Tire rubbing

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moparmucelli

moparmucelli

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hi guys I have a 1970 duster I just bought some american racing wheels 15by 7 inch and it has bf Goodrich 235 by 60-r15 and I put the wheel adapters on it to make the bolt pattern 5 on 4.5 and I'm getting some rubbing now when driving can I put different adjustable shocks in the rear? I don't want air shocks on it but I was looking at adjustable shocks for the rear could this fix this problem?
 
The problem is your wheel adapters. Have your axles and drums re drilled to 4.5. We do them all the time. And yes there is enough flange to do it. you have to use threaded race studs/bolts that come in from the rear of the flange and tack weld them on the back side to prevent them from screwing in board when tightening the lug nuts. When doing this and using a using 1/4 inch spacers any big bolt standard back space B-body 4.5 wheel will fit. Up to 8 inch.
We did this for years also with slicks and never had a problem. A 275 15 should fit under the back with room to spare at factory height. Also you can use spacers in front of the front spring perches to move the rear back for taller tires. This will also give your rear shackles more travel ,Which is needed when lifting the car from factory height. The pic below the duster has drilled axles. one side was moved back 1/2 inch to get the correct track because some bodies are usually made wrong. When ever you see a car trying to spin around when doing a burnout. it is caused by the rear axle not in the car straight.

We have had to fix mini tubbed cars that were moved in by following the instruction to use the factory perches to locate there front boxes . This is a No No. Check the location of the front perch mount on your cars compared to the hole in the underside of the frame. Most are way off . Bodies in white and cars with frame boxes were mostly correct. So 4 spd cars and Bodies in white should be good.

We do axles and drums. 67 axles and back are the best axles they don't have the extra two balance holes opposite of the axle flange nut access hole and are usually easier to locate the re drilled holes for the studs. But all can be used. We have never saw a axle that cannot be drilled. But as said 67 have more meat. Never believe the location of your wheel opening. They are sometimes way off. I have doors that are some times 3/16 longer and shorter. This is common we fought with a Demon when pulling it with a frame machine. To find out it was the door that was causing the gap to be off. Just some heads up from experience with mopars

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Oldmanmopar said:
The problem is your wheel adapters. Have your axles and drums re drilled to 4.5. We do them all the time. And yes there is enough flange to do it. you have to use threaded race studs/bolts that come in from the rear of the flange and tack weld them on the back side to prevent them from screwing in board when tightening the lug nuts. When doing this and using a using 1/4 inch spacers any big bolt standard back space B-body 4.5 wheel will fit. Up to 8 inch.
We did this for years also with slicks and never had a problem. A 275 15 should fit under the back with room to spare at factory height. Also you can use spacers in front of the front spring perches to move the rear back for taller tires. This will also give your rear shackles more travel ,Which is needed when lifting the car from factory height. The pic below the duster has drilled axles. one side was moved back 1/2 inch to get the correct track because some bodies are usually made wrong. When ever you see a car trying to spin around when doing a burnout. it is caused by the rear axle not in the car straight.

We have had to fix mini tubbed cars that were moved in by following the instruction to use the factory perches to locate there front boxes . This is a No No. Check the location of the front perch mount on your cars compared to the hole in the underside of the frame. Most are way off . Bodies in white and cars with frame boxes were mostly correct. So 4 spd cars and Bodies in white should be good.

We do axles and drums. 67 axles and back are the best axles they don't have the extra two balance holes opposite of the axle flange nut access hole and are usually easier to locate the re drilled holes for the studs. But all can be used. We have never saw a axle that cannot be drilled. But as said 67 have more meat. Never believe the location of your wheel opening. They are sometimes way off. I have doors that are some times 3/16 longer and shorter. This is common we fought with a Demon when pulling it with a frame machine. To find out it was the door that was causing the gap to be off. Just some heads up from experience with mopars

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oldmanmopar : I guess my 68 fastback was pretty close in the rear, but I moved the pass side back an 1/8" to get tire clearance the same. should I have the front end re-aligned ? he did have stuff set up on the back wheels when he aligned it.------bob
 
How thick are the spacers and what is the backspace on the rims? What rear axle is in the car? Removing the spacers will probably fix your problem, but since you can fit a 275 on a stock duster with the right backspace I'd bet you don't have the right backspace either. If you had the right backspace on the rims to run a 275 you could run a 235 and a 1" spacer and still not rub.

