1967 Camaro front wheel width?

[dme922]

Whats the widest front wheel i can use with a stock subframe and tubular a arms? Im trying to go at least 9 inch but im not sure if rolling the fender lip will give me enough space.

[cwylie]

The steering arm is the issue. If you want to go over 8 inches wide look at the ridetech tru turn setup.

[TripnOut]

I’m in the process of fitting wheels for my 67 Camaro currently. I have ridetech’s front coil overs, Strongarm control arms, Musclebar sway bar, and their Tru Turn setup. Lots of forum research and a call to ridetech told me the set up was an 275/35R18 on 18x10 wheel with 5-3/4” backspacing. I ordered 265/35R18’s in an effort to make the process a bit easier on myself. I mocked up these tires on a jig built to simulate an 18x9-1/2”.

I put the car on the lift, removed the coil over and used a trans jack to simulate full range of travel. From bump stop to bump stop the front suspension had 6-1/4” of travel. I’m assuming ride height at 2-1/2” below max compression. This should put the peak of the front fender arch at about 25-1/4” off the ground, another measurement approximated from the Ridetech site. I had the car aligned prior to starting and am currently at 0˚ camber. This puts me at 2.7˚ camber at full 2-1/2” compression. Ridetech specs call for 0.5-0.75˚ of camber. Once everything is done, I’ll have the car aligned again and set to 0.75˚. This should net me about an extra 1/8” or so of clearance to the outer edge of the tire.

Upon first fit with this set up they hit everything. They hit the frame at full left lock, though not to a significant degree. The biggest concern is the contact with the inner fender. The tire was 1” to 1-1/2” into the fender and was making contact at only 1-1/8” of compression.

I’ve cut away a 7”tall by 18” wide section of inner fender and will fabricate a replacement panel that moves that portion higher in the wheel well. I rolled the outer fender nearly flat. I adjusted the camber to approximately 0.8˚ (as best I can measure with a digital magnetic angle finder mounted to the disc brake rotor) and reworked my jig for 6-3/4” back spacing.

With this set up I’m going to be very close to the rim contacting the sway bar and lower control arm. I still rub the frame where the steering box bolt is but not to a level I’m concerned about. I have full clearance to the fender anywhere below 2” of compression but do still make contact at about 11 and 1 o’clock at a full 2-1/2” of compression.

I think I’m going to move forward with ordering 18x9-1/2” at 6-3/4” backspacing knowing that I may well need a 1/8”-1/4” wheel space to keep the rim from making contact with the sway bar/LCA. I don’t have a good feel for how much of the 2-1/2” of compression I’ll use in day to day driving. Obviously you don’t spend much time near full compression and full lock. If the frame rub is enough to feel like it is limiting turning radius, I’ll add progressively larger spacers until fender contact becomes too common.

The main point I wanted to get across with this long winded post is that all my research let me to believe that there was a very good chance I could order 275/35R18 tires on 18x10 wheels at 5-3/4” backspace and just bolt them up. This is absolutely not the case. With one size smaller tire and 1/2” narrow wheel, I’ll have many hours in to measuring, cutting, bending, and fabricating before I have something that fits.

I’d welcome any commentary or suggestions. Also, I’m not sure how concerned I should be about clearance in the extremes of suspension compression and full lock turning. If I’m clear everywhere at 1-7/8” to 2” of compression (out of an available 2-1/2” to the bump stop) maybe that is just good enough?

[TheJDMan]

I don't know if my setup will be helpful but here it is. I'm running a DSE subframe and 275/35/18 tires on 18x10 wheels with a 6.5"bs. What is unusual is the fenders and inner fenders are completely stock. The only change I made to the fenders was to replace the stock inner fender bolts with button head bolts to prevent tire damage.