Toastintx

Just bought some 16" wheels for my 65 pony. My question is what is the minium amout of space between rim and upper control are ball joint. Right now Its about 1/8 of an inch. Is this ok or am I asking for trouble.
Johnny

Norm Peterson

I've been through this particular problem on a different car.

The wheel will not move laterally toward the balljoint unless the wheel bearings are already toast. And 1/8" is more than enough to allow wheel bearing replacement without worry that the new bearing will locate the wheel differently enough to cause contact.

But the outermost edge of the upper control arm moves in an up-and-down arc as the suspension moves. Think in terms of the UCA pivoting about the upper ball joint, such that the outer end of the UCAgoes up as the car goes down. It may well be possible for either a bad bump or some combination of steering plus bump to cause the UCA to scrape the wheel. If it's only a lip on the UCA that gets involved, you *may* be able to clearance it enough to eliminate contact, though I can't guarantee anything sight unseen.

Norm