69 Chrysler 300 wheel update

[MJFUR]

My 69 Chrysler 300 has these 15x6 wheels with 300 hubcaps, both of which are kind of beat up.
K-1-9 5*16 60 (I understand the Kelsey codes except for the 60, what does that indicate, 6.00"?)

1. Will poverty caps fit this type wheel? (Are all 69-73 poverty caps the same size?)

2. This repro is 15x7 with 4.25" backspace, will they fit? Wheel Vintiques 63-571204 Wheel Vintiques 63 Series O.E. Chrysler Black Wheels | Summit Racing

3. This repro is 15x7 with 4.00 backspace, will they fit? 69 series Black Chrysler Steel Wheels | Wheel Vintiques®

4. Should I search for original HD wheels instead? Easier or harder to come by?

Thx

 

[Davea Lux]

Poverty caps will fit, that is what the nubs on the center of the wheel are for. Many of the 300 series came with slotted road wheels as standard equipment and those with the correct center caps are getting hard to find. The 300 was a high end model that would not be expected to be equipped with poverty caps. With the exception of police cruisers, very few Chryslers had poverty caps. If you have the build sheet for the car, it should specify via the correct code what wheels you car had from the factory. Build sheet in '69 will usually be tucked inside the top half of the rear seat.

Dave

 

[MJFUR]

Thx for the reply. I know the 300's wouldn't have had poverty caps, just changing up the look a bit.

 

[SPF Required]

I have a ‘68 300 and always like that Chrysler made 300 specific wheel covers. I also have disk brakes which gives me 15” wheels which meant the 14” ‘68 300 wheel covers would not fit my car. But in ‘69 and ‘70, the 300 wheel covers were 15”. I ended up getting a set of 1970 300 specific wheel covers for mine.

i am eventually going to get mag 500 wheels, but for the time being I really enjoy the look of the ‘70 covers.

 

[MJFUR]

My caps aren't the best, so I thought I'd change up the look a bit.

 

[CBODY67]

The reason that Chrysler 300s were not seen with hub caps back then is that FEW, if any, of their owners were in "poverty". Chryslers were about upscale affordable luxury and performance, which meant whitewalls and wheelcovers or factory "styled wheels". Only Newports had hub caps as "base stock" items, although full wheel covers were easily added in one or two option packages of "popular options", at not much money.

The wheels you have will be fine, except for the fact that I don't see any "hand holes" in the center section. Which allegedly might affect brake cooling/heat dissipation. By 1969, Magnum 500s were not a factory option, but W23 16-Slot Class II Road Wheels were. Still in the 15x6 size. Station wagon wheels were 15x6.5.

You might head over to www.hamtramck-historical.com "Library" section and follow the prompts to see what you have and such. Then to www.mymopar.com for service manuals, tech training videos, and such.

CBODY67

 

[marko]

its my understanding that road wheels were a 1970 on option, not 69

1969

 

[MrMoparCHP]

My 69 Polara has those wheels, they are considered extra heavy duty wheels, mine has factory disc brakes.
Are they hard to get? not common so probably.


Alan

 

[Imperial dude]

I've always liked poverty caps, especially with police rims and beauty rings, if they'd fit on my Imperial that's what I'd be running

But I got ta thinkin (a dangerous thing )
I've seen the generic aluminum caps, the police caps, dodge specific caps, Plymouth specific caps, but I don't think I've ever seen a Chrysler specific poverty cap, did they ever make one?

 

[CBODY67]

Chryslers, being a middle-class "Move UP to Chrysler" brand would probably have not had hub caps. IF you want to give the impression of being well-off, which was important back then, you did NOT want blackwall tires and hubcaps on an upscale brand of vehicle, period. Possibly 1968 was the last year for a Chrysler hub cap? Which could look decent with whitewall tires, but the full wheel covers and whitewalls was "the way to go".

