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Wheel rubbing in front, backspace issue?

Dne'

Dne'

Well-Known Member
HI! when I bought my Cragar front wheels from Summit, I really didn't know about backspacing~ My cragar fronts are a tad over 3" BS. When turning and/or when my husband sits in the passenger seat, it really grinds the fender lips/damaging the outter edge of the tire(drivers side much worse than the passenger as the drivers side sits a little lower)! I was going to raise my front end a bit, but realized by observing the steering axis inclination and the center/pivot point of the tire is way out. So I figure it's a BS issue vs. a height issue. I'm running 14" wheels and have no problem with clearance regarding the front brake calipers, but if I go with 14" with 4.5" BS I may? I called Summit and they said I could order front wheels with intent of returning them if they don't work out regarding 14" wheels and front disc brakes(just so long I don't have the tires mounted.
If I were to go with 15" wheels on the front, would it be that noticable to the 14" wheels on the rear?

I did go to Discount tires to see what full set of 15" wheels/tires and came right at 1700.oo! Just can't do that! I put my current wheels on Craigslist for 800 and have had some trade offers, but nothing that was appealing.

Any ideas/opinions welcome!

newpaint-1.jpg
 
One thing to look at is.....does the tire/wheel sit centered in the wheel well? If not, it may be part of the issue with something a bit out in the front end.
 
Hey Pete! I'll look more closely tomorrow and take a photo or two. The guy at Discount tire said I should be using a 4.5" backspace, so my current 3"backspacing set the front wheels out further than need be, but again, I'll pay a little more attention tomrrow!
thanks!
dne'
 
Yep, just a thought but I do agree on the back spacing. Does Discount have a wheel you can try? Maybe someone close with a wheel size you could try before ordering.

I would not run 14's rear, 15's front....would look bad.
 
How wide are the front rims? I just looked at Summit's site and it looks like you have quite a few options for widths and backspacing. 3" to 4-1/2" seems pretty radical to me.

Just from looking at the pics, it doesn't look like you are that close... Have you thought about rolling the fender lip> You'll probably be able to pick up a 1/2" of clearance doing that alone. Also with the edge folded upwards, if the tire were to contact the fender it would do so against a broad edge and not likely to tear the tire up.
 
For a 14 or 15 inch wheel, 4.25" of backspacing is the optimum. Four and a half will get close or rub the ball joint dome on the upper control arm. You can fix that by grinding some of the dome off. I run a 15X7 wheel with 4.25" of backspacing on my 64 Falcon with a 225-60-15 tire. It's not a Mustang but the tire fitment is almost identical on the two cars.

themule.jpg
 
I think the front are 7" and the rears are 8". My memory is not very good!
The left front is worse than the passenger side. When Gary sits in the passenger side, that side I hear a scrruunch now n then over swells in the road. If I'm by myself, it's not too bad, but turns take a toll on the outter part of my tires, left front in particular.
Pete, even discount tires has to order the Cragars out of California! I asked the salesperson, "what If I just don't like the wider wheels on the front?" He said "other" stores "you'd be stuck with em" , but since I've purhased so many tires/wheels from them, they help me! but still 17-1800 is just out of the question! So I'm trying to squeak by on what I actually need for as least possible. I figure If I can do the 14's with 4.5"BS and they clear the brake caliper and I can continue to use the existing front tires~ I'd be happy! So I may bite the bullet tomrrow if gary says I can, order the wheels, graciously bolt them one, see how the interact with the calipers and that will be the deciding factor!

Worse case scenario! start selling extra parts laying around the garage, including the tires already on the car and get what I want, but I do't know what I want! I wish I had done more research about wheels/tires~ eh, wouldn't be the first mistake! lol
but I will post photos like to told pete tomorrow.

YOu know I saw some vintage cragars on Ebay , 14' x 4", probalby couldn't get tires for em anyway!

IN the long run, I'd like the widest wheels possible on the rear(fitting under the fender of course for rebounding or heavy passengers), and on the front, not '60's, but lesser, more like a drag car but not quite! IT'll get there!!
dne'

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On the back you can go with an 8" wheel with 5.25" of backspacing. The rear wheels on my Falcon are 8" with 245-60 tires.
 
