Modifying front fenders for tire rub..?

[MopaR&D]

I put a pair of 15 x 7" big-bolt Rallyes on the front of my '70 Duster with 215/65R15 tires and they rub the front edge of the fenders a bit. What's the best way to go about modifying the fender so they'll fit? Can I bend them or is it best to just cut the corner off with a cut-off wheel? Not much needs to be taken off, maybe 1-2" tops.

 

[jaws]

Use a 215 60 insted of the 65.

 

[1968FormulaS340]

Use a 215 60 insted of the 65.

Damn.... That's what I was going to post.

 

[autoxcuda]

Damn.... That's what I was going to post.

Same here too.

Next you could take the lower fender brace support and adjust it all the way out.

If thats not enough you can redrill the attachmenet hole on the the bottom of the fender forward and it will push the bottom of the fender out. More forward, the more out.

For those cars with a lower valenence, that will not work. The front valence on those cars give the fender enought support where they didn't need to have add a brace there. You have to cut or bent back the fender in those cases. If you cut it the paint will frey and burn at the cut, if you bend the paint will crack. Pick you poison.

If the upper lip is very slightly hitting, you can try to add spacers between the top fender brace and the inner fender. You'll have to get a longer bolt to give you enough threads. It's not a big change and the fender is pretty stiff there it may not give you much change.

MOPEkidD-3, in your case moving the hole or adjusting the lower fender brace support should work. I've got 245/60/15 on 15x6 factory rallyes on the front of my 68 Dart by redrilling the hole. You don't really notice it's flared out until I mention it.

 

[MopaR&D]

I'm not about to go and buy another set of tires as these ones were ordered off TireRack.com many months ago and I've already paid to have them mounted on new wheels twice (the first pair of 15 x 7" slotted mag wheels I tried had too little backspacing and I got these Rallyes to move the tires inboard more). Not to mention Firestone doesn't even sell the Firehawk Indy 500 in any size smaller than 215/65 for 15" wheels. I'll try pushing out the fender and redrilling the hole like autoxcuda said; it's only the front corners that touch the tires a little bit and I think pushing them out will make them clear.

 

[autoxcuda]

I went pretty extreme with pushing the bottom front of the fender out. But it hit big time. With the car on flat pavement not moving and just turning the wheel end to end it hit pretty good.

Factory hole is in the back.

 

[twofosho]

When I put 235/60 X 15s and cop car wheels on the Duster, the tires rubbed on the flat flange at the lowest part of the fender front. Triming the flat part of the flange back at a 45 degree angle and rounding slightly with a file gives 3/16" to 1/4" clearance unless I'm backing up with the wheels cocked just right and then step on the brake, especially when going downhill (like out of my driveway), then they still rub. Noise tread makes against that part of the fender gets your attention in a hurry but leaves no evidence when you get out and inspect, aside from wiping the rust off the cut back edge. Guess I'll have to try autoxcuda's trick of moving the brace to tweek the fender out a little next.

 

[MopaR&D]

I went pretty extreme with pushing the bottom front of the fender out. But it hit big time. With the car on flat pavement not moving and just turning the wheel end to end it hit pretty good.

Factory hole is in the back.

That looks a lot worse than mine, hopefully I don't have to move mine as much. Here's a pic you can sort of see how close the tire comes...

The torsion bars are cranked up pretty high now for clearance so I'll probably lower the front an inch or so.