How much clearance?

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onefast65

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May 4, 2004

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Jul 12, 2005

#1

• Jul 12, 2005

• #1

I am running 17x8 wheels on my 65 fastback. I am running custom adapters up front in order to set the wheels out. My adapters presently provide more than 1/2" of clearance between the upper control arm and the rim, however fender rubbing is a problem. I plan to have the adapters machined down in order to move the wheels inboard. My question is how much clearance should I maintain between the rim and the upper control arm? I don't want to machine too much and then end up rubbing the control arm.

 

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onefast65

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Jul 12, 2005

#2

• Jul 12, 2005

• #2

One more picture.

 

DarkBuddha

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Jul 13, 2005

#3

• Jul 13, 2005

• #3

I've successfully gotten away with 1/4" of space between the rim and the upper arm so far, but I also haven't put a lot of miles on the car yet. However, to help with clearance, have you considered rolling the fender lip and grinding the lip on the upper arm (at the ball joint)? Usually you can free up another 0.5" or more this way.

Hope this helps...

 

geostang351

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Danb., CT

Jul 13, 2005

#4

• Jul 13, 2005

• #4

I thought the 17" rims clear the upper ball joint completely, thus allowing a deeper backspace, no?

 

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onefast65

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At least in my case the rim lines up almost exactly with the upper control arm. Sorry about the poor quality photo above. 18" would totally clear the upper control arm. DarkBudda, thanks for the advice, I think that I am going to have 3/8" machined off the adapter and then grind the upper control arm. This should give me 1/4" clearance.

 

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grego37

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Jul 13, 2005

#6

• Jul 13, 2005

• #6

You should be able to grind off that peak at your upper control arm without doing any damage, and touch it up with a little spray paint, to help your clearence issues.
Im sure you know already, but check for clearence issues with the car on the ground with suspension loaded, turn the wheel lock to lock.

 

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chemeng

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Jul 13, 2005

#7

• Jul 13, 2005

• #7

I had the same problem, but my 1 inch spacer moved me out to 1/2 inch clearance. The look isn't bad, even though the tire sticks out a bit. My fenders rubbed also, I had a 1 1/2 inch section taken out of the top lip section and the whole fender lip moved toward the bumper and welded in. Looks seamless and you can't tell any work was done unless you broke the tape measure out.
MikeR

 

DarkBuddha

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#8

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Here's a pic after I ground the lip off the upper arm...

 

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ForceFed70

That's why they call it "dope"

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Jul 13, 2005

#9

• Jul 13, 2005

• #9

geostang351 said:

I thought the 17" rims clear the upper ball joint completely, thus allowing a deeper backspace, no?

Click to expand...

I don't know how it is with the 65's, but on my 70 the 18's don't clear the upper ball joint. It's close tho... 19's might do it on a 70.

 

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iamlance

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#10

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I would check with someone who knows about the strenth of those spacers before you have them cut if you plan to use them as they are with the studs. I just had mine machined to 1/2 inch, but used longer studs thru the OE hub and slid the spacer on. I used the holes in the spacer that had the studs in them. good tight fit. 65 with TCP coil over, Boyds wheels with 5.5 backspace.

 

geostang351

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Danb., CT

Jul 14, 2005

#11

• Jul 14, 2005

• #11

DarkBuddha said:

Here's a pic after I ground the lip off the upper arm...

Click to expand...

Man, the that rim wasn't even close to clearing the upper arm rim! You took off a lot too.

 

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DarkBuddha

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#12

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geostang351 said:

Man, the that rim wasn't even close to clearing the upper arm rim! You took off a lot too.

Click to expand...

Yep... I was able to grind off just over 0.5" of the lip of the upper arm. It looks more dramatic in that pic than it really is. Adding to the issue was the Pro-motorsports negative wedge which caused the top of the upper arm to be about 0.5" higher than stock. Without the wedge, I probably could've avoided grinding the upper arm and just used 0.25" spacers.

BTW, the wheels in that pic are '96 Mustang 15"x7"s with 5" backspacing, which is why it was necessary to do the grinding. 4.5" would be perfect, and I think 4.75" would even be ok, but 5" backspacing on a 15x7 is just a tad too much.

 

70vert

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Jul 14, 2005

#13

• Jul 14, 2005

• #13

Here's what NOT to do:

for the record, I didn't do the work. I had to get some floor pan work done right after, so I simply lubed up the inside of the tire with a water-based lubricant to get me to the shop while I order some 17x8 wheels.