Maximum rubber......girl gets some new shoes

[buening 63]

Finally got some new rims for my car. I have had the same rims the car came with when I bought it 8 years ago. I copied what Grabber70Mach has on his car and decided to go with the 17x8 front and 17x10.5 anthracite bullitt wheels from American Muscle. Tires are Sumitomo HTR Z 245/45/17 fronts and 315/35/17 rears. As with all of my threads, you can guarantee it'll be heavy on pics! Below are the pics of the wheels after first getting them out of the box.

 

 

 

 

 

and the poor worn out 14" Cragar SS rims with 205/70 Radial T/As

 

 

 

and here is the tiny 205 original rear tires next to the fatty 315. Now we're talkin!

 

[buening 63]

Below are some pics of how the car is now, although it is very dirty since I'm just now getting it out of hibernation. Still gotta finish painting those darn rocker panels! The drivers side is finished, never made it to get the passenger done

 

 

 

 

 

[buening 63]

and now for the install pics. I decided to pull the spindles and brakes and pretty them up a bit. I had a leaking brake hose, which trashed the paint all of that stuff. With larger wheels, it'd look like crap if I didn't give them a facelift. Still has rust on the rotors, but that'll disappear soon. I used POR15 high temp paint on the calipers and portions of the rotor and wheel spacer. The color is similar to the anthracite, so I won't have a bright polished wheel spacer sticking out like a sore thumb (if I hadn't painted it). I didn't go too crazy because I have plans to upgrade to the front and rear Cobra brakes, so this will do for now!

 

 

and a few pics of the front wheels installed. Probably could have gotten away with 3/4" spacers instead of 1".

 

 

[buening 63]

Enough with the boring fronts, everybody knows 8" wide wheels fit there. Lets squeeze 10lbs of crap into a 5lb bag :) I started out putting some washers on the wheel studs (thanks for the tip Grabber!) and then installed the wheels. BTW, that is the same POR15 high temp paint on those rear drums and they have probably 30,000 miles on them. Totally impressed with that stuff!

 

 

And here is a pic of the quarter lip clearance. The second I put a string clamped to the lip and a nut on the other end. You can tell the wheels would just barely rub the lip once lowered, so I'll plan on rolling the lips. It'll tuck in nicely after a good rolling. The quarter lip is kind of jacked up thanks to a poor PO repair, hopefully I can roll it without screwing it up more

 

 

 

With 3/8" worth of washers, this is my clearance between the rear of the leaf spring and the tire. Pretty tight! What does everyone think, should I space it out a bit more? I don't have the tall sidewalls like those 14" ones I had, so I'm not sure what kind of sidewall deflection I'd see.

 

 

a little more clearance at the front of the leaf

 

 

no problem with the inner wheelwell clearance at the rear....

 

 

but the typical clearance issue in the front lower part of the inner wheelwell

 

 

nothing a BFH couldn't cure!!!

 

 

[buening 63]

Here is a pic of the remaining wheel stud after the 3/8" of washers

 

 

Crap, gonna need new studs! Couldn't even get a single thread to catch on the nuts to hold the rim in place while I checked clearances.

 

So I have two dilemmas. Does everyone think the wheel is spaced out far enough from the leaf springs? I don't want to keep pushing it further out and have quarter lip issues. The other issue is the wheel stud length. I measured the exposed thread length from the face of the axle and got 1". I looked into the NPD catalog and it mentions 1 9/16" wheel studs for rear drums on my car. Looking into the Summit catalog, it seems all of the wheel studs they sell are 3" long. I have acorn type lug nuts that are not open ended, so what does everyone typically do? Do you cut the studs down to length, or do you think it won't be an issue? I'll have more pics of the installed wheels once I figure out what wheel studs and spacers to order for the rear.

[unfrozen1969 11]

As you said, you obviously need longer studs. Your spacing looks real close, and I would be fearful of any potential rubbing if the wheel is out of balance or if the camber is off. You don't have much room to play with.

 

Cudo's to you on your photos, you should be a photographer by trade....

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

are you concerned about side to side movement of the rear end when going around a corner? how much does a leaf rear end move from side to side?

[buening 63]

Can camber be off on a solid rear axle? Never heard of that.

 

The location where the leaf meets the tire is almost midway up the tire, and I thought that if there were any lateral deflection of the sidewalls that it would be max at the ground and would get less as you move up. With a 14" tire with huge sidewalls, it would probably translate that far up the tire but figured the 17" lower profile tires would be a bit more rigid and wouldn't deflect as much. Thoughts?

 

In regards to the rear end moving around going around the corner, this I am not sure (in terms of how much). Does anyone have any data on how much they move side to side? I know a panhard (minor binding by nature) or watts link would eliminate that issue, and is something I haven't ruled out yet.

 

 

 

What does everyone do with the wheel studs? 3" studs seem way too long and may not get lug nuts on all the way. Does anyone know what knurl size the rear drums use?

