S**ttersFull

Just had the suspension on my 73 convertible completed replaced/rebuilt. It cost an arm and a leg.

I have about 2 1/4" space between the rear tire and the wheel flares and 3 1/4 space on the drivers side.

Would this be acceptable to you? Can someone here who has a rather new/non sagging rear suspension measure theirs and tell me the spacing between top of tire and the wheel well?

I pushed the car up and down and could not get the wheels within an inch of the flares(keep in mind I have the standard 15 inch tires but they're extremely wide for racing so they do not sit inside the lip). However my mechanic wants to make sure I'm 100% satisfied.. Figure I'd ask here before wasting his time with my paranoia. I just don't want to see the wheel rub/crack the body.

Thank you so much!

danh77

I have 3 1/4 on the drivers side. 15 inch tires and rear suspension was all replaced 2 years ago by the p.o. I can't get to the pass side at the moment but I assume it's same as car sits level.

cdl49

We have about 5 in on our 68 which I know is too much, but with all new springs and bushings on front and rear we need to drive it just a little and let things settle in. we also put 10" bolts on rear spring to lower the body. what does the angle of the halfshafts look like when car is on wheels?
Dean

danh77

Also p.o. removed entire spare tire/tub, etc on my car so not sure how much if any impact that loss of weight would have

S**ttersFull

I will need to check. I know that it does not change when turning in either direction and parking.

The spare is still under there.. I wanted to remove it but the purists would come find me and take the car away for good.

I still may take this in to the mechanic.. Just want to see if 2 and a quarter is within safety level.

CanadaGrant

In your original post are you saying you are an inch higher on the drivers side vs. passenger side? That isn't anywhere near normal. My wife's 78 has 3" from the top of the tire to the fender lip and my 69 has 2". Both are on 15" tires and passenger and driver sides on both cars are the same distance. Measure your fender lip to the ground on both sides. Both on my 69 are 28.25 and both on the 78 are 29.0".

MelWff

How about some detailed pictures of how you have the bolts adjusted on the ends of the spring and also the strut rods both inner and outer ends?
Have you checked the condition of the back body mounts which can be seen in the rear wheel well area?

Easy Mike

If you want to dump the spare, dump the spare. It's your car and your spare.

xpoc454

I checked on my 69 last night. A lot of people thought the car looked to high on the back so I was always wondering.
My fender to top of tire for my car is 3.25 to 3.5.(hard to measure where top of tire was exactly)
My fender to ground measurement was 28.5.

I kept my old springs but did replace the rubber bushings which looked quite a bit thicker than my squished old ones.

I added a picture to show my tires.

On a side note. While looking at my tires I noticed a very very slight negative camber. The lower part of tire was slightly out more than top equally on both sides. Is there supposed to be any camber at all on the rear tires?

thanks
jim

S**ttersFull

Hey Xpoc, thanks for taking the picture and measuring. I do not know what you mean by chamber?

As for the bushings, yes EVVVVERYthing was replaced. The entire rear is new or whatever could be replaced was. So I have no idea what it could be.

Guess I should take it to the mechanic this week as it seems most people have at least 3 inches of space.

xpoc454

Camber, if I understand it right. Is the angle of the wheel and tire to the ground.

You can have your tire perfectly vertical or the bottom of the tire can be angle in or out from the top. Ive seen people make the tire bottom angle out some to help add grip on some tracks.

Tom73

Just measured my 73 Coupe and it is 2.5" clearance & 28.5" to ground on the drivers side and 3" clearance & 29" to ground on the passenger side. It has a composite mono-leaf spring in place of the stock multi-leaf steel spring.

flyeri

Mine is a bit lower. 27.75" to wheel opening lip and between 1.75and 2.0" between tire and opening. Both sides are the same. I have 8 inch bolts on the 7 leaf springs.

It should have some negative camber. I don't remember the spec but you should be able to tell the tires lean in at the top slightly.

S**ttersFull

29.1 on the passenger side
30 on the drivers side.

GUSTO14

Jim, it should be close to zero degrees camber. If you can see it leaning in at the top it very likely has 3 degrees or more of negative camber.

Good luck... GUSTO

golfboy

I have a 1978 Pace Car with the original suspension and a removed spare tire and tub. The measurement on the rear is 2 and a quarter inches on both sides between the top of tire and wheel lip. The measurement on the front is 2 and a half inches on both sides between the top of the tire and the wheel lip. Hope this gives you something to compare with.