Front Tire Rub

[ThreePointTwo]

I put the body on my MK3 a while ago and have been running around in gel coat. I am running 275/40-17 on the front and when I hit a sharp bump at speed, I get a nice little puff of smoke as the tire hits the body. The front end has been aligned and the proper ground clearance has been set. I am running Mustang LCA's with Bilstien coil overs.

What options do I have to correct this problem?

[Jeff Kleiner]

What spindles? Wheel offset? How much camber? 275 tires are a stretch (some will say too big) for the front of a street car. '96 or later spindles set the wheel out further which would compound the situation as will an alignment with little or no negative camber.
Possible cures:
Fox or '94/'95 spindles
Less wheel offset (the down side to that is that the tire will get into the F panel/splash guards on tight turns)
A little more negative camber
A higher spring rate (factory Bilsteins are 450#)
Smaller tires

Sorry, that's all I got for now!

Good luck,
Jeff

[ThreePointTwo]

I have -01 spindles, -1 degree camber, not sure of the wheel backspace - will have to measure tonight. I am running the stock 450# springs too.

What about body options? Would anybody recommend fender flare or body shim to help? I am just trying to look at all options at this point. It's not a huge problem but it has to be fixed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/Treaszh/cbbff4e5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/Treaszh/3de52cde.jpg

[Jeff Kleiner]

'01 spindles + 275 tires = a recipe for tire rub. I think I'd start by shopping for a set of '94 or '95 spindles. Even guys running 245 tires often report issues with '99 and later spindles.

Jeff

[efnfast]

Yea, those spindles are way wrong

[Pierre B]

My MKII was done with 1989 donor parts, including the front spindles and solid rear axle. Initially, I got two types of body rub. Front and rear, I had some tire rub on the body, mostly over severe bumps, but I cured that by adjusting ride height slightly. Then, near steering lock right and left, I got tire rub against the F-panel. Some guys have used spacers to limit steering travel, but I simply pull back slightly on steering angle when I encounter that situation. No problem.

[Greg_M]

Even with 94-95 spindles and -1* camber you will need to run > 4 3/8" front ride height to be sure it won't rub on BIG bumps.

Greg

[ThreePointTwo]

How far in will the Fox spindles move the tire? Are the 94-95's the same as the Fox?

[efnfast]

How far in will the Fox spindles move the tire? Are the 94-95's the same as the Fox?

Fox spindles are not the same a sn95

You want either 94 or 95 - 96+ have a straight leg on them, 94/95 have a dog leg bend in them which keeps the proper geometry and whatnot.

With 94/95 spindles, 245/17 tires front, 3* caster, -.25camber, 3 1/2'' front ride height I don't rub

[Tad]

You've got to get the wheel a little more within the body. Find the 94/95 spindles and that should help to get you there although I'm not sure it will be enough; but it should give a good improvement. My understanding is it is about 1/4" improvement for each side. Also - you can put some camber into it too - to a point. What wheels / wheel offset are you using? What ride height?

[CraigS]

Although spindles may be a cure, another option is stiffer springs.On my MkII I have been from 450 to 750 and it is very surprising that the stiffer springs don't have a terrible effect on ride. (The rear is just the opposite though). So option #1 for you would be 600 or 650 springs. Option #2 is more negative camber. Since i autocross a lot, I run 2.5 negative.But the good thing is that w/ the low miles we usually put on these cars ( I do 3500-4000/yr) the wear that would usually occur on a normal street car at that camber isn't much of a problem. It will wear the inside out faster, but that problem will be 4-5 years from now on your FFR. HTH

[Greg_M]

How far in will the Fox spindles move the tire? Are the 94-95's the same as the Fox?

94-95 are the same width as Fox. 96+ are 8mm wider than Fox. FWIW, I run 275's with Konis, '95 spindles, -1* camber, Deep lip Halibrands and ride height at 4 3/8". They never rub on the fender lips. My tires stick out of the fenders maybe 3/8".

Greg

[Bill_VA]

Been there, done that. I also started out with 275s up front with non-1994/95 SN-95 spindles and my tires stuck out as far as yours do.

I put the tires up for sale on the ffcobra.com classified section and sold them in a couple of hours and then ordered a set of 255/40/17s. I then tossed the 1996 SN95 spindles and bought a set of 1994/95 SN95 spindles off eBay (you can't buy them new). Along with a degree of negative camber dialed in, they are perfect. I hope this helped.

Before:
http://www.humtech.com/4bill/100_1004.jpg

After:
http://www.humtech.com/4bill/100_1723.jpg

[Someday I Suppose]

Bill, great before and after shot. As noted the Ford parts are not available new, still a lot out there, though they seem to be harder to find.

Factory Five I believe does have a reproduction part now available from them. You could probably also get the new MKIV/Hot Rod spindle and use the upper frame mounting plate from the SAI mod as well.

_Scott

[Bill_VA]

Here is a set on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/94-95-MUSTANG-SPINDLES-5-LUG-CONVERSION-SN95-GT-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem1c19149a19QQitemZ12067 9864857QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries#ht_1912wt_1165) now.

[Don]

Would it be bad to run -1.5 camber with 6 caster and 275's? I have 94-95 spindles. I am afraid I may have a rubbing issue all over the place with my 275's, like F-panels. :(

[kevin12973]

You mentioned having donor lower control arms. Just wondering if its possible you mounted them to the outer hole instead of the inner mount on the frame?

[ThreePointTwo]

You mentioned having donor lower control arms. Just wondering if its possible you mounted them to the outer hole instead of the inner mount on the frame?

I checked that but they are on the inner hole. That would have been too easy.

[Larry N. Johnson]

Not surt it is the right solution in this case, but FFR makes a narrowed lower front control arm called "Pin Drive Width" that sucks in the wheel about 1.5".
Just a thought.