Hi Girl
Seeing those pics of your car.Check first if you have the same tires/rims on the front.
I think I see some differents left to right.
Like OPENTRACKER said , and he knows stuff , backspacing and seize of rim.
I have bought SSW 15X7 with 4.5 BS and 235/60R15 tires.
Check spring rates on the front and even rear if the car "hangs" to one side.
But first do some measurements on the car to see if one tire combo doesn't stuck out more of the fender then the other.
Take it step by step.
 
a couple photos

One photo is of the right front wheel/tire while on the ground, the other is taken while on the lift. I'll take more photos, my batteries died! argh!

Ztire.jpg


IMG_9380.jpg
 
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Pictures are always helpful. Within the second/last picture you can see the outer edge of the UCA... and the clearance that exists between it and the inside edge of the wheel. You have at least an inch of space between the UCA and the wheel. This is because you don't have enough backspacing on the wheel. The wheel should be/would normally be a LOT closer to the outer edge of the UCA. Get a pair of wheels with the correct BS and your rubbing problem will go away.
 
Thanks Dave! I knew it I knew it~ just needed assurance! Unfortunately, wheels will have to wait a little bit~ funds are kind of limited right now. I'll keep my eyes open on Craigslist~ maybe something will pop up!

"daveSanborn" said:
Pictures are always helpful. Within the second/last picture you can see the outer edge of the UCA... and the clearance that exists between it and the inside edge of the wheel. You have at least an inch of space between the UCA and the wheel. This is because you don't have enough backspacing on the wheel. The wheel should be/would normally be a LOT closer to the outer edge of the UCA. Get a pair of wheels with the correct BS and your rubbing problem will go away.
Click to expand...
 
Just wanted to thank you for the links! really good information! Still not sure what I'm going to do! I'm going to put my rear wheels on the front to see how the fit~ nothing else to do~ might help in figuring out if I just want to buy 2 front 14" wheels with the correct backspacing and use the existing tires. That'd be about 350.00.
I was looking at some used Centerline wheels and guy has for sale here in Houston, but still have to buy 4 tiresl Just looking for the cheapest way out, but I keep looking at things that will run up 1000 or more! lol
dne'

"B67FSTB" said:
D'ne
Here some helpful links , I hope.
http://www.mustangmonthly.com/techarticles/mump_0206_1965_mustang_fastback/index.html
http://www.mustangmonthly.com/techarticles/mump_0507_ford_mustang_large_wheels_fit/index.html
http://www.mustangmonthly.com/techarticles/mump_0511_best_ford_mustang_tires/index.html
Worth reading IMO.
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Cool, I printed all those helpful sheets out for future refererence! Thank you so much!
I cheated for now in the meantime~ The left front was about 3/4" lower than the right in the front, so I put a spacer to raise the right front, now they're both equal and the rubbing is very infrequent, but Gary hasn't been in the car either. Maybe if we sell our lakehome~ I'll buy what I want, in the meantime~ I'm just going to have to deal with it. I did sell my hydraulic wheel dollies, so I may go ahead and purchase the sway bar~ maybe that will help a little? I need it anyway.

dne'


"B67FSTB" said:
Here's another interesting link : http://www.mustangsunlimited.com/wheel-tire-fitment.html
Click to expand...
 
Have you rolled the inner fender lips already? That's virtually a no cost modification... The worst that could happen is you chip the paint doing so, but considering your bodywork skills, I'd think that would be something to hold you back. Some folks have been successful doing that without damaging the paint... I like it just to avoid the sharp edges of the fender gouging up the tires should it still make contact.
 
Funny, I had seen a fender roller in Eastwoods magazine, but I still didn't get it as to what it did~ now I totally understand! My right front fender around the edge is mostly filler~ I'd be worried to crack that filler, but the right front fender would be ok to do I guess. I'll look into it~ thank you!

"stangg" said:
Have you rolled the inner fender lips already? That's virtually a no cost modification... The worst that could happen is you chip the paint doing so, but considering your bodywork skills, I'd think that would be something to hold you back. Some folks have been successful doing that without damaging the paint... I like it just to avoid the sharp edges of the fender gouging up the tires should it still make contact.
Click to expand...
 
oops missed the word "not" --- should have read "but considering your bodywork skills, I'd think that would NOT be something to hold you back."

On the filler, if it's not right up on the radiused edge of the fender lip, it would probably be fine...
 
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