Hello, I have a 2016 Challenger R/T with 245/45R20 tires. I would like to ask any of the experts what it would take to change to the classic muscle car tires (i.e. the 60s-70s fat tires with the rounded sidewalls). Will this be possible and what would I need to do to accomplish it?
Any help appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Cooker tires sells vintage tires but this idea makes no sense at all. If you just donāt care for the 20 inch wheels look at tire rack for tire and wheel sets.
Depends what kind of clearance you have between the current wheels and the brakes. Youād have to shrink the wheel size in order to get a taller tire without screwing up the speedometer and scraping the fender, but unless the brakes are a lot smaller than the wheels, doing that wouldnāt fit because the brakes would block it.
Youād also sacrifice handling because as much as people like to detract from the low-profile tires, the smaller sidewall means less sidewall flex.
Yeah, I doubt you can do this because of the clearance needed for brakes. Tire rack will have info you need.
I guess what I am looking for is that vintage drag-racing muscle car look.
Something like:
I was trying to see what it would take to run them. If it involves changing brakes, that would be ok, but I donāt know where to start.
Brakes. That is the simple answer. Brakes have gotten a LOT larger since the 60ās musclecars (Thank Goodness!!!) 20 inch wheels are standard on your car and the R/T has 13.58 inch diameter front rotors - the bigger end of the car. That fact alone means you need at least 17 inch and possibly 18 inch wheels to clear the brakes. In a 17 inch tire you would need a 245/60/17 to get the same diameter so the car wouldnāt look funny and the speedometer was still correct. A further issue is Tire Rack only lists one model of tire in this size as opposed to 20+ in the OEM size.
The handling, may be very strange with such a soft sidewall tire when it was designed for a short sidewall tire.
Nearly anything can be done but it isnāt practical.
Not if makes the vehicle less safe and possibly have an effect on your vehicle warranty.
I donāt know for sure but you could also mess up the ABS system and the other control systems your car has.
Like the others said, unless this is going to be a trailer queen and only driven at 5mph around car shows, downsizing the brakes is a very bad idea. Smaller brakes, all other things being equal, means lesser brake performance, and thatās something that should never be done on a car that gets driven at any appreciable speed.
Agreed with the others; you will likely be opening up a can of worms. More than likely a 17 or 18 inch wheel would not work over the brakes which are considerably larger.
Maybe you could rent for a nominal fee an 18 inch wheel with the same lug bolt spacing from a salvage yard. Remove one of the existing wheels and attempt to install the 18 on your car. I think you will find it will not fit well if at all and that will be the end of that.
Not to throw gas on a fire, as I agree this tire change is not a wise ideaā¦ but Iāve read that the 18 inch spare from a Charger will fit Challengers with 20 inch wheels.
Since Dodge didnāt see fit to include a spare with my 20 inch wheel Challenger, I sure hope the 18 inch Charger spare tire I now have in the back fits when I need it!
Good luck.
Are you saying you havenāt tried it???
Iād certainly try it BEFORE i needed itā¦
Well, like I said I read that it would work fine. But you make an interesting pointā¦Iāll give it a try soon.
the front rotors are 345mm. the rear rotors are 320mm. about an inch. but, the front calipers are much larger than the tiny rear calipers so I imagine you could fit smaller rims on the rear. how much? not a lot. I bet some rod shops could put on smaller rotors and make up the caliper mounting brackets to match. but why?
Were I running a hot rod shop, thereās no way Iād take on the liability from downgrading some guyās brakes.
Were I hit by the guy who had a hot rod shop downgrade his brakes, youād better believe Iād be going after both the guy and the shop, and Iād be looking to max out the shopās liability coverage.
Agree. I donāt think thereās the opposite of āresto-modāā¦
Actually I just found out that Mopar did exactly what I am looking for:
Unfortunately I donāt have $109K to buy a new car. Perhaps I can figure out what they changed.
(article)
āThe Mopar Drag Pak is equipped with 15-inch front and rear lightweight wheels displaying the unique Mopar logo. Mounted on those wheels will be Hoosier drag radials with front tires that measure 28 inches in diameter by 4.5 inches wide, and rear tires that are 30 inches in diameter by 9 inches wide. The car will also feature slotted front and rear brake rotors, with race-specific calipers and master cylinder.ā
Have you posted this on a Mopar forum? Somebody there may have done something like this.
That thing looks tough. I certainly want one. However, converting a stock car to that look will take boatloads of cash. Did you see everything thatās different to support the purpose? I realize all you may want is the LOOK and not the performance but achieving that will just compromise the existing performance of your car which is far more universally applicable to everyday use. Big fat tires without all the other supporting add-ons will just look good but actually compromise the carās performance- perhaps when you most need it (like taking a slick off ramp too quickly). I have/had drag cars. For the most part, they stink in everyday street drivingā¦but they do look awesomeā¦
Well, thereās a clue. Upgraded brakes. So the size of the brakes is smaller, but the actual parts are higher-grade than stock.
Note that they donāt talk about pads, though. If they upgraded to pure racing pads, thatās also a problem because racing brake pads suck on the street - they need to be hot in order to be effective, and unless youāre trying to get arrested, you wonāt be driving aggressively enough on the street to get the brakes heated up sufficiently.
They may have done something like Porterfieldās R4/S pad, which is a hybrid between a street and a race pad, but you canāt tell from the article.
At any rate, the cost of R&D to make that thing work is spread across 6 million bucks worth of sales - and itās a fairly safe bet they arenāt using standard bolt-on parts here, which means youād actually spend even more than youād think trying to replicate it.
