[StudebakerDan]

Hi, I recently purchased a 51 Studebaker Starlight Coupe - it came with disc brakes, but no wheels on the front. I'm told Ford or Chrysler wheels will fit, but what size and vintage ??

[Deuce]

With so little information..........who knows? ?

But a little general information may help you....

Ford and Mopar share the same wheel bolt pattern.
In a lot of cases, the Dodge wheel will fit a Ford but the Ford wheel will not fit the Dodge.......WHY ?

The center hole is larger on most Dodge wheels.....to allow the larger Dodge hub to get thru. Also.........a lot of earlier vintage rims will NOT fit disc brakes. The offsets are wrong and the caliber hits/rubs.

15 inch rims looks correct on early Studes....I suggest a 175x80x15R ........as a start. Lots of used tire dealers will sell you a worn out old tire to try.

If you have a friend with some old rims.........or a mag wheel dealer......try to find something that will work before shelling out big bucks for new rims....

Good Luck and WELCOME HERE.....

[farna]

There is a company that makes the conversions in the sticky on disc brake conversions. All they state on the website is that you need Ford or Chrysler wheels, or Studebaker disc brake wheels (those would be a b#$%ch to find!!). Really depends on what offset and width you want. If you want a stock look find out what the stock wheel size was and go from there. The conversion from that company uses a Ford rotor and GM caliper mounted on the stock Stude spindle, so Ford wheels should be fine.

To determine what wheel width you need measure from the face of the hub straight out to the edge of the top of the wheelwell opening in the fender, then subtract about 2". That's about how far the wheel can go (the tire will bulge some and be closer). You can do the same for the inside, only measure to whatever is closest to the face and subtract only an inch. The offset is the inside measurement. This method will get you in the ball park as to how wide a wheel and how much offset you can use. Determine offset then width. you have to subtract the offset from the width to get the outside location of the edge of the wheel.

14" wheels will clear an 11" rotor, which is usually stock. 15" wheels will usually clear up to a 13" rotor.