• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Wheel and Tire Question

Share this page

bugedd

bugedd

Jedi Knight
Country flag
Offline
When I changed the wheel and tires on the bugeye, I wanted to push the wheel size +1 to have a larger wheel and less tire, but same overall diameter, which I essentially accomplished with finding 185/60-14 is within a tenth or two of stock diameter. I read mixed reviews on clearance however, but went for it. And yes, there is a rear clearance issue, sticking out a bit too far in the rear and under heavy compression, they rub the outer fender lip. First thought was to roll the lip, but I don't want to do that. Second thought was to get the wheels more inboard, by maybe 5mm. How could one accomplish that? Machine the inside of the wheel where it mates to the hub? The wheels are the VTO Minilite copies from Hap. Thoughts? If only there was a step down in size to 175/60-14....but that doesn't seem to exist.
 
Panhard Bar? I think that's what was done with Blue Max and the Black BE.
 
Also Gull Wing springs will allow you to do that. Go inboard and inner side of tire rubs against the Springs.
 
Actually, a panhard may make it worse. A panhard bar can pull the axle to the side on complete compression and rebound. Are both sides rubbing? Are your bump stops in place?
 
I looked up what I have on 60 FROG. I have VTO 5.5x13.
The tires are Sumitomo HTR4 175/70R13.
Scott MCDonald said he used a caster set to get the top of the wheels to tuck in a bit.
I have no rubbing problems with this setup.
The tires are a little wide so they stick out slightly from the wheel wells and add a little dust to the side of the car front and back , but a little quick detailer that I keep behind the passenger side seat gets the dust off real quick and the car is ready to show.
Hope this helps.
 
I have the VTO retro 4 wheels in 14". I installed a 3/16" spacer behind them because I had rubbing on the spring clamps with 185/60R14 Dunlop tires.
The car rarely bottoms out, but when it does there are no signs of rubbing. My car is lowered and I did reduce the height of the bump stops by about 3/8".
 
I do need to address the bump stops, they had been removed as well as their mounting plates, one of my next projects. So far only rub on the drivers side, but I assume that's because I am in it. The leafs are the S-bend so they clear will room to spare. Trevor Jessie, you have plenty of clearance at the fender with the tires?
 

If you can live with the wheel sticking out a little, I would stiffen the sway bar more to prevent body roll. If you tuck the wheel in you’ll have to use offset rear springs to keep the side wall of tire rubbing the spring and inner finder.
 
My car is probably not as low as yours. I'm on the bumpstop before the tire can rub. When I setup my sprite I was trying to balance handling with usability. (at the time my Midget was lowered so much that it was a pain to drive).

How much vertical clearance do you have between the tire and the fender lip? (How much can it travel before rubbing?)
 
That's what I've been after....lower but still a driver. The car is about 11/4" inches lower than stock....just enough to have an even reveal of the tire in the wheel arches. So I don't scrape speed bumps or anything like that. I'll have to measure when I get off work to see if travel to rub would be mitigated by getting those bump stops and brackets welded back in.
BlueMax, agreed, my next toy is a stiffer front sway bar, and considering offset trunion bushings from Moss for a touch of negative camber.
 
Took a closer look at it today, is it possible that the rear end is not quite centered in the car? Looks like it may be off to the drivers side just enough to cause some rub. The rear end has the Speedwell adjustable trailing arms, unknown brand "S" shaped leafs.....
 
panhard bar?
 
Will that center the rear end? I just measured it and its offset to the drivers side 4-5mm.
 
No it will not center it. But it could be causing it to be off center if installed wrong. You need to start measuring and comparing to find the difference. Probably the spring perches.
 
My BE was a rust free Cali car and the spring perches were off from the factory. Don't remember just what I did but I did re position them to center the axle. Very little movement is needed to move the axle right or left.

Kurt
 
An adjustable Pan-hard would be perfect to center rear axle. Loosen the three spring mounts bolts on each side very slightly then make your adjustments, then re-tighten bolts.
 
Alan,

A panhard bar should not be in compression or tension at ride height.
Additionally, there should be no lateral adjustment on the springs on a 1/4 elliptical car.
 
That is correct but, if you have a miss alignment to your rear axle you have to bring everything back to center unless you have a spring box that is completely out of alignment. The adjustable bar enables you to do that as well. After you find your center tighten everything back at ride height with no tension on it.
 
My experience with a Panhard bar has me convinced to go to a Watt's linkage next. It does go a great job of tightening up the tendency for the rear to slop about but seem's to restrict spring movement over uneven surfaces. I'm definitely not taking it off though. It has to make the axle move in an arc in compression and rebound.

Kurt.
 
If one side is 5 mm out further than the other, then you are talking about 2.5 mm of misalignment. Probably just manufacturing tolerance of the day.
 
Back
Top