Wheels-Tires Despite logic and reason, I put 17x9s on my FOX.

[Mr_Q]

My question is, being that the car is in SOCAL and it rarely rains and I don't drive through mud and snow, if I remove the inner plastic wheel housings will that be a complete FAIL eventually? Mucking up everything? Or with regular cleaning of the engine bay, should it be okay? I have no idea how much crap gets up there. Looking at the liners, they don't seem that dirty.

I'm already having to roll the front fenders, I needed to trim away some of the front bumper where it meets at the wheel well, so removing the inner liner for top clearance is next.

 

[91TwighlightGT]

You will end up with a bunch of upward dents from rocks and debris being tossed into the fenders. Some people have lined their fenders with stuff to protect them, in which case you will just have to clean up the mess from the road. It is doable, IMO, you just have to decide if it is worth it.

 

[Mr_Q]

So live with the *bzzzz bzzzz* sound under heavy brake load or figure out a way to protect against dents. Alright, thanks for the tip. I didn't even think about the rocks issue.

 

[Noobz347]

... or get some smaller tires

... or get some 17x8s for the front

 

[MFE92]

You will end up with a bunch of upward dents from rocks and debris being tossed into the fenders. Some people have lined their fenders with stuff to protect them, in which case you will just have to clean up the mess from the road. It is doable, IMO, you just have to decide if it is worth it.

I've heard this, more from the SN95 crowd, but I've been running without fender liners for 5 years and 30,000 miles now, over 3000 of which were on race tracks, half with sticky R-comp tires, and I can assure you I have no such dents. I did make a shield out of aluminum to keep debris out of the air filter opening, as you can see below, and that's it. No other problems.

 

[Mr_Q]

Very nice!

 

[91TwighlightGT]

I've heard this, more from the SN95 crowd, but I've been running without fender liners for 5 years and 30,000 miles now, over 3000 of which were on race tracks, half with sticky R-comp tires, and I can assure you I have no such dents. I did make a shield out of aluminum to keep debris out of the air filter opening, as you can see below, and that's it. No other problems.

Interesting, I wonder if it has to do with the shape of the fender, distance between the wheel and tire, or perhaps the later model cars have a thinner gauge of sheet metal?

I remember this thread from the corral, and there are some ideas of materials to use if you want to be cautious and line the inside of the fenders.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/road-racing-auto-x/1168062-fender-liner-less-semi-street-car-2.html

Seems to focus mostly on the quick roof material from home depot and spray on liners, such as the ones used for protecting truck beds.

 

[02 281 GT]

On aircraft, they use 3M polyeurethane protective tape (like large single-sided sheets of double-sided tape) in areas which are subject to impact from flying debris. I'm not sure how expensive it it, but it could be an option for you.

http://tsitapes.com/pdf/3M_IndustrialTapes.pdf (page 15 and 16)

 

[MikeH686]

Or you could use a few sheets of dynamat that will absorb it pretty well

 

[1200gt]

My question is, being that the car is in SOCAL and it rarely rains and I don't drive through mud and snow, if I remove the inner plastic wheel housings will that be a complete FAIL eventually? Mucking up everything? Or with regular cleaning of the engine bay, should it be okay? I have no idea how much crap gets up there. Looking at the liners, they don't seem that dirty.

I'm already having to roll the front fenders, I needed to trim away some of the front bumper where it meets at the wheel well, so removing the inner liner for top clearance is next.

Just curious, because there is a lot of talk about wheel clearance amoungst the crowds that are doing brake conversion; have you done anything to your suspension like spindle changes or swaps of this nature? I'm thinking road noise would be crazy.

 

[ratio411]

What size tires are you using?
I think that has more to do with it than the 9" rims.
I have seen plenty of Foxes with 9" front rims. ???

FWIW:
The rims I want for my Fox are in 8" and 9", and I want 8" of course, but the rim style I want in 8" looks bad in it's outward appearance. The 9" looks much better in overall appearance, but is wider than I want. The tires I want will look stretched. So I am going to order the 9" and then have them narrowed to 7" or 8". It will add 100 bux or so each to the price of the 2 front rims, but it will be exactly what I want for appearance and fit.

 

[88LX5.Oh]

I have 17x9's all around and no rubbing issues at all. But I see that you have Ford Racing springs installed. How much did they lower the car?

 

[Mr_Q]

I wanted the least drop when upgrading the worn out springs and shocks. the ford racing springs are a .5" to .8".

if I went with 40 series rubber I'd have no rubbing but then I'd be bottoming out all over Hollywood. I know this from previous experience. LOVE OUR ROADS. Ugh.

 

[David Pepiton]

this is odd im running 17x9 fr500s and have no issues up front

 

[TOOLOW91]

17x8.5 93 cobra reps and I scrub on hard bumps but not enough to make me want to pull it out