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How are people running 235s or 245s up front?

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Discussion starter · #41 ·
jimsl78 said:
From this pic, it looks like you have more turning angle that needed.
You could modify your bump stops by welding in some extra steel. My tubulars have a threaded bung and use a bolt and lock nut for bump stop adjustment.
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I was thinking about something along those lines. I don't think I've run across specs for how much turning angle is 'correct'.
 
#42 · (Edited)
HvyMetal68 said:
I was thinking about something along those lines. I don't think I've run across specs for how much turning angle is 'correct'.
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In the the last 50 years it wouldn't surprise me if the steering box was swapped out for a rebuilt at some point, lots of other cars also used Saginaw steering boxes with different internals. There were also about 2 different lengths of pitman arms for First gen Camaros 5.25" and 5.8" (depending on what steering box was used), a longer pitman would also increase steering ratio and travel..If your happy with the steering "feel" I would just modify bump stops. With the suspension loaded, find the spot where the tire is 1/4" away from rubbing and measure how much bump stop needs to be added.
 
#43 ·
If I am not wrong I think there were two different Pittman arms and three different steering arms at the spindles. Mis matches could cause problems with not stock tires.
 
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Discussion starter · #46 ·
jimsl78 said:
This is a better explanation.............
Camaro steering
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I'll have to dig into that further and do some measurements. It would still seem that the steering arm and stops would have the final word on how far the wheels can actually turn.

I do have this little gem as part of my steering:

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And now I'm wondering what "problem" it was intended to solve.

This weekend I'll start with trying to add as much caster and I can and see if that changes things. Then I'll look at modifying the steering stops. Unless everyone that's running 235s and larger is doing that though I'm still confused as to how that works out.

I do have to remove my upper a-arms, again, as they have offset shafts on them. While I put them back on the way they came off, and they way they're labeled, they're intended to increase camber. I need to re-orient them so the offset is towards the center of the car instead of the outside of the car. Right now I have a ridiculous number of shims to get -.5 camber. Re-orienting them should reduce the number of shims a bit and give me a little more room to work with caster.
 
#47 ·
I run a 235.60.15 on the front and aligned per the pozi website. I have an old Cragar Eliminator wheels that are 4.125 back space. Hotchkiss front springs poly bushings, solid subframe bushings (running them for 25 plus years) and the fender wells have button head bolts. I get a rub at full lock on the frame but it just polishes the sub frame paint off. The button heads keep the clearance on the fender wells. The solid sun frame bushings help keep it from rubbing also. Worn bushings you will get flex as you crank it to full.
I just this year replaced my stock steering Boxs custom local build with modified steering stops to lock it out slightly early. No more frame rub. I have noticed my fenders starting to rub though. My hotchkiss rear springs after 90K plus miles on them have started to sag bad and think the fronts are weakening also. They have about 150K on them. Shocks are about 50K miles all around.
I typically have in the past never had issues unless I was in sharp run and went over a transition tuning left or right and the road had a bump in the turn, I would get a rub if driven kinda sporty. Your full crank rub could be the steering box and possibly the pitman arm combination. Honestly, I would not worry much about an inner sun frame rub unless it’s bad. If it’s just slight rub and enough to rub the paint, honestly how often are driving and turning this sharp…..unless you’re drifting….LOL!!
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Discussion starter · #48 ·
Joe Harrison said:
I run a 235.60.15 on the front and aligned per the pozi website. I have an old Cragar Eliminator wheels that are 4.125 back space. Hotchkiss front springs poly bushings, solid subframe bushings (running them for 25 plus years) and the fender wells have button head bolts. I get a rub at full lock on the frame but it just polishes the sub frame paint off. The button heads keep the clearance on the fender wells. The solid sun frame bushings help keep it from rubbing also. Worn bushings you will get flex as you crank it to full.
I just this year replaced my stock steering Boxs custom local build with modified steering stops to lock it out slightly early. No more frame rub. I have noticed my fenders starting to rub though. My hotchkiss rear springs after 90K plus miles on them have started to sag bad and think the fronts are weakening also. They have about 150K on them. Shocks are about 50K miles all around.
I typically have in the past never had issues unless I was in sharp run and went over a transition tuning left or right and the road had a bump in the turn, I would get a rub if driven kinda sporty. Your full crank rub could be the steering box and possibly the pitman arm combination. Honestly, I would not worry much about an inner sun frame rub unless it’s bad. If it’s just slight rub and enough to rub the paint, honestly how often are driving and turning this sharp…..unless you’re drifting….LOL!!
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Nice looking car!

That's one of the reasons I asked the question, maybe everyone with wider tires has a little frame rub but it's simply not a big deal.

In any case, I'll find out tonight as the new wheels are being mounted with 235s in the front and 275s in the back. I'm 99.9% sure I'll need to tweak the driver-side tailpipe for the 275s to clear in the back. Hopefully this weekend I'll do a rough initial alignment, drive it a bit, and check everything out.
 
Discussion starter · #49 ·
I can't say definitively if there are rubbing issues or not, but the last week was the first two short drives around the neighborhood that the car has had in 25 years. I appreciate all the help I've gotten from the forum both from historical postings and replies to questions I've asked.

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Once I get a little more adventurous with the distance and speed, and if I don't see any particular rubbing issues, I'll post the wheel and tire specs to the sticky thread.

It's great to be driving it again!
 
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HvyMetal68
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