The 1969 Chrysler "road wheel" would have been the 15x6 "recall wheel", which was replaced by the W23 16-Slot Class II Road Wheels in 1970 and later.

Unfortunately, as the cars have and aged, plus younger generations which have grown up with blackwall tires as the only tire choice (typically) as they were initially more Euro in fashion, the really nice wheel covers have seemed to get harder to find. As have the 1970+ W23 wheels. Prices have increased for the good ones, too! To me, these are reality issues from the 1990s, but now can tend to imply "short cuts" in more recent times.

BUT when the cars were designed and new, going back well into the earlier 1950s, whitewall tires and full wheel covers were the upscale items on ANY car brand that wanted to exude "luxury" had on them, no matter what. Things which dressed-up the car's look, even if it was on a base model Plymouth, Ford, or Chevrolet. And they were not that much money, either! Usually packaged into a "popular options" package, but still available separately. So, not having those items meant "cheap car/driver" to many people, by observation.

To me, now that we've got some decent choices in value-priced non-repro whitewall tires in large 15" sizes, no real reason to select blackwall tires any more. Plus, the modern whitewall radials will allow the cars to handle better than they did with the prior bias-ply or bias-belted ply tires they came with originally. A win-win situation.

Sorry if I might be a bit generational.
Sust some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[bigmoparjeff]

I've always liked poverty caps, especially with police rims and beauty rings, if they'd fit on my Imperial that's what I'd be running

But I got ta thinkin (a dangerous thing )
I've seen the generic aluminum caps, the police caps, dodge specific caps, Plymouth specific caps, but I don't think I've ever seen a Chrysler specific poverty cap, did they ever make one?

Yes they did.

These would be base equipment on Newports. I know they were used in 1966, probably 1965, and possibly '63-'64. Full wheelcovers became standard in '67.

Jeff

 

[Imperial dude]

Yes they did.

These would be base equipment on Newports. I know they were used in 1966, probably 1965, and possibly '63-'64. Full wheelcovers became standard in '67.

View attachment 504195Jeff

well I'll be dipped, those have to be some rare caps
I've had the same set of police rims for almost 30 years, every time I put them on a different MOPAR I always search ebay for a set of matching caps, but have never seen a set of those

 

[bigmoparjeff]

well I'll be dipped, those have to be some rare caps
I've had the same set of police rims for almost 30 years, every time I put them on a different MOPAR I always search ebay for a set of matching caps, but have never seen a set of those

I'm sure that they aren't very common. I doubt that more than 1% of Chryslers left the factory with dog dish caps. I know that they will fit the '66 to '68 14" wheels, but don't know if they fit the common "modern" style 15 inch wheels.

Jeff

 

[CBODY67]

The reason that Chrysler 300s were not seen with hub caps back then is that FEW, if any, of their owners were in "poverty". Chryslers were about upscale affordable luxury and performance, which meant whitewalls and wheelcovers or factory "styled wheels". Only Newports had hub caps as "base stock" items, although full wheel covers were easily added in one or two option packages of "popular options", at not much money.

The wheels you have will be fine, except for the fact that I don't see any "hand holes" in the center section. Which allegedly might affect brake cooling/heat dissipation. By 1969, Magnum 500s were not a factory option, but W23 16-Slot Class II Road Wheels were. Still in the 15x6 size. Station wagon wheels were 15x6.5.

You might head over to www.hamtramck-historical.com "Library" section and follow the prompts to see what you have and such. Then to www.mymopar.com for service manuals, tech training videos, and such.

CBODY67

Your point of disagreement is? Just curious, no more, no less.

CBODY67

 

[Samplingman]

Your point of disagreement is? Just curious, no more, no less.

CBODY67

New member randomly disagreeing…..

 

[Big_John]

possibly '63-'64.

I don't know about 1964, but my Dad's '63 "bare bones" Newport came with this style. There's a change in the diameter in (IIRC 1966 was the last year) Earlier hub caps being smaller.