camaro front wheel housing clearance

[hotwheels]

Anybody have any problems with not having enough tire clearance for the front wheel housing on a 1st gen camaro? With some of these after market sub frames that allow extra wheel clearance for wide tires, would there ever be a situation where the housing isn't wide enough or will the tire hit the frame or sway bar before it would ever hit the housing?

[c4racer]

Ha - well, there-in lies the "rub" so to speak...

I have the Wayne Due front subframe in a '69 Camaro.

Running 17x8 wheels with 5" of b.s. and a 235-45 tire it rubs against the inner fender housing. Outside of the wheel rubs. Only at near full lock, so only happens in parking lot or u-turns, never on a normal road situation.

There is plenty of clearance on the inside.

I am thinking a 245-40-17 would work better and probably would not rub with 5" b.s.

Since there is clearance in-board, I think a 5.25" b.s. would give a bit more room and allow a 245-45 tire or maybe even a 255-40. On my car. But I think each car is going to be different. Mine sits fairly low in the front, for example. Also with the use of solid subframe bushings it may tighten up that clearance slightly. Mine has those. But probably every car is going to be slightly different here based on body panel alignment, etc, etc. Especially once you start going to a complete aftermarket front clip.

I just don't see how some folks are running 275 tires up front w/o rubbing, not w/o limiting steering anyway. I have clearance to the a-arms and frame no problem for 275's, but not for the inner fenders. I guess some people are cutting those out or modifying them in some way. Mine are all purdy painted on the insides, so I kinda hate to do that.

[c4racer]

duh - should have said the tire rubs, wheel doesn't rub!!

[hotwheels]

Scott,

Thanks for the feedback! So, you're saying that the tires don't rub at all on the inside of the housing, just the outer part? Is it actually hitting the housing or the fender lip? I know that sometimes it's the top middle bolt that holds the fender to the housing that hits the tire first. I know some guys are using button head bolts to help alleviate this problem.

-Matt

[c4racer]

Yes - mine hits where the bottom bolts go, and yes - button bolts on those. mine does not rub the outter edge at all, basically from the bolt to about 1" inboard. I could take some pictures to explain it better perhaps...

[ProBell]

I had a problem with the tire hitting the outer fender lip and housing. I cut the housing back and built a aluminum crush panel to seal it to the fender further up. Then cut the lip off the fender and welded a 1/4" round rod to the fender lip to give it some support and remove the sharp edge. I only did this at the top of the fender where the tire hits, so the only way some one would know is to look up at it. You can not see it from the side or engine compartment.
Randy