New tires rubbing on upper control arms

CarlF250 · Aug 20, 2006

Hello,
I Just installed new BF Goodrich Radial T/A 225/60R15 tires all the way around my 1966 Coupe. They are mounted on 15X7 styled steel wheels. They look great, but the front tires are just barely rubbing on the upper control arms. I should mention that the wheels are WAY out of alignment. There is EXTREME negative camber in the front wheels. Just by looking at the car you can tell that the alignment is way off. I also have 1" drop front springs installed.

Could this be the reason why the tops of the wheels are touching the upper control arms? Do I need to go with a more narrow tire up front, or can I use a spacer plate behind the wheel? I turned the wheels from lock to lock and there are no other clearance problems.

By the way, the rear tires fit very well. I probably could have gone a little wider back there.

Thanks,
Carl

iskwezm · Aug 20, 2006

try using a 3/8 spacer

tos · Aug 21, 2006

Depending on where its contacting the arm and how bad it is. The alignment might positiion it a little bit so it doesnt rub ,but if it is rubbing the rolled flange of the arm and just barely doing so then I would grind a little off of the flange. Make sure your ball joints are in good shape too.

bnickel · Aug 21, 2006

get it aligned first and recheck the fit, if they are still rubbing then either a spacer or some minor grinding of the UCA is in order.

CarlF250 · Aug 21, 2006

Thanks for the suggestions! Is it unusual to rub in the front with 225/60R15 tires on a stock 65/66 Mustang? Do you guys think I went too wide in the front?
Thank You,
Carl

SoCalCruising · Aug 21, 2006

Very unusual for that size tire to rub. That is a very a popular tire size for those with 15" wheels. I would get an alignment before doing anything else. We ARE assuming that your wheels are specific (in terms of back-spacing) for your year car. Are they 6" or 7" wide?

Opentracker · Aug 21, 2006

The Ford styled steel wheels are 4.25" backspacing. The extra camber is making the tire hit the wheel. I'll bet that you'll have more room after the alignment. I have ran a 15X7 wheel with 4.5" of backspacing on the early cars with a Dunlop 225 tire. The BFG tires bulge more than the Dunlop tires, that could be part of it. A little grinding on the UCA is standard practice around here. The aftermarket UCA's have more lip than the original Ford UCA's.

John

CarlF250 · Aug 21, 2006

SoCalCruising said:
Very unusual for that size tire to rub. That is a very a popular tire size for those with 15" wheels. I would get an alignment before doing anything else. We ARE assuming that your wheels are specific (in terms of back-spacing) for your year car. Are they 6" or 7" wide?

My Mustang isn't running yet so I can't take it to an alignment shop right now. (I am finally finishing up a really long restoration).

I don't know what the backspacing is on these wheels. I bought them from Virginia Classic Mustang. They are 7" wide.

Today I put 3/8" worth of shims behind the passenger side upper control arm in addition to the 1/4" worth of shims that was already there. This did improve the camber angle so now the tire looks pretty much vertical. However, the tire still rubs on the upper control arm. They are so close that I can't fit a thin piece of cardboard between the tire and upper control arm, but I can still rotate the wheel by hand. I hear a rubber squeaking sound when I do this. It doesn't seem to be rubbing on the edge (flange?) of the UCA, but rather on the top of the rounded part where the ball joint is.

I think the first thing I'm going to do is try using a wheel spacer. Does this spacer need to be made of a special material or can I use plain steel? I was planning on designing one myself and laser cutting it out at work.

I think the moral to this story is MEASURE BEFORE YOU BUY!

zookeeper · Aug 21, 2006

I've made spacers out of 6061 aluminum as well as mild steel. Both worked fine, but I did ask the guy with the aluminum ones to recheck his wheel torque periodically.

bnickel · Aug 21, 2006

if you bought the wheels from a mustang supplier you should have the right backspacing. don't do the wheel spacers unless you absolutely have to have them. a good alignment is much better than using spacers, besides if you drive the car you'll wear out your brand new tires.

CarlF250 · Aug 24, 2006

Here is a pic of my front right wheel.

Here is a pic of the drivers side tire rubbing against the upper control arm. Both sides are rubbing.

Sorry the pics are so big. I did something wrong!

bnickel · Aug 25, 2006

try posting a pic from the front with the wheels pointed straight ahead, that way we can see how the alignment looks

rbohm · Aug 26, 2006

there are two possibilities that have not yet been explored.

1: if the contact is in only one spot, then a bent wheel is likely.

2: if the contact is constant, then a bent spindle is possible.

bnickel · Aug 26, 2006

rbohm said:
there are two possibilities that have not yet been explored.

1: if the contact is in only one spot, then a bent wheel is likely.

2: if the contact is constant, then a bent spindle is possible.

well he has already stated the negative camber was way off, so i'm 99% sure that's all it is. the point i'm trying to make is that he needs to have it aligned before he drives it at all, instead of wasting his money on wheel spacers

CarlF250 · Sep 2, 2006

Here are some more pics. When the car is jacked up, the top of the tire definately slants in more. These pics were all taken after I installed shims behind the passenger side upper control arm. I also installed about 1/8 inch of wheel spacers on both front wheels temporarily just so the tires don't rub for now. As soon as I can, I will get it aligned and see if that helps.

Im very interested to know if bent spindles are common because the tire rub against the UCA is constant around the tire. This car had been sitting in one spot for about 13 years so I guess it is possible.
Thanks for the suggestions!

bnickel · Sep 3, 2006

jind of hard to tell from those pics except the one on the jack and in that pic the tire is definitely got too much negative camber, but that could just be because it is one the jack and tire dolley

a shot of the front end from straight on but farther back would be better. it helps to see them that way. sorry i couldn't help more with these pics.

CarlF250 · Sep 3, 2006

Actually in the pic with the tire dolly, it is not resting on the dolly whatsoever. It just looks that way from the angle. All of the weight is on the jack.

I dont think I'm going to get too excited about the tires rubbing until I get an alignment. Then I'll go from there.

New tires rubbing on upper control arms

CarlF250

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