As the ***le says, I have some rubbing problems with my 51 shoebox. In the front I installed: dropped spindels and steering arms (shoebox central) 2" dropped shocks (shoebox central) Aerostar coil springs At this moment my lower control steering arm hits the side of the rims when I turn the steeringwheel. I tried to make some pics of it to make it more clear. Am I just having the wrong rims (15" steel) or is there another solution? Is it a bad idea to grind something of the steeringarm, for example. Or do I have to make a steering bump stop before it hits the rim? I can't believe I am the only one running in to this problem. Hope there are some solutions around here. Thanks, Joep
You could get some factory-looking steel wheels from Summit Racing with 3” offset (I got some, they’re nice). Original wheels were 3 1/2” offset. That would help a lot.
If the studs are long enough, I'd try a 1/4" spacer. I've done that before on a pickup I had a clearance issue on. Worked just fine.
That looks to be some scary scrub line to my eyes. On the other had, I suppose that if there's a scrub line issue it makes little or no difference if its half an inch or half a mile! Chris Sent from my SM-T515 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I think this is the option I am going for. Thanx for all the other replies. Using a spacer would cost a lot less. But I am afraid the problem would transport to the other side of the wheel and start rubbing on the fenderlip. So getting new rims it is. I will measure first to see wat the new offset will change before buying them. I live in the Netherlands, so returning them won't be an option. I think what you see are my balance weights. They are all shiny because they are brand new on there. I used these sticky ones (that I normally put on alloy wheels only. That was because the normal ones (that I Hammer on) came of all the time. I thougt using these instead would fix that problem. But than I found out what the real problem is. The rim is too close to the lower control arm. But thanks for noticing.
Not so! I'm looking in a totally different place. See below. Yellow line is the wheel, red line is the suspension. Might be some camera angle pokery so it might be ok, but I'm doubtful of that. Ultimate test, let all of the air out of the tire and see what, if anything, hits the pavement. I take it you understand the importance of scrub line issues? I can see how others might not have picked up on this as there is a raised band that looks like it could be the rim, but it's actually part of the tire! Better safe than sorry! Chris
Not good but the solutions are listed . Easiest would be a spacer if studs are long enough , second , new rims , last would begrinding . If .020 would give you clearance and not jeopardize the structure, it could be done but Id prefer new or just different rims . Just to be sure , the alignment adjustment is on the upper eccentric? If on the lower and upper , Id get it aligned to see if its better or worse .
The more you grind off, the more you will be able to turn. Then you will have to grind some more......etc etc.
Too many lower devices used together. Or the uprights are reversed side to side. Really looks like scrub line issues to me.
We have stuff here called pot holes. Dip down into a big one at speed and that joker is going to dig in and bite hard. No sit, I do not like it. Once you have to grind things to keep the tire and wheel out of steel, the battle is over.... The "look" is not that important to me. My suggestion is to rip that junk off and put the right stuff back. In my opinion this just did not work out.
I will look into that. But I know there are a lot kustom car drivers that drive around with three or four inch lowering blocks at the back which kinda gives the same problem. Once you run a flat tire your suspension will hit the asphalt. For now, I'll order the rims with the 3" offset. I measured it today and it will solve the problem with the steering/rubbing. It will not solve the problem of my lower controlarm being the lowest point once my tire run flat. But as I said, I'll look into that. Lucky for me the roads in the Netrherlands are one of the worlds bests, no pot holes here. But once again thanks for all the replies (and the warnings)
A 16 inch diam wheel would help I think to get the tie rod inside the wheel, rather than hitting the wheel edge. The different offset will help of course, but you also said the outer was close to the fender lip. So you may need 1 inch less wide wheels, for example if current is 15x6, get 15x5.
Plus 16” would be a move in the right direction with scrub line. Then there’s scrub radius ( not to be confused with scrub line) Changes in wheel offset and adding spacers change the scrub radius.
The quick fix is a pair of spacers. If the lug bolts are long enough. The correct fix is wheels with the proper offset to clear the control arm. There are a lot of 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern wheels out there so hunting a pair to work on the front may not take ordering a custom set from the states. A lot of older Mazda pickups hand 5 on 4.5 as they were also Ford Ranger pickups here in the states at the time.
Even the slightest amount of "less backspace" on the wheels should solve your rubbing problem... but beware the scrub line... DANGER, DANGER!
Yikes! I would not run it like that. Scrub line is way to low and makes driving the car dangerous. If/when it catches the road...good by steering...in a major way.
Seriously, I remember a situation where a flat tire occurred and the lower control arm (being the lowest component of the suspension) dragged on the ground... apparently acting like an anchor... and the car spun around and rolled over. You're playing with your (and others) life here.
What makes you think that? They're all new together with the discbrake conversion from shoeboxcentral.
The Jalopy Journal