[69StangRestomod 11]

I just ordered leafs from Maeir racing, and mike said you can have up to 2 inches of deflection with rubber bushings, but if oyu think about it, all that deflection is coming from the leaf springs, and I would think you would be fine. get it assembled take it for a test drive, you;ll know by looking at the inside of the tire is it rubbing LOL

[DarkBuddha 107]

Rears look tight. I don't know what kind of driving you plan to do with the car, but under agressive cornering I'd be concerned about tire deflection and axle movement in the rear... not a lot, but just a bit concerned. But hell I'm not thinking that hard cornering is the highest of your priorities, right?

 

You can actually roll the rear lip almost flat if you have to to get probably another 1/8" of clearance, but will it be enough? IDK. As for the rear studs, you can probably cut the longer studs to length, or do the old-school racer thing and use open ended lug nuts (at least until you do the rear disc conversion).

[jmlay 80]

Solid bushings in the spring eyes would also help with the side movement.

[j69302 11]

Maybe i just didnt see it but what backspacing and offset are those?

[buening 63]

Thanks for the tips fellas. This car is a street cruiser and the only hard cornering it'll ever see is an exit ramp at an interstate. For the most part its just city cruising. If I have rubbing issues I'll look into those solid bushings, or possibly Del-Alum bushings.

 

As for offset/backspacing, the fronts are +30mm offset/5.72" backspacing and the rears are +28mm offset/6.8" backspacing

 

Below are links to the wheels. Total cost of tires and rims with free shipping was around $986

 

http://www.americanmuscle.com/anthracite-bullitt-17x8-9498.html

 

http://www.americanmuscle.com/dedibuwh.html

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Your Welcome, glad that I could be of some help to you with the info I gave you. FYI I talked to Mike at Maier racing and am running the front bushings he sells in his leaf springs, can't remember what they are made of though.

I also have their Panhard rod set-up that I have to finish installing. I'm using ARP studs they are the 3" one's with open ended Bulge Acorn nuts (make sure you use this style if it is what your rims require), you can cut the studs off if you desire to run the closed end lug nuts.

[buening 63]

Where did you get the panhard rod setup? I looked at the Maier piece and its a bit rich for my blood.

 

I already have closed end McGard lug nuts. I'll see what I can do with the wheel studs.

[Grabber70Mach 107]

I have the Maier racing panhard rod, I understand about the price but the quality is top notch. Definitely not as costly as the Watts link setups. You should call Mike and talk to him about it. ARP stud number I used was 100-7703, remember they can be cut off shorter.

[EastYorkStang 63]

Nice shoes. I have 3"studs on my rear axles and use open ended lug nuts. McGard sells them as well as open locking nuts. Go with poly bushings everywhere as this will tighten it up a lot. Beware though the longer you push the wheel out, the studs are what is supporting the weight. Don't scrimp on the studs!

[gsxrken 21]

Panhard would help with wheelhouse clearance issues due to the axle swaying in the car. It doesn't help with leaf spring clearance because the rim moves with the leaf and it's relationship doesn't change.

You may need some stiff springs and shocks. I have 275s on 5.75 backspace and still get some friendly rubbing on highway dips like those found before and after bridges.

 

Like how you're progressing.

 

On edit - by anchoring the axle, I could see that making tire to leaf contact more likely. The tire sidewall may deflect even more from sideloads now that the axle won't sway.

Edited April 10, 2011 by gsxrken
Add thought

[gsxrken 21]

Panhard also complicates if not clobbers rear exit exhaust plans. Only road course and track events will highlight the (very real) benefits of a Panhard expense.

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Panhard also complicates if not clobbers rear exit exhaust plans. Only road course and track events will highlight the (very real) benefits of a Panhard expense.

 

Might complicate but can be done.

 

[shelbyshelby 52]

I would use the global west del-a-lum bushings in the leaf springs to positively locate the rearend. I believe most rear axle deflection is in the rubber bushings. I did not see them on your car, but the extended shackles multipled that deflection, to the point of being visible, especially to the camaro's. The del-a-lum bushings would likely help you the most with the clearance issues next to the wheel lips rather than the leaf springs.

[buening 63]

Finally got some time to wash the car, snap some pics, and take the first ride of the year. There is definitely rubbing on the passenger side at the front lower inner wheelhouse. It is closer for some reason on the passenger side than the drivers side, with less than 1/4" clearance. Ironically, I test fitted and did everything on the drivers side. Oh well, I may cut some spot welds and do a bit of clearancing sheetmetal work in that area. I took some corners pretty hard and the drivers side didn't rub at all. Below is a couple pics of the car in the driveway. The sun wasn't shining and it was kind of cold, so they aren't the best pics in the world. For some reason the pictures make the tire widths smaller than in real life, probably the angles of the pictures. Notice the closed end lug nuts on the rears :thumbup1:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stangme428 33]

buening -- she is looking great!! now since she has new shoes... how about a video showing that T56 in 6th gear headed down the road!!!:punk:

[buening 63]

LOL, yeah I still need to do that don't I!