Just put new tires and rims on my 78 and the front drivers side wheel rubs. Went from 15X81/2 to 17x8 rims and 225/70/15 to 255/50/17. After looking at the wheel on the drivers side is not centered in the wheelwell. the other side clears fine. Is this normal and can it be adjusted??

No its not normal,didn't you notice it with the other tires and wheels on? sounds to me like bent suspension parts or frame damage

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C3VR Lifetime Member #93

Did not have a problem before because the new tires are over a inch wider.

the problem must have been there b-4 you just didn't notice it with the smaller wheels and tires.

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C3VR Lifetime Member #93

A 255 sounds like an awful lot of tire under the front of a C-3

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I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY 74. IT HAS BEEN
WRECKED, SAME THING WENT TO LARGER TIRE BEFORE I NOTICED IT. I LIVE WITH IT IT HAPPENS IF I TURN RIGHT
HARD

Is the wheel hitting at the front of the opening? That's the area that the factory "shaved" to clear the 255/60 tires in 78 and 79 but only when the larger tires were ordered. 255/50's are wider still. If the original tires were the 225/70's the fenders were not cut. How's your front end alignment? Too much caster adjustment could move the wheel slightly forward. Mike

Are you talking about not being centered in the wheelwell when looking from the side or is one wheel sticking out further when "seen" from above? Mike

In alignment term this is called wheel set back. Set back can be on either side, and positive or negative (forward or backwards). It does change slightly when camber and caster are changed. It can be the result of worn bushings, or bent components, or just mfg. variations. Up to but not more than 1/2 inch difference between front tires is considered acceptable by alignment standards. This usually does not create a wear or handling problem. It is very noticable with tight wheel clearances. I don't know if yours is past limits or not. IF so, the car may still drive and wear tires fine, as long a everything else is in good shape.

255/60/15 tires may rub on the front fenders if the car did not have them originally. The front fenders were shaved to allow extra clearance from the factory. 255/60 are the same diameter as the 225/70 which replace the original F70. It's the extra width that gets you. I have not compaired the width or diameter on any 17's. You may want to look at the conversion on tire rack.com to check it out.

Ken Styer

I had the same problem on my 1971 when changing 235/70R15 for ... 235/70R15 different brand !
Then I learned that all C3's have dissymetrical assembly of the front fenders. It is more or less visible depending of the magnitude but this is a fact: The assembly at that time was far from perfect.

Going to 255, you getting close to the very max I ever seen on a shark. The odds for the one wheel to rub were high.

Christian

My 71 does the same thing! When looking at the wheel and how it is aligned in the wheel arch of the fender the drivers side is definitely further forward than the passenger side. I checked the castor? shims on the front of the upper wishbone (A arm) and there is a huge amount of shims compared to the passenger side. The car has had a new nose installed (both fenders and nose) but the frame appears to have had no damage so I am assuming that it only had fiberglass damage.

Does anyone have any info on possible factory design alignment problems during manufacture as Christian is saying?

My other problem is that the ride height on the front end is about 2" too low. I'm hoping when I sort the ride height problem out the rubbing will go away. I'm also hoping that the castor angle will get adjusted to bring the wheel back similar to the passenger side.

|UPDATED|6/7/2004 5:25:26 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

mkapp7879 said: Is the wheel hitting at the front of the opening? That's the area that the factory "shaved" to clear the 255/60 tires in 78 and 79 but only when the larger tires were ordered. 255/50's are wider still. Mike

255/60 and 255/50 are the same width..

Ben, go to Tire Rack and check the specs. 2.55-50X17 are about 1/2 inch wider thread than the 2.55-60X15. The thread is what will hit the wheel well opening. Mike