I'm currently having wheel woes. I got a set of AR Hopsters with the car and they don't clear good in the front. On a hard turn, if the front drops it will rub the fender lip up in the higher part of the fender. That could end up bending the fender out and causing some damage. Nearest I can figure the wheels are 16 X 8 with a 4" backspacing. Tires are 225-55-16.
I am looking at a set of Foose Legends with these specs.
18x7 4"backspacing and 224-45-18 front
18x9 5"backspacing and 255-45-18 rear
This is what the tire place recommends, but I want to be sure.
It's a 70 Challenger Convert with stock rear springs that are not holding the rear up any extra. I have the front end cranked up and the rear with air shocks to compensate for the front. I'd like to put stock shocks back on the rear and drop the front with a slight rake (say 3/4 to 1").
Any thoughts or suggestions? Will the tire package I'm looking at accomplish the goal?
The camber is LF 0.6 and RF 0.1
Caster is LF -0.5 and RF -0.4
They said if I lowered the front end it would help alot.
I don't even know where to start.
You don't need new wheels. You need a new tire shop, and a new alignment. In that order. That alignment is a disaster, and the camber bolts on the UCA's on these cars are easy to use. There's no reason they couldn't have done better than that unless your front suspension needs a rebuild. Lowering the car some would improve those numbers, but that's not the only problem. If the picture of your car is at it's current ride height, it's not sitting so high that they couldn't significantly improve the alignment at it's current height. You do need to set the ride height before you get a new alignment though if you're going to change it.
Positive camber and negative caster is for bias ply's. You have radials. So, the stock alignment specs need to go in the trash can, and you can start over with -.25* to -.5* camber, +3* caster, and 1/16" to 1/8" toe in. Your tire life, handling, and steering stability will all increase dramatically. Seriously, it will feel like a different car.
Not only that, but if you do that, more than likely your current wheels and tires will fit in the front and will no longer rub. I say that because I have 17x9's with 5" of backspace and 275/40/17's all the way around on my car with no rubbing. My front tires stick out an extra 1/2" further than yours do. An extra
1/2". That by itself should be all the clearance you need. I do run more camber, at -.9*, but even with -.5* you should be more than clear. I also run large torsion bars, at 1.12", so I will get less body roll than you, but STILL, you should have enough room to run your current wheels with a proper alignment.
Now, if you really want to upgrade to 18" wheels (and I don't blame you because the tire selection is MUCH better), the recommendations they gave aren't horrible. Personally I wouldn't bother with 225's up front, but I know some guys like to run the skinny front tires. If you don't, you could just run 18x9's with 255/40/18's on all 4 corners and be able to rotate tires. Or even 245/40/18's on 18x8's up front with 4.5" backspace and the 255/45/18's out back if you want to stagger and go with that tall back tire. The car will handle so much better with the wider front tires.
