Author Topic: Scarebird drum to Disc upgrade. Tire hitting frame issue  (Read 2132 times)

Offline javakm70cuda

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Scarebird drum to Disc upgrade. Tire hitting frame issue
« on: May 10, 2015 - 12:26:48 AM »
Bought a scarebird front drum to disc setup that requires the 15" wheels. I noticed that my tires hit the frame before the lower ball joint metal stop even comes close to the lower control arm. I have cop car wheels on car & backspacing is 4.5", but that should not be an issue. Anyone else having this issue & what did they do to stop it. I can't put the car on the road the way it is & I am kind of pissed it messed up the paint on my frame rail. I swear every time I try to say some money it coming back to me in double. The other problem I see is the upper caliper bolt will hit the shock also when turn hard to left/right.

The only solution I can think of is to build up the lower ball joint metal stop area or the area on the lower control arm with weld to compensate for issue so the wheels stops before hitting frame. I swear nothing comes out of the box simple anymore. :violin:

Is there anything else that is suppose to stop your wheels from hitting frame?

thanks in advance




Offline brads70

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Re: Scarebird drum to Disc upgrade. Tire hitting frame issue
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2015 - 07:00:31 AM »
What size of tire are you using?
Brad
1970 Challenger 451stroker/4L60 auto OD
Barrie,Ontario,Canada
Proud to own one of the best cars ever made!!!!!

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Offline HP2

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Re: Scarebird drum to Disc upgrade. Tire hitting frame issue
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2015 - 01:30:18 PM »
Well, 4.5" backspace is a pretty fair amount. Typically the max you could ever run in a 15" wheel  is 4.75". With that much backspace, tire width can also become a factor. I've run  both of the above back space sizes with 235/60 and 255/55 and not contacted the frame,  so I can't say thats your exact issue.

However, I am unfamiliar with the scarebird disc kits. I beleive they mount on your drum spindle and use a ford rotor,  so they may create a different track width than stock. Even if these are .25" narrower than stock, you combine it with a high backspace rim and a wide tire, and now you have contact. Additionally, since this kit is a combination of  parts and products, the  travel limit tabs may not work as intended compared to a factory  source set up.

If you want to limit tabs to  eliminate this problem, you could do work with this to create a  limit point. How exactly you do that, could vary from welding up material,  to adding a bolt on spacer at some point.

Offline Chryco Psycho

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Re: Scarebird drum to Disc upgrade. Tire hitting frame issue
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2015 - 02:45:36 PM »
I would agree that using the Scarebird parts on a factory drum spindle cannot affect the track width by much & get the tire closer to the frame , but wrong backspacing & wider tires can affect it bigtime .

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Offline javakm70cuda

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Re: Scarebird drum to Disc upgrade. Tire hitting frame issue
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2015 - 03:13:22 PM »
Sorry should of mentioned I am having this problem on 15" rims with 215/65/15. The scarebird setup uses ford galaxie 70 to 72 rotors with dodge 1/2 callipers.

Offline brads70

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Re: Scarebird drum to Disc upgrade. Tire hitting frame issue
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2015 - 03:19:36 PM »
The Ford rotor must have a different offset as I ran 235/60/15  with 4.4 offset rims and never had an issue?   Would a wheel spacer help ? :dunno:
« Last Edit: May 10, 2015 - 03:22:41 PM by brads70 »
Brad
1970 Challenger 451stroker/4L60 auto OD
Barrie,Ontario,Canada
Proud to own one of the best cars ever made!!!!!

My restoration thread 
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=59072.0
 My handling upgrade post
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=73985.0

Offline HP2

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Re: Scarebird drum to Disc upgrade. Tire hitting frame issue
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2015 - 06:22:27 PM »
...and I couldn't imagine it is a big offset, but possibly enough to cause an issue. A 215/65x15 isn't a big tire. 6" wide and 26" tall.

Offline KillerBee

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Re: Scarebird drum to Disc upgrade. Tire hitting frame issue
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2015 - 07:37:34 AM »
On my 1971 R/T Challenger the front tires hit the frame on full lock with the original 14" rally wheels and original front drum brakes.

For some reason it seemed to rub more when I was pushing the car around without the engine installed and the front end was sitting up higher.

I'm not sure if the stops on the ball joints are worn down or if the manual steering box doesn't have internal stops.



I currently have 245/60-15 tires on the front with 15x8 wheels(4 1/2" back spacing) and they will rub if I turn the wheels as FAR as it will go, (I rarely turn them that far) 
It really hasn't been an issue and I don't think I've ever rubbed during normal driving.

I have a new Flaming River manual steering box going in the car this fall along with all new front suspension parts including ball joints so I'll see if that changes anything.


« Last Edit: May 12, 2015 - 01:52:34 PM by KillerBee »