65 Mustang Back Tires Rubbing

[JeffMustang65]

I have 17 x 8 wheels on my 65 Mustang. If I go over a hard bump the back tires rub on the inner lip of the rear quarter panel. The wheels are flush with the quarters, I suppose if I got smaller rims or had them tucked inside the quarters, the rubbing wouldn't happen. I like the way the wheels look, being flush with the quarters. The rubbing only happens occaionally, it is more of an irritation than anything else. I was thinking about cutting a piece of aluminum to fit the inner lip of the rear quarter to prevent the paint being rubbed off and to prevent rust. Is there any way to prevent the wheels from traveling far enough to contact the quarters? The ride height is about 2 inches from the rear wheels. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rbohm]

you can trim the lip, you can roll the lip, you can raise the ride height about 1/2", or you can run a smaller tire.

 

[horse sence]

if you get a passenger in the back seat you are liable to suck a tire up into the wheel well and slice a tire i would atleast roll the wheel lips

 

[JeffMustang65]

How do you roll the wheel lip? Will it damage the paint?

 

[horse sence]

it will probably crack the paint , i will be doing some rear wheel lips here in the next week or so i will post pics

 

[pocketlint]

Jeff, what size tire are you running. I thought you said the back wheels didn't rub? Don't know how easy it would be to do, but you might investigate a putting a bump stop for the axle that would stop the axle's movement before it hit the quarter. My buddy put wider axles on his jeep but they didn't have the bump stops on them. So the first time he took it crawling, the new wheels crunched all the fenders. He learned the importance of those things after that.

 

[horse sence]

if you are into the bump stops all the time it wont be a very comfortable ride
your best bet is to get the tires under the wheel wells so they wont be able to rubb
narrower tires or narrow the rear end ,are you running the 65-66 rear end or 67-68?

 

[2+2GT]

You can use that wheel, but you have to be very careful about backspacing and tire size.

Mustang Wheel and Tyre Chart

 

[JeffMustang65]

I didnt think the wheels rubbed, until I went over a large pothole. The wheels are 17 x 8, 4 1/2 backspacing. It happened twice while I was out driving the other day. I think I will try the bigger bump stop and see how that works. The rear end is a stock 65 Mustang.Thanks

 

[iskwezm]

you should really have a 4 3/4 backspace to set the wheel inside more. If your fender lip is 2" above the tire and your rubbing, your rear suspension must be too soft.My fender lip is less then 1" and would rarely rub.

Also do not cut the lip, it will leave a very sharp edge and no way to roll in the future.The guy that painted my car thought he was doing me a favor and cut them, now i have a 1/4" lip that cut my slicks and cant roll it.

 

[horse sence]

i think you would have a problem even with a 4 3/4 back space wheel as that would pull the tire under just enough to allow the wheel lip to pop over the side of the tire ,had one do it it sliced the outer wall, didnt pop the tire but it wedged the tire in the wheel well ,had to take the tire off to get it loose ,put a nice deep slice in the outer wall,. pulling into parking lots with a dip in front of them is is were it usualy happens

 

[Fstbk]

So do you think a 17 x7 3/4 BS be a safer bet to avoid this? I am shopping for my 65 fb right now and I was under the impression from the chart that 17x8 would fit with. 3/4 BS without rubbing...


Basically I keep finding conflicting info with very few actual photos.

 

[JeffMustang65]

Does anyone think a really stiff shock would help? If so, any suggestions?

 

[Fstbk]

A shock only controls how fast the springs come back or "rebound", it sounds like you may need stiffer springs.

And NO, you should not use air shocks.

 

[Falcon79]

just roll the fender lip, you can rent the eastwood fender roller for $50 on ebay, if you use a heat gun to soften the paint before you roll, it is less likely to crack. I'm running the 2001 GT bullits that are 17X8 with 245 goodyears, no rubbing for me. There is a video of how to use the tool on eastwood.com, check it out and see if it might help you.

 

[iskwezm]

i think you would have a problem even with a 4 3/4 back space wheel

no it wouldnt be a problem. With a 4 3/4 BS, you can run up to a 275 tire. Anything less shouldnt touch at all.

this is how low my car sits and it RARELY rubs

 

[JeffMustang65]

I actually DO have air shocks on the car. Are they the problem? I thought it would be good to have air shocks to adjust the rear ride height. If air shocks are junk, what brand of shock would you recommend?

 

[pocketlint]

I use KYB Gas-A-Justs on the front and KYB GR2s on the back. Got rid of the crappy Monroe ones that were on there and I'm never looking back.

 

[JeffMustang65]

I do have the KYB gas a just on the front. I'll check out the other KYB gr2s for the back. Thanks

 

[pocketlint]

I do have the KYB gas a just on the front. I'll check out the other KYB gr2s for the back. Thanks

I put the gr2 on the back simply because the car is really light back there and with the solid axle going over bumps, it can be ruff. Gr2 is a softer shock and I wanted something that would feel smoother going over speed bumps in the back. The front is not a problem as there is plenty of weight to absorb the shock up there. The difference between the two is that Gr2 is a low pressure gas shock and Gas-a-just is a high pressure gas shock. If you want it stiffer, put the Gas-a-justs on the back too. The high pressure shock in the front corrected my massive body roll and subsequent understeering with the cheapo monroe shocks from Advance.