/15/2016 Location: Vancouver, CA Status: Offline Points: 155 |
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I'm shortening the rear end to accommodate the 15.5 inches of space after the tub removes the 3/4 inches of inner tub against the frame rail and the 3/4 inch wheel well lip is gone. The section width of the tire I'm going with is 13.5 inches. My calculations are I will have 2 inches of space, basically 1 inch each side of the tire after all said and done. The tub will have to be lengthened further to the back of the car and made taller as well.
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