At a car show today. Looking at a 69 C3. It has aftermarket very wide rear rims. The extra width is to the inside. It has a stock 9 leaf rear spring. The ends of the spring are actually a full inch inside the edge of the rim. If you were to loosen the spring bolt, with the rim on, the spring would get stuck on the inside edge of the rim. The owner is new to the C3. Is this not only a NO,,,,,,, but a HELL NO? Also on both ends of the spring, the 8 inch spring bolts doesn't have ANY rubber cushions, just big washers,,, long bolt,,, and more big washers. Metal on metal washers holding the spring pressure. The inside edge of the tire is about 1/2 inch from the upper body panel. AND,,,,,, no upper rubber snubbers that stop the trailing arms from hitting the solid frame. Anything about this OK?

This isn't a joke.

 

Copy and paste your above-reply on his windshield. He needs to be gently told his car could kill him as is.

 

Having the spring inside the wheel is perfectly fine. If the bolt extends down and can cut the tire, that's the problem. I'm guessing these aren't 15" wheels? Or if they are, the bolts are very short, and the rear of the car is jacked up.

Take a picture next time!

Here's what C3 tire deflection can look like. (From this thread: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...h-still-7.html )

 

In the video the end of the spring isn't inside the rim. His rims are wider and larger diameter, allowing the end of the spring to extend inside the rim. Yes, they are larger that 15"

 

Exactly. What you describe is completely normal for folks running wide 18" wheels. The video merely demonstrates the tire deflection. Running 10" bolts can put the spring or bolt tip in the deflection danger zone when run with 15" wheels, and you'll end up with a cut tire. 18" wheels, with the spring inside the rim, are perfectly OK. The lack of bushings, though, is a problem that I hope you pointed out to the owner.

 

The lack of bushings is probably what is allowing the bolt to fit inside the wheel hoop... The lack of bushings is potentially a problem (mostly just due to metal on metal wear I would suggest), but the bolt being inside the wheel shouldn't be.

 

I see no reason why it's not okay to have the end of the spring extend inside the rim, as long as it's not coming into contact with something like the wheel's spokes.

If the spring bolt actually falls within the wheel, exactly why would you loosen the spring bolt with the wheel on? I'm not sure you could even get the tools you need to remove the bolts, inside the rim with the wheels on. Either way, if someone was stupid enough to look at the bolts, and not realize that removing the bolts with the wheels on won't work, they probably don't belong playing around with something like the rear spring anyway!

As Bikespace said, this is a common occurrence with larger diameter rims.

I think GM put the rubber spring cushions there to prevent squeaks and rattles, more so than to prevent metal to metal wear. We don't run cushions on the spring bolts on any of our Corvette vintage racers, and never have. We've broken a couple rear springs, but rarely at the bolt hole, and we're stressing the heck out of those springs. Wear caused by metal to metal contact might be a concern on a daily driver, that gets driven 15000 or 20000 a year, but I doubt it would be much of an issue with a weekend toy.

As long as the tire clears everything, a 1/2" clearance is fine. For years owners have been trimming the lip off of the inside of the wheel opening, just to gain a half inch (or less) of clearance, so they could fit larger tires.

It would be nice if the frame bumpers were in place, but I don't think it's the end of the world. There are a lot of old Corvettes, and other cars, running around without the frame bumpers. After 40 or 50 years, most of those old rubber bumpers have rotted away and fallen out, without many owners knowing they were ever there.

I might change my mind if I saw the actual installation of the rear spring, but without any pictures, nothing you've described sounds terribly wrong to to me.

 

Thank you for the input. My description of removing the spring with the wheel on was to make it clear where the spring end is.

 

Not having spring cushions will eventually break the bolts. How do I know this. One my first Corvette, years and years ago, when I was young and stupid, I had them this way. I broke two spring bolts. Live and learn.

 

Plenty of Vettes running really wide rear wheels have the leaf spring ends inside the wheel. It's not a big deal. Just make sure everything is in good shape and tight.