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Is it normal for the rear wheels on a 64 to rub or contact the leaf spring when the car is off the ground? I know that there are certain pick points to lift or raise the car, but the inside of the stock 15x5.5 wheels touch the leaf spring on both sides. Is this correct?
Is it normal for the rear wheels on a 64 to rub or contact the leaf spring when the car is off the ground? I know that there are certain pick points to lift or raise the car, but the inside of the stock 15x5.5 wheels touch the leaf spring on both sides. Is this correct?
Sounds like the bushings in the front trailing arms are loose or not shimmed in and torqued. You will get some drop! The shocks you have are probably wimpy that go to full extension when hanging and if the rear of the arm fall to the extend of the bolt travel and causes the spring to sagged more, you have a wimpy rear spring also. The lateral control arms operate in a plain on a radius, so those being fixed length will pull the bottoms of the wheels inward.
The most important thing though, is how is it riding and handling when used and not what it does when jacked up!
Last edited by TCracingCA; 04-19-2017 at 01:42 PM.
No. They should not touch like that...my 63 doesn't.
The frame points to raise the car are shown in the shop manual but they are near the front door hinge post and a bit ahead of the rear wheel arch.
You can just jack up the rear at the differential housing but be real careful of the forward lip of the spare tire tub. This is how most tubs are damaged.
Hard to say what the issue is without a look-see but sounds like worn components...or (as others have noted) wheel backspacing... I assume the car is unmolested (e.g. original drum brakes, etc) ??
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 04-19-2017 at 05:45 PM.
We installed a set of '68, 7" rally's on a customers '65 Coupe and discovered that with the car on a lift and wheels at full droop, the wheels would just touch the end of the spring. Stock rims and caps were no problem.
We lowered the car to the ground and the rims moved away from the ends of the stock spring to close to an inch of clearance.
In a completely stock configuration, no, not with stock components and a good alignment.
Do you know the modifications to the car?
Rims with more backspace can hit the spring end unless care with the spring bolt length and alignment is taken to eliminate the conflict.
With longer rear spring bolts and a bad rear alignment (camber), yes, the stock rear leaf can contact the rim or tire in a bump. Adjusting the rear camber rods further out will usually move out the wheel enough to prevent the interference (or install shorter spring bolts that raise the rear and locate the spring end inside the rim).
Other solutions are aftermarket springs that are shorter, larger rim diameter, and grinding the ends of the stock main leaf.
Identify what you have, and what you want, and we can help.
In a completely stock configuration, no, not with stock components and a good alignment.
Do you know the modifications to the car?
Rims with more backspace can hit the spring end unless care with the spring bolt length and alignment is taken to eliminate the conflict.
With longer rear spring bolts and a bad rear alignment (camber), yes, the stock rear leaf can contact the rim or tire in a bump. Adjusting the rear camber rods further out will usually move out the wheel enough to prevent the interference (or install shorter spring bolts that raise the rear and locate the spring end inside the rim).
Other solutions are aftermarket springs that are shorter, larger rim diameter, and grinding the ends of the stock main leaf.
Identify what you have, and what you want, and we can help.
Thanks for all the help I will try to post some pics this weekend. Paul
I know it is highly unlikely but could the camber be off that much to cause the rim to touch?? Do the wheels have a severe inward tilt at the bottom when wheels are off the ground?
I notice the wheel is dropping when in the air coming in contact with the leaf spring. Could this be due to a wimpy leaf spring? In the pic the car was totally off the ground no contact at all! The leaf spring is contacting the inside of the rim in this pic and only the front portion of the car is off the ground. Wimpy leaf spring?
I would suspect the rear end stub axle C clip is "gone" (holds the inner stub axles into the differential)......Couple that with the obvious rubber bushings need replacement, including the trailing arm bushings.
Plasticman
Last edited by Plasticman; 04-29-2017 at 10:06 PM.
I would suspect the rear end stub axle C clip is "gone" (holds the inner stub axles into the differential)......Couple that with the obvious rubber bushings need replacement, including the trailing arm bushings.
Plasticman
I have to agree with the obvious completely worn out bushings. These need replaced badly. Also in the photo it appears to me that the hole in the spring where the bolt goes thru is elongated and larger than it should be. I didn't look at mine yet and i know they have room for the spring bolt to flex but they just look big to me. As for the c-clips one would think if they were off that the only way the shaft could move any measurable distance would be to the outboard side. Just my 2 cents worth.
Looking at the photos, the spring bushings are part of the problem but I expect that the camber adjustment cams for the lower strut rod alignment have slipped and the strut rod bushings are also probably rotted away. All of these bushing rot issues effectively shorten the assembled length between the rear spindle and pumpkin that is held apart by the strut rod.
All the hard parts look stock. New bushings and alignment will resolve the contact.
[QUOTE=63 340HP;1594642206]Looking at the photos, the spring bushings are part of the problem but I expect that the camber adjustment cams for the lower strut rod alignment have slipped and the strut rod bushings are also probably rotted away. All of these bushing rot issues effectively shorten the assembled length between the rear spindle and pumpkin that is held apart by the strut rod.
All the hard parts look stock. New bushings and alignment will resolve the contact.[/QUOT
Thanks for the tip I agree bad bushings add to the problem. Paul
04-19-2017, 12:45 AM
Wheels & Suspension
