Front tires rubbing F Panel

[JRD56]

I'm just finishing up my Mk3 build. I'm finding the front tires are hitting the F-Panels. I running SN95 spindles from a 94/95 mustang. I used these spindles to minimize bump steer. Here is what I have. FF lower control arms mounted in the inner holes. If I mounted them in the outer holes the upper control arms are too short. I do have the nylon stops on the rack, I actually have two on each side. Wheels are FF 17 X 9 Halibrand replicas with 245-45-17 Nito tires. The tires do sit in some, so there is room to move them out. I'm looking options/opinions on a solution. Options I can think of:

1. Wheel Spacers. Not my favorite option.

2. Move lower LCA's to out holes. This would require longer UCA's but I'm not sure if anyone makes these?

3. Modified F Panels. I saw a mention of this on thread but can't find it now.

4. Live with it.

Also, anyone know how to search for multiple words. When I search for "F Panel", I get results for "Panel".

The car is a painted and I'm in final assembly. Should be on the road in a week or so but I'd like to fix this tire rub issue.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Jim

[Papa]

You can add stops to your steering rack. I don't know the specifics, but I'm sure that someone will chime in with more details.

[mike223]

I do have the nylon stops on the rack, I actually have two on each side.




+1 for more nylon stops - add until it doesn't rub + then live with it.

I think I have three in one side and four in the other...

[Papa]

Sorry, I didn't catch the part of your post mentioning that you had spacers on your rack already. But, you can add more until the rub stops. Also, FFMetal makes a "big tire" F panel that you may want to consider.

[FFinisher]

I have FFR 18's on mine and have installed 7/16 stops in the rack to limit the travel.

This is a common fix.

I use 1 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe and make my own stops, It is exactly the same Diameter inside and outside as the stops that come on the rack. This is available at any hardware store. The one near me sells it by the foot so IT cost me $.48 for a foot of it

[JRD56]

Well that's a little embarrassing, adding more nylon stops is certainly the easiest solution. Sometimes the simplest things are not always obvious. But, since I'm an engineer I tend to over-think things at times. At least that's what my wife tells me. Thanks mike223. Another benefit to this great forum.

Jim

[JRD56]

FFinisher, just saw your reply. I just came in from the shop after cutting a section of PVC to try it. I thought it would work fine and you just confirmed that.

Jim

[cgundermann]

If not, I have some extra and I can shoot you out several.

Chris

[JRD56]

Thanks for the offer Chris but I was able to make what I needed using a 3/4" PVC union, which is essentially the same size as 1" schedule 40. I've got a small lathe so it was easy to get the ends square and the correct length. The Mid America Cobra Club has an Autocross event this weekend which I've used for a deadline to get the car done. Looks like I'm going to make it. I won't have the carpet in but everything else will be done. Show have it on the road tomorrow.

Jim

[CraigS]

I don't remember all the details but needing more than the two spacers per side that you already have seems excessive to me. Especially since you have 245 tires which are the narrowest of choices. Moving the LCAs to the outer holes would move the tire out how much? Depending on which version UCAs you have, sleeves are readily available and not too expensive. Scroll to pg 146
http://www.spcalignment.com/images/stories/catalogs/SPC_Cat_2017-web.pdf
You can order the sleeves from Summit. Can you give us some pics of the tire fender?

[Jeff Kleiner]

... I running SN95 spindles from a 94/95 mustang. I used these spindles to minimize bump steer. Here is what I have. FF lower control arms mounted in the inner holes. If I mounted them in the outer holes the upper control arms are too short.



Something isn't jiving here. FFR lowers are supposed to be mounted in the outer holes, inners are for donor LCAs. Your uppers should not be too short...if they are you need to look at the rest of your assembly. Which set of holes did you use when assembling the spindle adapters to the spindles (should be using the 2nd and 4th down from the top). What do you have caster and camber set to?

Jeff

[japollon]

Can someone post a picture of the stops installed? Thanks

[DadofThree]

I running SN95 spindles from a 94/95 mustang. I used these spindles to minimize bump steer. Here is what I have. FF lower control arms mounted in the inner holes. If I mounted them in the outer holes the upper control arms are too short.

Jim

I have the same set up, but with 15" wheels. Mine are mounted on the outer holes. I did need to trim the tie rod 3/4" inch and the rack 3/4" inch on both sides to help. I haven't had the alignment done yet, so I'm sorry I can't help too much. Just thought you might want to compare notes. :)

https://youtu.be/Ym64Sp_a0xQ

[JRD56]

Sorry for the delayed response but as I mentioned above my goal was to have the car ready for an autocross event on Yesterday (May 12). So I was focused on that last week. I agree with Jeff K, something doesn't jive. Here is the story. This is an Mk3 I bought un-assembled. The original owner bought FF5 lower control arms. I used the spindles, brakes and power steering rack from a 2000 GT. When I first assembled the front suspension I put the FF5 lower control arms in the outer hole as specified by FF5 but the tops of the tires were in quite a bit. Very noticeable. I do have the spindles in the 2nd & 4th holes in the adapters. I tried lengthening the upper control arms but I felt I was running out of threads and didn't think it would be safe. So I moved the lower control arms to the inner hole and things looked much better so I went with it. I was able to do the alignment fine with -.5 degree Camber and 7 degree Caster. I did however end up changing to 95 spindles to reduce bump steer. But back to the original issue, the tires hit the F panels. I did end up with equivalent of three spacers on each side of the rack to keep the tires from hitting.

So it may be that I just got too nervous about how many threads were left in the upper control arms. But the car drives great with the current set-up and I didn't notice any issues with the reduced turning radius. I did make it to the autocross event and had great time. The Mid America Cobra Club (based in Kansas City) and the Saint Louis Cobra club get together annually for a little friendly competition. The car performed great and I did fairly well considering it was my first time ever. I drag raced for 25 years so this turning stuff was a new experience for me, but I really liked it.

I may have an unusual combination but I'm happy with the way the car looks and handles so I may just leave it this way, at least for now. Right now I'm going to take a break from working on the car and get some things done on the "honey do" list. And since today is Mothers Day I better get off the computer. I'll post some pictures next week.

Jim