I wouldn't bother re-drilling the axles regardless of the strength debate. After having the new bolt pattern drilled in the axles, the flanges welded, new studs installed, and the brake drums re-drilled for the new bolt pattern you're still stuck with the old 5x4" brakes that can be hard to find parts for. And any time you need to replace a drum you need to have it re-drilled. You can get new BBP axles from Doctor Diff for $300 with new bearings already installed and the 10x2.5" BBP brake set ups are fairly easy to find in the wrecking yard still, and brake parts for those are cheap and easy to find.
 
I really don't know the back spacing on them and yea it's a dinky 7 1/4 rearend yea there about 1 inch spacers but for now I'm kinda on a budget could I go with adjustable shocks?
 
No.
Unless you adequate clearance when the vehicle is stopped, AND at least one inch of travel before things rub. Then, a HD shock, or an adjustable shock can make a difference, only by virtue of it delaying the body's reaction to bumps. If you do not have the one inch,replacement springs with a higher ride height are the better answer. But the best answers have already been presented. Well those and custom wheels. With a custom wheel you can really fill up the fairly large wheelwell. WheelVintiques is one supplier of affordable custom rallys. Sometimes you gotta back up to go ahead......I got a shed full of parts that proves I am not the brightest bulb in the package.
 
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Yea I have at least one inch of clearance with the vehicle stopped it just when you go over a dip or turn left or right really fast
 
It's a 7.25"? Ugh. Well, you're pretty much left with re-drilling the axles and drums then, the BBP axles I was referring to are for an 8 3/4. Also, a 7.25" rear axle is narrower than even an A-body 8 3/4, so, the backspacing on those rims isn't great either. Fine for smaller tires, but you'd need different rims even without the spacers to get anywhere near the max size tire you can fit on a Duster.

Personally I would not be investing much money into a SBP 7.25", but that's just my opinion.
 
Ok then HD shocks may get you by. But the cost of re-arching your springs and maybe adding a second mainleaf, is what?; about double of the cost of non-adjustable HD shocks. And Properly off-set wheels, are about the same as the modded springs. So, you can band-aid the situation for say $100 with shocks, or raise and stiffen for $250, or get custom wheels for as little as $200. Your prices may/will vary. So weigh your options and plunk down the money.
There is one other option. Back in the day, you could buy overloader coilsprings to install on your shocks, for trailer towing. You could get them pre-installed too.IDK if you can still get them. I remember it was tricky installing them to not rub on the gastank, but it was doable..
And the wildcard is; 73up cars had the 4.5bc as standard behind teeners, and they are almost give-aways.lol
 
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Adding a rear sway bar might fix the issue as well if it's only when turning. Sounds like it's the body roll that's causing the rubbing. But if you're not running a front sway bar you should add both. Just running a rear bar would make an otherwise stock set up tail happy.
 
Talk about tail-happy, you said that exactly right!
1.03 bars and a Hellwig 1.125 on the front, none on the back, took 295/50s to tame,lol. But hanging out the rear at near full-loc is so much fun! I know that is counter to what Blu said. But he is 100% right; never a rear bar only.

Well as to expensive, that I guess depends on your idea of expensive. I get the distinct feeling your budget is meager. So for you it might be. But it's not hard to install a frontbar. I haven't put a rear bar on, but I don't know if there is even one available aftermarket. All of the ones I remember seeing were always adaptations from other vehicles. Blu?
 
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Knowing it is a 7 1/4 Di you know that all disc brake cars from 74 -76 were large bolt pattern most with 7 1/4 rear and large rear brakes. get 74-76 axles and brakes. You will also need the backing plates. Then your car will be big bolt. The cheapest way to go.

I dont' think lifting the car will eliminate side movement. But coil over shocks or air shocks bolt right on without fuel tank clearance problems. You just have to use the proper hardware on the top. I have sold the studs and spacers to several members on this site. I may have more buried here somewhere. Center two are for wide shock use

shock%20plates[1].jpg
 
If your tires are rubbing at the center of the wheel well opening you might consider rolling the lip. There are a lot of good videos, I did mine with a wooden baseball bat and a good quality heat gun. Got the paint hot so it would flex and just took it slow. Gained about 1/2 clearance.
 
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