Chrysler 17" wheels installed

Well, I finally found a set of 17", 2005-2010, Chrysler 300/Charger/Magnum, rear-wheel drive steel wheels. Say that fast 3 times!
After extensive research on the subject of 17" steel wheels that would fit a Maverick, these were the only ones that came up. In fact, even whether or not these would fit was a very contentious issue on the web, and specs for these wheels varied from one site to another.
In the end, I decided that if I could find a set of these wheels, and try out the hub from my Maverick on the wheel, if they fit, I would buy them. Last night I drove a couple of hours one way to Toronto to check out a set of like new Chrysler 300 17" steelies. After trying out my hub in them, I bought them for $150.
The pics I've included aren't the best, but hopefully they give you some idea of how these wheels work with our cars.
Note that the bolt pattern seems to be spot on, even though these wheels are metric.
Note that these wheels have the same rim width as 15X7 Ford "Magnums".
Heres where it gets a little fuzzy. I looked up the different ways of measuring wheels and how to refer to these measurements. They varied as much as the specs listed for the "300" wheels. So, for the purposes of this post, I'm using "inside offset" (back of the wheel) and "outside offset" (front of the wheel).
I came up with these figures buy placing a yard/metre stick across the rim of the wheel, and then measuring the distance from the yard/metre stick edge to the surface of the wheel at the bolts holes. (see first picture)
Note that the inside offset measurements of the Chrysler wheels is 5 in. compared to 4 1/4 in. for the Ford "Magnums".
Note that the outside offset measurement of the Chrysler wheel is 3" compared to 3 1/2" for the Ford "Magnums".
Disclaimer; I'm not trained at measuring wheels, and my tools are crude. I neither encourage you to try this swap, nor guarantee the accuracy of these measurements. (I feel like such a chicken, saying that!)
So, on to the pictures. The first one is from the web, and is actually an atv wheel, but it demonstrates how I came up with these measurements and terms.
Before describing the other pictures, or why I included them, I should mention that there is no caliper or rotor on this car, so the wheel would sit out a bit more with the brakes installed.
The next pic shows how the wheel looks in the Maverick rear wheel housing. The studs appear to the eye to fit perfectly. The centre bore is very close, but slightly more than enough for the centre of the axle to fit in it.
The next picture shows how the wheel fits inside the wheel housing.
The next picture is dark, but I think it shows clearly enough the relationship of the wheel to the leaf spring.
The next picture shows the relationship of the wheel to the back, bottom edge of the wheel housing. The spacing on the right side of the wheel is about the same.
Conclusions? I'm surprised at how close the rim is to the bottom edge of the wheel housing (where it meets the floor of the car). This car has new 4 leaf springs on it, and the jack is under the springs, right where the axle is bolted down. I find myself wondering how there will be enough room for tires, even with calipers extending the wheels outward a bit more.
Perhaps some small spacers will be necessary after all (Rats!!!)?
Anyone good at picking tire sizes? I don't have a clue where to start. Any suggestions? I'm more interested in comfortable fit then radical rubber. Thanks in advance for any help with this.
My hope is to use Crown Vic dog dish hub caps. I realize that there are no "nubs" for them on these wheels. I'm thinking that maybe I can pic up some thin metal rod, bend it around something to make a perfect circle, devise a jig to center the metal ring over the inner ridge of the wheel where center caps usually fit, spot weld them in five places, use a Dremel to cut the ring into approx. 1" lengths at the welds, then go back and finish the welds on my new "nubs".
Am I crazy, or does this have a chance of working? Any better ideas? Velcro maybe?
Finally, I've looked up the inside diameter of a variety of dog dish hubcaps that we usually see on Mavs and Mustangs, and have gotten response ranging from 9 1/2" to 10 1/2". Anyone know with absolute certainty what this measurement is?
I apologize if I've rambled here, but I've put quite lot of time and research into this and wanted to include anything that might be useful to the rest of you should you decide to run 17" steelies that didn't cost hundreds (one quote in Canada; $314.50 each for Vintiques) of dollars each.

 

Dog dish is 10 1/8" factory John. REad down on this link under NOTES.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WVI-62-5812044/

 

Thanks Darren.

 

John, have a look at this link, it explains how to measure back space:
http://www.maverickman.com/TireandWheelSizes.html

This wheel has a 4 1/2" backspace, and it's pretty close to the bump stop, I can't tell how it compares to yours.

 

I think mine is about the same, maybe a bit more room. It doesn't have a rotor either, for all the difference that will make.
Thanks Dave.

 

I also have a line on a set of these wheels from a guy at work. Was thinking about getting them and painting the inside portion silver and adding some chrome rings around the outside. then some 245/45/17s in the back and 235/45 in the front.

 

thats got me thinking I have some dodge d 150 steel wheels thats at least 7 inches wide I think i will put them on and see if they fit and they have the nubs for dog dish hubcaps

 

I just bought a 245/45 R17 tire off Kijiji (almost new $20), and it's about the largest 45 series tire I can find in 17, and was think of using that size for the rear.

 

Wow, that would look awesome, if you could get a set of poverty caps to fit.

 

Did you try these on the front? Do you have disc or drum brakes? Im wondering if these will clear the hub and how much spacer would be needed.

 

Ryan,
Sorry, but no, I haven't tried them on the front yet since my steering and suspension aren't installed yet. Hope to get to that soon. I'll post pics and an evaluation as soon as I get that far.
As far as the brakes go, they will be 2003 Mustang Cobra discs on all four corners. Actually, they are the reason for trying to find 17" steelies. Anything smaller won't clear these brakes.
Regarding "clearing the hubs", I'm not quite sure I understand your question. I brought one of the front hubs with me when I bought the wheels to test fit the bolt pattern. It slipped into the wheel with no problems, if that's what you mean.

 

I assume you used a drum brake hub to test fit them? Ive heard they may not fit over the maverick disc brake hub, the center piece that sticks out that the dust cap goes on may be too big. I doubt what I heard is right but Ill need to confirm before I put on some tires. I may use these as my FUN wheels and tires.

 

You're right Ryan. I did use a drum brake hub to check the fit of the studs and the centre bore with these wheels. This is something I probably should have mentioned earlier, but it didn't dawn on me that it might be an issue to others. In my case, I'm using a MustangSteve set of adapters to put those Mustang Cobra brakes on the front (Currie Enterprises brackets on the back), and they require you to use drumbrake spindles and hubs! In fact, I had thrown my original drum brake spindles and hubs to the scrap yard because I was going to use Monarch/Granada spindles at first. I had to go out and buy another set of drum brake parts to replace those.

 

Some of the later Crown Vic hub caps may work depending on what size you are looking for and the poverty style caps on those are usually retained by a stepped lug nut which happens to be the same 1/2-20 thread the Mav uses.

 

I'm probably being unreasonable, but I have my heart set on using more traditional Ford dog dish hub caps.