33 Bicycle fender bracket interference

[easyrider]

I have a 33 hot rod Gen II that I am getting close to finishing. I just received my Factory Five bicycle fenders and I am having problems with the front fender bracket interfering with the steering rack tie rod end. Steering rack is mounted in the upper holes, suspension is mounted in the upper holes. pics are taken with the car suspended on a lift. When I lower it down the steering tie rod comes in contact with the fender bracket. I cannot see what I am doing wrong, has anyone experienced this problem or know of a solution, this was a lot of money and I am disappointed it does not fit, or embarrassed I am missing something obvious. 187823187824

[Mastertech5]

It appears from your pictures that you have them mounted backwards. Need to see a wider shot showing both ends. The end in the rear should be sloping down. Here's a pic of mine. The front bar should point straight up.
187825

[FF33rod]

What Mastertech said.
You have these instructions, right? https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/HOT-ROD-BIKE-FENDERS.pdf

Steve

[easyrider]

Yes , those are the same instructions I am using and I have the bracket installed just like it is shown on Page 3. The bracket leg that is bent down a bit points to the back of the car. I am at a loss as to where I went wrong.

[Mastertech5]

Do you have the tie rod arms on the spindles on the right sides? They should drop down in the back. I just looked at mine and if the arms were on the wrong sides you would have much more clearance, so that's not it. Post a picture with a wider shot like the one I did. I can't put my finger between the the tie rod and the bracket. Set your front frame height at the firewall area to about 5" with the coil overs and recheck. That's about all I can think of at the moment. If you raise the frame height up you should have more clearance.

[easyrider]

188263188264188265188266188267188268
OK I checked my ride hight and I am 5 1/4" at the firewall. I then checked my alignment thinking Caster setting might make a difference (it didnt). I cannot find the problem. I have a Gen II 33 hot rod with the steering rack on the upper mounting holes and the suspension on the upper mounting holes. I dont know why I have this interference problem.

[Mastertech5]

I'm at a loss on this one. The only difference with mine is that I'm using the lower holes to get that 1" of extra ride height because of the lousy roads here in Mass and speed bumps. Call FFR technical department and leave a message, they'll call you back. Point them to your last post with the pictures. There is a bump steer kit from a supporting vendor that would raise the tie rod ends up on the arms but I don't know who that might be. Look through the suspension and steering section it may be mentioned what vendor has them. I think roadracer put them on his hot rod. You could ask him. Breeze Automotive might have the kit or know where get it.

[RoadRacer]

My bump steer kit came from Tim at Kootenai Customs.. https://www.facebook.com/kooteniavalleycustoms

Great kit and beautifully made but obviously will only help if you have bump steer and need to adjust the steering geometry.

[easyrider]

Thank you for the input, Still scratching my head on the root cause for the problem. Ill call FFR and see if they can offer anything.

[easyrider]

Hey Mastertech, are you using the lower holes on the suspension and the upper holes on the steering rack?

[Ltfracing]

188305188305
It looks like your bracket’s don’t have nowhere near as much bend in them as these do,not my car,just a picture I found for reference

[Mastertech5]

Hey Mastertech, are you using the lower holes on the suspension and the upper holes on the steering rack?

No, all lower holes. It specifically says not to do that or visa-versa (bump steer). You have to cut the top of the left rear control arm mount for the rack to clear when using the lower holes so there's no going back without welding the piece back on.
I was thinking the same thing as Lftracing about the rear arms not being bent down as much. A hydraulic tubing bender may be able to fix that if you can find a shop with one in order to get both sides the same. Would require drilling new holes in the fenders, filling the old ones and refinish.

[easyrider]

191162191163191164Just as an update on my bicycle fender bracket interference problem. FFR Tech suggested I buy the Bump Steer Kit to clear the bracket they supply with the fender kit. I asked if the installation of the bicycle fenders somehow created bump steer and for that reason the bump steer kit was needed but I never got a direct response to that question. In the end I moved forward by having the brackets fabricated that are in the attached pictures. I took this direction based on my belief that Bump Steer would be engineered out of the Gen II 33 Hot Rod if it was assembled in its basic form and not modified in some fashion. So if I get my car on the road and I need to work out a bad bump steer issue then I will pursue installing a bump steer kit and wonder why FFR puts this kit out with an inherent problem, but at this time I have been impressed and pleased with the engineering side of the FFR operation (not the fiberglass side) and I am moving forward with my build with confidence. If anyone else is using the bicycle kit and having a clearance issue with the steering arm let me know, I found a small engineering group that is very professional, willing and genuinely interested to make these pieces.

[Mastertech5]

That will work. Nice innovation. Carry on. I agree with your fiberglass assessment. I spent most of the summer getting the nose cone, engine side covers and hood to fit satisfactorily. Not perfect but good enough, and then there are the doors, no matter how I manipulate them on the support structure the front won't conform to the body without having to level things out with some filler. More than I think should be needed.

[FF33rod]

Good job. I don't believe there were any suspension changes between gen 1 and 2 except the addition of the dual mounting holes. I would expect bump steer characteristics will therefore be the same...

Steve

[easyrider]

FF33rod, when you say "bump steer characteristics will be the same"...it makes me want to ask, Do you experience much bump steer with your setup?

[easyrider]

Mastertech5- I have a solid fiberglass background so I embrace the use of a fiberglass body, I just have a molded part run out of tools that were not maintained. I expect split lines, I also expect the molds to align but my body has a couple places where the surface profile of the molded part are off by a 1/4" from one side of a split line to the other. Throw in some pre-release of the gelcoat prior to lamination and you have a second rate hack job on a really nice chassis. Its all fun in the end, I just keep thinking about how much money I paid for this fun!
I struggled a bit with my hood, not running side panels, basically chased all the dimensional tolerance to the nose cone and just laminated it to fit. Ill pass along a technique that you may or may not be aware of. I put packing tape (clear packing tape) on my grill, then got my hood close to setup, glassed the space in with long strand glass bondo between the hood and the offset of the aluminum grill. The packing tape acts as a release from the grill and with a little finesse you can get a pretty good reproduction of the grill shape. I sand it and go over it with a good finish bondo and the job is done. Did a similar thing with the nose cone. I am ready for primer and paint, looking for somebody that can spray. Its all fun!

[easyrider]

Hey FF33rod, have you experienced much of an issue as it relates to "bump steer"?

[DonS]

Easyrider, would you mind sharing who made /modified your fender brackets and the cost ? Thanks, DonS

[FF33rod]

Hey FF33rod, have you experienced much of an issue as it relates to "bump steer"?

APologies missed this question, I have the Kootenai bump steer kit so no I don't have any issues. I bought add-on during the build so can't do a before and after comparison.

Steve

[easyrider]

Hi DonS,
Sorry for the delay I have not checked the forum in a couple of days.
Here is the info you requested.

55 Fab LLC
Kevin Mentag
574-261-1099
55fabsb@gmail.com

You can reference my son - Patrick Reighter, he is a friend. Small but very good group to work with. Hope this helps.