rear wheel well positioning.
 

Recently did some flexing and I noticed (so did anyone within 20 ft) that all 4tires rub!

Front ones, well I knew that they where going to do that in the inner fender, I have some bj spacers waiting to be installed.

But the rear flex is somthing I was not expecting.
Take a look at where the tire is stuffing in and rubbing.


https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...47/flexin8.jpg

Is that normal? I was thinking my bed might have been moved back when we did the body lift. between the cab and box the space is 7mm, that sound about right?

That's why you need to stay narrower - if you look, you'll see there's plenty of space once you get inside the wheelwell.

What's the BS on those rims, they look awful deep-dish!

could it be the drive shaft needing grease? i greased mine up tonight and as i pumed the gun the drive shaft extended could yours be dry?

Please don't tell me that you think that the driveshaft movement would push the whole axle rearward..... That's just plan silly.. :)






Fred

the rims are 15x8.5 with 3.5" backspacing. Love the look but I guess they just stick out too far:(

Im hoping that after I add the bj spacers and add-a-leafs the rubbing will reduce enough to be barable.

I just thought it was wierd that It would rub on the front like that, but have 2" of clearance on the back.

And how do you figure that adding some lift is going to stop the rubbing ?

I'm trying to make you spend a couple of minutes and think, or actually get under the vehicle and see how the suspension really works.




:)
Fred

i have 3" lift springs with 1.5" longer shackles, 15x8, 3.75" BS and 33x12.5x15. they tuck up nicely
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...r/100_1873.jpg

im only rubbing when full bottemed out. If I lift the rear end then the whole flexing cycle will be lower, hopfally enough to JUST miss the bolts. Perhaps its just wishfull thinking. if I put a 1" block on it then it would work but I am not into lift blocks..
I just thought it was VERY wierd that the tire would rub on the front like that but not on the back..

worse comes to worse, I will just grind the bolt heads down.

So, you're thinking that you need the tire/wheel to not come up so far into the wheel well, correct ?
And you think that by adding more air space between the top of the tire and the wheel well (adding some suspension lift), is somehow going to scare the wheel into not coming up as far.
I'm trying to make a point ;)

What stops the upward movement of your tires.
Hint, it's not that amount of air space between the top of the tire and the bottom of the wheel well :)




:)
Fred

He said he is flexing to the point where he is bottoming out. Like the leaf springs and the a-arms hitting the bump stop. Therefore if you lift the truck up some more the tire will not hit the wheel well. Lifting the truck will most likely not give it more articulation. Ball joint spacers will give him no additional articulation. Add-a-leafs will limit is articulation even more because the bigger the spring pack the less likely it will want to flex. Also the spring pack will be that much thicker.

here is what I was thinking,by all means correct me if im wrong, I don't know much about these things :)

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...flexidunno.jpg

Since we're talking about the rear in this particular case, the BJ Spacers don't enter the equation.
Lifting the truck (rear) the "correct" way would give it more articulation. That is the rear wheel would move up to the same spot that it moves up to now.
Doing a aal will perhaps stop it at that cost of a crappier ride due to the extra spring rate. Replacing the whole spring pack with a $0.10 new spring pack (thicker) is about the same.
Pretty crappy way to fix the "problem".

His "problem" is that the rear wheel is coming up too high.
Two easy ways to solve this:
- Stop the upward movement of the wheel a little sooner than it is now. This requires knowing what stops the upward movement of the wheel/tire.

or (perhaps and/or)

- Move the fender up higher so that the wheel stills move up as far as it does now (and thus not loose any articulation) but the fender is now higher so it's no longer causing interference.


Both ways are extremely simple to do and neither requires a suspension lift, which raises the COG, can certainly decrease the on road ride quality over what it is now, and, if done "correctly" (ie a quality spring pack that that's not stiffer than frozen ice in the dead of winter) may not solve the problem at all.


Think.
This is easy ;)



:)
Fred

I understand what you are saying.

Cut the fender, extend the bump stop, or install a body lift.

My point was what he planned to do would work.

already have a body lift, and im not doing any fender hacking since its only rubbing on the bolts in the fender...

Add-a-leaf is going in because I have little money and want the lift. The springs are already pretty messed up so they are going to be replaced anyways.


Thanks for all the replys and help but can anyone answer my original question?

Is that normal for the tire to rub on the fender closer to the cab but not come close to the ass end?
I could move my bed forward a few mm but thats about it.

Whats the stock spacing between the cab and bed, if there is a set space.

I'd agree, it is curious that your tires are biting into the front of the openings at full stuff. Generally, as the spring compresses, the shackle goes backwards... bringing the axle towards the rear of the vehicle. I can't imagine anyway that you shifted the bed though... I assume your still have factory springs?

Any side pics of the truck with no flex? What's your shackle angle look like?

Brainstorming here... if you went with a longer shackle, you'd gain a little lift and allow the axle to move backward farther when spring compresses. Could solve your problems rather cheaply... depending on shackle choice.

Keep in mind that for every 1" of shackle you really only gain .5" of lift and have to be careful that your pinion angle doesn't get screwed up.

Thats a really good idea :)

But im kinda wondering what size shackle I should buy if I go with longer ones.


I have 1.5" bj spacers that are not installed yet, I want my ass end to be level or a LITTLE bit higher then the front.

Im sagging in the rear about an inch so i would need about 2.5" of lift to get level with the front after the spacers.

my current add-a-leaf (procomp short.. yeah yeah I know) I was told that it would give me between 1.5-2" of lift.. not sure if thats over stock or what.

I will go grab a picture of my shackle angle, will post it in a few..

here you go, crappy picture

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...7/PB060006.jpg

Shackle angle looks decent.

If you are looking to add 2.5" of lift to your current setup, then you'd need a shackle 5" longer than what you have on there already. :eeek:

I'd measure your current shackle and see what's available to go longer. I know Marlin makes a 6" shackle for example.

I think that might help the wheel go backwards, but you'd still need to add something to get the full 2.5" of lift. Blocks or change out your springs (preferred).

You'll want to keep the COG as low as possible while still allowing your wheels to stuff. I'd agree that your BS is probably giving your grief. If all else fails, break out the sawzall and give your fenders some more room to breath. :hillbill:

I went out and measured my rim - fender distance.

Front is 16" I remember seeing that the stock clearance was around 14.5" or so.

Rear is 15".

So it seems my stock suspension has sagged almost an inch, wonder if that has anything to do why im rubbing so much.

in any case, I think im going to buy the Trailgear 6" long rear shackles for around 1.25" of rear lift, to with with my procomp add-a-leaf that should give me around 1.5" of lift.

then I will add the front bj spacers and crank the t-bars up to stock specs.

When its all done I should have a rim to fender distance of around 18.5" front and 19" rear :)

The top of the rear fender is lower than the front, so it doesn't necessarily mean you've sagged an inch.