Tire sidewall clearance

[publicbottle]

What do you think is the absolute minimum side wall clearance a tire/rim would need between the fender lip and the wheel?
Am I really pushing my luck here?
This i what I am trying to squeeze into my 70 Challenger. I have mickey thompson street radials II p295/45-17 mounted on a 9.5" rim. I have about a 1/4" between the rubber and the fender lip, really would like to avoid rolling the fender since the car is already painted......
I dont expect to be making any high speed turns in this car, but..............ya never know 

Thanks for any input folks!

[brads70]

I'd want 1/2" to 3/4" ?   1/4" won't cut it.

[Chryco Psycho]

it should clear ok at 1/4 " but it depends on the spring pack , & bushings , tough to bend a flat steel spring sideways but with arc it is a bit easier , also ply bushings will deflect less than rubber

[brads70]

It's more the sidewall flex in the tire that I'd be worried about?
This is an extreme, but the video shows what I mean?

Winton Tampered Motorsport 18/12/2011 Under car VS S/C Wagon

[drewcrane]

Wow Brad that is one cool vid,very nice idea.

And yes you might not expect to be making any high speed turns but it only takes once to slice the tire with the contact with the body ,make sure you have more than 1/2 inch,remember the taller the tire the more sidewall flex there will be

[BIGSHCLUNK]

My buddy just put some BIG hoosiers on the back of his 69 RR. about a half inch clear on Q's and frame rails.... the problem os the flex when cornering. we were thinkin maybe a rear sway bar would help but...    The test drive was just this past saturday so cant say if a sway would help or not.

[HP2]

I've run clearances as tight as .25 before without issue, however, that was in the spring pack area which doesn't ever see any deflecting forces and as a drag car, it didn't see a lot of bumps, dips, and driveways. Like CP said, spring pack type and bushing material are critical.

You can put a slight roll in the lip even though it is painted and it wouldn't take much to keep the lip from being a razor. It just must be done carefully and with something other than a hammer and dolly. I believe I have even seen a tool specifically for this.   

[SBDave]

I just rolled my fenders but didn't worry about the paint as it's going to a body shop soon so I'll have them fix any issues.  I used a heat gun to soften the paint, then a rubber mallet and used my hand to keep pressure on the outside of the fender.  Eastwood offer's a tool that would probably work more smoothly.  Ask around and you should be able to find one for rent.

http://www.eastwood.com/ew-fender-roller-w-instruction.html

Dave

[publicbottle]

Hmmm my drivers side is approx 1/4" and the passenger side is worse...considerably. That eastwood tool seems pretty slick, but cant say i am looking fwd to using it....hate to flex that area too much and have the paint crack!!! I found one locally, thinking about buying it and just selling it when i am done....unless i can borrow one............anyone in the calgary area have one i can borrow??

[drewcrane]

Hmmm my drivers side is approx 1/4" and the passenger side is worse...considerably. That eastwood tool seems pretty slick, but cant say i am looking fwd to using it....hate to flex that area too much and have the paint crack!!! I found one locally, thinking about buying it and just selling it when i am done....unless i can borrow one............anyone in the calgary area have one i can borrow??

If you do buy it and want to sell it after wards I would be interested in buying it when you are done

[SBDave]

Another cheap method that I have heard of is to use a baseball bat or any rod and wedge it between the fender and tire.  Then slowly roll the car forward and backwards.  Using the baseball bat you can start with the small diameter and work up so that you are slowly bending the fender.  A friend of mine did it that way with his muscle car, but his car is used for road racing so he wasn't overly concerned with any paint damage.  He only got one small crack though.  I think any of these methods would work fine as long as care is taken and the paint prep was done correctly in the area.  Good luck!
Dave

[Katfish]

That Eastwood tool looks neat, but.....................

Disclaimer said:  "Don't use on double wall flanges as found on most rear fenders"

So is the sheet metal too thick?

[high perf mopar]

im running 275-60/15 on the back with 4 1/2" backspace,,,passenger side was o.k. but the the driver was less than a 1/4"...rear quarters was already replaced when i bought the car,,,i have not been able to figure out yet if these cars are just  crooked or s%^t work was involved,probably both,,but,,what i did was after installing the stainless wheel lip mouldings,,i took an air body saw and cut the extra material back to even with the stainless trim,,and filed smooth,then used spot touch up paint that came from the body shop to cover bare metal...lots of room now!!!double wheel lip only...

after looking at the eastwood roller pics it probably came out the same.but could not use the roller because the car was already painted and all body work was done...except for the 200+ i just put into my front pocket...if i had not told u guys this at the next car show u would not know it by looking at it.......... 

[HP2]

Factory assembly tolerances would allow up to a .25" variation in some places, so yeah, most of these cars had considerable slop built into them from the factory. Add to the body tolerances all the suspension assembly tolerances and it is a wonder any of us could fit anything wider than a  235 on these cars. I can honestly say I have neverhad one of these old cars where everything was symetrical. Also relevent in some cases, modern replacement quarters come with a wider flange than the originals, so if your quarters have been replaced, you are easily giving up even more real estate.

[publicbottle]

After thinking about it all over the past couple days, i think I ve decided that cutting or grinding away the inner lip is my safest option. I am too nervous about chipping the paint using the fender roller, and as suggested, the inner lip is doubled and quite rigid.

Now, how to make a nice clean cut is the question......any more suggetions? Thanks for all the replies so far!!