33 Hot Rod V2 Bike Fender Spacing

[Street Rod Jim]

I have the original muscle car wheels that FF used to sell so all my wheel size spec should be good. I am trying to finalize my spindles including the correct spacing for the bike fenders and things are not lining up the way I think they should.
112535
1) If I use a bunch of spacers (1/2 inch extra over the supplies spacer), I can get the fender to center equally across the tire. However, I find it odd that if I have a stock Factory Five wheel, that I would need extra spacers at all. Also the size of the bike fender mount is also 1/2 inch. Would it be better to lose the spacer and put the mount inside the fender? In other words the manual shows from frame out; Fender mount, fender, tire. I am saying Fender, Fender Mount, tire. I think the mount would get beat up in this case and probably not a good idea....
112532

This leads me to another discussion. The bike fender mounts also will hit the upper control arm and lower control arm when you steer all the way to the left or right. I did not see any "physical stop" in the steering system to prevent this. This is another reason for using less shims so I can get more travel. Thoughts? It seems throughout this build there is so many procedures reliant on another procedure, I cannot finalize anything almost in all cases. For this case, I cannot lock down the hub, because if I decide to keep the spacers, I will have to source longer bolts which can only be put on if the hub if off the spindle.


112533 If you turn hard left, the lower bike mount will hit the lower control arm.
112534If you turn hard right, the top of the bike mount will hit the upper control arm.


Any comments would be helpful. Thanks,

[FF33rod]

Not familiar with the "original" wheels that they used to sell.
Any idea what the specs are (diameter, width, backspace)? what tire sizes are you using?

Steve

[NAZ]

Don't sweat the small stuff. Here's some tips that will work better and look way better than a stack of washers.

Replace the fasteners holding the steering arms with high strength cap screws long enough to install a thick hardened flat washer and a nut. Purchase some high strength thread couplings. Not hardware store couplings -- the same grade or property class as the cap screws (G-5 or PC 8.8 min). These should be available through your local fastener supplier like Fastenall or from McMaster-Carr. Ensure that the couplers thread engagement are equal to the cap screw diameter but no more than half the thread so you have room to screw in high strength studs in the other end.

Measure to determine how much spacing you need to center the fenders over your tires and purchase aluminum spacers the correct length. Again, if you can't find them locally McMaster-Carr is a source. Purchase high strength studs long enough to thread into the couplers and spin a high strength stover type lock nut on to hold your fender brackets. Now you have a professional looking bracket that allows you to remove the fenders if you want without disturbing the steering arms. If you never ever want to remove the front fends then you can stick with the long cap screws but please consider using the correct length spacers and not a stack of ugly flat washers.

Now for the fender rubbing at full lock. Purchase Mustang steering rack spacers and use as many as necessary to limit the steering travel to prevent fender contact with the suspension or chassis. You can get these through Amazon and they're cheap enough you don't need to start thinking about making your own from PVC or some other backyard material.

BTW, what part of AZ are you located?

[Street Rod Jim]

Not familiar with the "original" wheels that they used to sell.
Any idea what the specs are (diameter, width, backspace)? what tire sizes are you using?

Steve

17x 9 Backspace 6.

[Street Rod Jim]

NAZ I am in Tucson. I see where you are going with this, but I will be keeping the fenders always on. However, being my first car project and sitting behind a computer all day long, your comment is expanding my mind on different possibilities. Brilliant. I could not find any spacer locally so I was using the washers to adjust and get a visual. If you even want to come down and show me how it is really done, you are more than welcome. My two days = your 5 minuets... LOL

So I am assuming all 33's even without fenders should have some steering rack spacers installed? It seems the turning ability is insane right now.

[NAZ]

Jim, depends on the wheels and tire width but yes the steering can really make sharp turns. The rack spacers will allow you to control that and keep from scratching things. Remember to allow for full suspension articulation when determining how many spacers on each side. This is what they look like -- made of nylon, so very sturdy.

Have fun every chance you get.

112622

[Brave Salmon]

I used the threaded coupler like NAZ suggested as well on my bike fenders. A much cleaner look and much easier to remove the fenders. I too thought they would never come off but after finishing this thing I realized I must have had them of at least a dozen times. As far as the steering goes, I used 9/16" schedule 40 PVC pipe cut to length and slotted in similar shape to NAZs picture. Took a few tries to get it right but its done and will never need to be removed.

[FF33rod]

17x 9 Backspace 6.

Interesting. Just comparing that to what the max recommended is today (back of the manual).

Max recommended on the fronts are 9" wide with 5.5 backspace So you are going to be offset to the inside by 0.5" which is probably why you're looking to add spacers to move the fender in a bit.

Max recommended on the back is 11" with 6" backspace so you're likely going to have a significant space between the outside of your tire and the fender edge. Some don't mind that but you may end up adding a spacer to bring the wheel/tire out a bit...

Something else to look at - not sure what brakes you're planning on running but clearance for the calipers is an issue for some....

Cheers
Steve