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New tires rubbing on front fender

20K views 30 replies 11 participants last post by  The Camaro Guy 
#1 ·
I installed my new tires yesterday and the new tires are rubbing bad on the front fenders during turns and dips in the road. So bad I’m not sure I should even drive the car.

This is my current setup: ’67 Camaro, stock upper and lower A arms, stock drum brake spindles, Hotchkis 2” drop springs, 15 X 8 AZ rally wheels 4” backspace date coded 1977, and the new tires are BF Goodrich Radial T/A 235/60R15.

I’ve spent a month researching this site and the web to make sure I was buying something that would fit. I’ve seen several guys running this size tire on their first gen. I used all the online tire size comparators to make sure that I was buying smaller tires than the 30 year old F60X15 tires I was replacing (they also rubbed by the way). Well I still got it wrong.

So where do I go from here? Possible fixes I’ve thought of are: 1) replace the wheels with Summit 15 X 7 with 4 ¼ backspace rally wheels, 2) replace the worn out, smashed and cracked subframe body bushings with new Global West solid bushings to raise the body away from the subframe, 3) add a ½ to 1 inch solid aluminum spring seat spacer in the lower A arm. Or a combination of them all, but I can’t afford them all at once. Anyone that has a fix, opinion or suggestion I would like to hear it.
 
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#2 ·
15x8 with 4" bs is making your tire and wheel not tuck into the wheel well enough. 15x7 with 4.25 bs is much more ideal; what you have is -12 offset and you want +6 like the 4.25" bs 7" wheel.

Here's some good info on wheel sizes. You would need 4.75" bs on an 8" wheel to center it properly. 15x7 4.25bs is the better choice.

https://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html

With a 2" drop and wide tires the top fender bolt often rubs and can be replaced with a button head Allen bolt and you can have your alignment checked and add a little negative camber to help keep the tire away from the fender lip.
 
#3 ·
Thanks Dennis, that’s what I was thinking, but after spending the money on new tires, I didn't want to buy new wheels and it not fix the problem. Thanks for the link, some great info there. Nice looking '69 Dennis.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Start with the button head bolts as Dennis mentioned. I have the same rubbing issue after new tires/rims and those bolts cut down on the rubbing by approx 75%. Any decent hardware store will have them for a few dollars. It still happens enough that I'm thinking of trying the spring spacers. Summit has them in many sizes and they are inexpensive:

http://www.summitracing.com/search/...-spacers/make/chevrolet?keyword=Spring spacer

I was going to post the question about body bushings and whether new ones would potentially help but it was mentioned above. Anyone have thoughts on whether this will help or not?

BTW, I also have the 2" drop springs but different tire/wheel sizes than you (17x7 225 50ZR 17 up front).

Got any pics? I'd like to see the stance and the tire position relative to the fender.
 
#8 ·
.........BTW, I also have the 2" drop springs but different tire/wheel sizes than you (17x7 225 50ZR 17 up front)......

Carl

Do you know the back space on your front wheels?
 
#6 ·
Jarod - I looked at your videos on you tube, great sounding mufflers.

Carl - I'm probably going to try the button head bolts temporarily so I can drive it. No pics with the new tires, it’s raining today.
 
#7 ·
You might want to try covering the bolts with chalk or some masking tape then taking the car for a ride (with some rub). The idea being to see which if any bolts are rubbing. Also if you have a belt sander or grinder you can take the bolt heads down pretty thin, off the car of course.
 
#10 ·
Yours should be right around 26" which is about the same as my 215/65 15. My wheels are 15x7 3.75 bs and I do have some rub. I was thinking about 17's with same front setup you have but now I'm not so sure.
 
#12 ·
You could go with a 225 45/17, which is approx 24.8", 225 40/17 = 24.4", or find a wheel with a BS that brings it in a little bit more. Personally I don't like the look of those really thin tires, so I'm likely going to either use a small spring spacer (cheap) or install QA1 adjustable shocks (not cheap, but I can adjust the height and ride feel). Good luck!
 
#13 ·
Carl, I was hoping that someone would have an answer on the worn out body bushings. It makes sense to me that if the bushings are compressed more than originally designed there would be less space between the subframe and the body. The question in my mind is will it raise it enough to fix my problem. Either way I plan on putting solid aluminum bushing in eventually, just wasn't in the budget right now.

