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Mike,
I’m looking into wheel options now for my LeBaron.? The ’67 Imperial has a 5x5” bolt pattern wheel.? The stock wheel is 15x6” with 4” backspacing.? The 5” bolt pattern was used by Ford, Chevy, and Dodge at different times.? The centering hub on the ’85-up Dodge Rams is a little smaller than the Imperial’s.? Sorry, I don’t have the center hub measurement handy right now.
I’m changing my disk brakes over to the ’70-73 system.? I’ll check the clearance when I do the conversion.?
An American Racing Series 767 wheel is available in 15x7 with 4” backspacing.? They don’t offer a 6” wide version.? This wheel is a black painted steel truck wheel.? I would think the stock wheel cover would fit.? Depending on where the valve stem hole is, you might need to be a little creative there, or just pop the wheel cover off to fill the air.? They offer a couple wheels that might look at home on an Imperial, but the ones I like are more than I’m willing to spend.? I’ll be going with a Cragar version if it fits.? It’s only offered in a couple sizes, but the 15x8 comes with a 4 ¼” backspacing.? The 15x7 comes with a 3 ½” backspacing.?
Most GM wheels used a 4 ¼” backspacing on the 15x7-ish wheels.? Is it the lip on the wheel (bead seat area) that is hitting the caliper??
Stockton will need centers to make new wheels unless the center blanks from a truck wheel will work.? You might be able to open up the centering hub a little too.? I haven’t tried the Ram wheels myself, so I don’t know how close it is.
I’ve also considered converting over to the 4x4 ½” bolt pattern, but that will require different rear axle shafts (doesn’t look like there’s enough meat to redrill the flange), different rear drums, and different front rotors.? It’s doable, but I think if I can get a wheel I like in a size that fits the stock pattern, I’ll just do it.
Rob McCall ’67 LeBaron
-----Original Message-----
Hi , Happy Easter, Is the bolt pattern for 67 imps 5 0n 5 or 5 on 5-1/2 is that not the same bolt pattern as some old 1/2 t pickups and jeeps. reason I ask is I was looking at a magazine for old 50,s era trucks and there was an article about some aftermarket stainless steel disc rotors made to upgrade the brakes. it wasn't till a couple days later it occurred to me that it occurred to me that it might have an imperial application.Last summer on a lark I went down to the Les Schwab dealer and asked them to fit my 67 imp for new wheels(so the hubcaps won't creak) they tried to fit 67 Chrysler wheels, we know how that works ( I told him before he tried it , but he was going by the book) We tried things kind of randomly off the rack that looked close and found that 80's era gm wheel fit fine except for the offset, part of the inside of the wheel rubbed on the corner of the budd caliper casting( I think it could be filed off. 1/4 inch) According to the spec charts they had certain year olds toronado had a different offset for the toronado front brakes,and would fit perfectly, unfortunately these wheels were not available new(another low production car!) I think there are more applications out there that will fit, they just need to be discovered.I'll bet there is more wheel application out there for this bolt pattern than is generally thought. Mike Pitanaro did an excellent job with the supra rotors and proved stuff like this can be done. more items like this could give the 67-8-9 owners more options. Any people out there with wheel bolt pattern knowlege? thanks Mike Becker |
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