For now I guess I'll be ordering some 15 x 7 rally wheels. Not what I wanted to spend money on right now, because eventually I want to upgrade to 17 inch wheels also. But they rub so bad right now I don't know if I want drive it the way it is.
 
#14 ·
#23 ·
ALL aftermarket rally wheels are lug centric. Either have to buy hub rings like these http://www.justforwheels.com/hub-centric-rings.jsp or go to a place like this http://www.originalmusclewheel.com/Chevy_Rally.html
which uses GM centers with new rims at the offset you need or go here
http://davidsrallywheels.com/id80.html.

I have 245/60s on 15 x 8 Corvette rallys and they rub now. I need to drop the front end about an inch so I am going to have factory wheels modified to get 4.5 inch backspacing instead of the 4.0 inch backspace that comes on the factory wheels.




Has anyone bought the rally wheels from Rick’s? Are these hub centric? Are these good replacement wheels? Good wheels or not?

http://www.rickscamaros.com/camaro-rally-wheel-15-x-7-1969.html
 
#16 ·
Brian , I bought my combo rim package from classic ind. Came with rims, lug nuts,center caps,trim rings. Can't remember how much they cost , but there nice. 15x8 on back 15x7 on the front .
Thanks Jarod, I'll check out Classic also.
 
#19 ·
I had 15x8 on the front of mine. The rub was on the fender like you said, and it cut my turning radius by a third. I replaced mine with 15x7 4.25. That fixed it!
Thanks for the reply David, from the responses so far I decided I'm going to order some 15x7 4.5 backspace wheels today.

Brian. . . . ..I have 225 x 60 X 15 on Vette 8" wheels. Stock a arms with poly bushing and BB springs on a RSSS vert with AC and poly body bushings. I had a bit of a rub and put a "spacer" between the inner fender and the fender to pull the inner fender away. Its funny guys lower the car but don't take into consideration wheels and tires. Not knocking anyone, I like mostly old school look with little change to the original concept. A lot of money is spent on upgrades that don't necessarily amount to that big a difference . . . .especially the way we drive these cars. My all original 69 with 54K miles handles and drives minimally little different compared to the "tricked" out suspension and wheels of my updated resto mod 69. All 4 of my 69's are built different so the comparison is very interesting! Many times a lot of money is spent to upgrade for not that much difference unless your road coursing of racing.
Bruce, I bought the car in '83 with the Corvette 15x8 setup and have always had rub problems with the front tires. When I put the Hotchkis springs on, most of it went away even though the front was lower. With the new 235/60R15s the rub came back worse than ever. So I'm going to try the 15x7s with more backspace.

Are you saying that for street use the aftermarket suspension doesn't ride different than the stock suspensions? Do you currently own four '69s? What aftermarket suspensions do you have on them?
 
#18 ·
Brian. . . . ..I have 225 x 60 X 15 on Vette 8" wheels. Stock a arms with poly bushing and BB springs on a RSSS vert with AC and poly body bushings. I had a bit of a rub and put a "spacer" between the inner fender and the fender to pull the inner fender away. Its funny guys lower the car but don't take into consideration wheels and tires. Not knocking anyone, I like mostly old school look with little change to the original concept. A lot of money is spent on upgrades that don't necessarily amount to that big a difference . . . .especially the way we drive these cars. My all original 69 with 54K miles handles and drives minimally little different compared to the "tricked" out suspension and wheels of my updated resto mod 69. All 4 of my 69's are built different so the comparison is very interesting! Many times a lot of money is spent to upgrade for not that much difference unless your road coursing of racing.
 
#20 · (Edited)
FWIW I ran FW code rally rims for a long time (15x7 with 4.25" backspace) and 235/60R15 tires with no problems. Bought another car with Year One rallys on it which are 15x7 with 4" backspace and the same 235/60 tires, moved them over to the old car, and the tires will now hit the hex head bolts so that little bit of backspace can make a difference. Of course with the 8" rims you've got a lot more sticking out.

You can use searchtempest.com to comb craigslist for some rallys you can clean up yourself and save some cash. The FW codes were used on a heap of cars during the 70's. They're typically black instead of silver. Back when there were still junk yards they were easy to find. I tried to sell a driver quality set of five with trim rings, center caps, and new tires for a long time with absolutely no bites so I just put the tires on my truck.

Also some things already mentioned that will help once the correct setup is installed would be to get 0.5 degree negative camber along with either the Guldstrand mod or taller upper ball joints. Either of the latter will help the tire swing in more of an arc instead of kinda up an down versus solely doing a good/aggressive alignment.
 
#22 ·
Brian. . . . .It might be easier just to go to a 225x60x15 to solve your problem. . . 2 of my Camaros run just fine with this tire on the Vette rim.

As far as the updated suspensions guys are spending a lot of money doing, I have owned and restored 33 Camaros over 35 years and like old school with cost effective upgrades and still keeping the build with in a reasonable budget as not to loose money, rather make money when it comes time to move on to another project as a serious hobbiest. I start with a plan and buy the best car I can. Starting with junk just costs more in the long run. In 06 I bought a 1 owner 69 out of California, plain jane, for 17K, more than anyone would have given, but it was a rust free, still driven 1 owner AC car. No body work was necessary! Well 2 years later I have an award winning Black on white, bb, 4 speed RSSS loaded with options and $38k in the car. My favorite upgrades, poly bushings, HD front sway bar, stock Eaton springs, (these cars sat low to begin with, check the AIM for height) 92 Iroc steering box with smaller Vette steering wheel,
8" Vette rallys, short center caps, Gabriel gas shocks, upgrade brake booster on stock PDB. With 450 HP this car handles and rides like a dream,
The way these cars are usually driven does not warrant the expense of the upgrades that have become so popular. . .been there done that. I have my 05 C6 for that stuff....just an old guy talkin
 
#24 ·
Thanks for all the replies and information guys. I decided to hold off on the aftermarket wheels in favor of some original GM rally wheels because I want some that are hub centric. I used searchtempest.com trying to find some, but most are selling complete four wheel sets with trim rings for more than I want to pay or they are too far away and shipping is too expensive. I found some in Wisconsin and Colorado that are selling two wheels only. Anyone out there near the panhandle of Florida wanting to get rid of some FW coded wheels?

I installed panhead bolts with round heads yesterday and that fixed a lot of the rubbing except when I hit large dips in the road and during left turns with a lot of body roll. I'm pretty sure the alignment is off and that might be some of my problem also. I still have some work on the front end so I'm waiting till I finish before I get it aligned. I need to find a shop that I trust to do it also, I was a nervous wreck with the shop that put my tires on. I had to tell the guy how to put it in reverse.

Bruce, thanks for the advice on the suspension parts.
 
#25 ·
I installed panhead bolts with round heads yesterday and that fixed a lot of the rubbing except when I hit large dips in the road and during left turns with a lot of body roll. I'm pretty sure the alignment is off and that might be some of my problem also.
A little negative camber (I think I went -1 deg on the Nova) will go a long way toward helping...
 
#27 ·
An update to my rubbing problem: all fixed now. I found a set of FW coded 15x7 rally wheels and ordered them. I put the new rubber on the FW wheels and installed them. As best I can tell it moved the tires into the wheel well about ¾” to 1”. That totally fixed my rubbing. I took it for a test drive and purposely hit the biggest dips and bumps I know of and no rubbing. First time since I’ve owned the car I don’t have to worry about that anymore. Thanks for all the advice everyone.





 
#29 ·
Bill,

I have 235/60R15 mounted on 15x7 "FW" Rallys on the front. The "FW" Rallys cured almost all my rubbing. I have to hit a bump hard to get any rubbing on my fenders now, but in a real hard turn the tire rubs the frame.

Some things I would check. Is your wheel centered in the wheel well fore and aft? Check to see if your subframe is aligned? Do you have drop spindles? Is it rubbing on the fender or bolts? If its rubbing on the bolt you can replace them with a button head Allen bolt.

I wish you luck on fixing this, I remember how frustrated I was with this problem.
 
#30 ·
Thanks Brian - frustrating indeed.

I don't have any drop spindles on the stock suspension and the rubbing occurs on the inner fender itself.

Did a quick test and measured the horizontal gap from the end of the tire to the beginning of the fender. There was a half inch difference between the driver and passenger sides (driver 2.5" and passenger 2"). Would this be a clue to what I'm dealing with?

Maybe I need to buy a spacer of some kind?

Thanks,
Bill
 
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