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Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 4:03 pm
by 5448
I am in the process of minitubbing my Nova--planning to use full wheeltubs and cut down as needed. My question is how much clearance is needed between the top of the tire and the tub? I'm thinking the amount of shock compression from ride height plus 2-3"? This should allow for tire growth and a rough bump downtrack?
For reference, this will be a ladderbar/coilover rear.
Thanks,
Eric

Re: Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 7:02 am
by Bruce69Camaro
In my car, with full tubs, I have at least 3". If I remember right, someone told me at least 2" but I went for the extra 1" because of tire growth.

I was also told to put my tubs up as high as I could put them but that might be different for a mini tub application.

Re: Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 9:07 am
by John_Heard
Unless your car sets very low, the stock tub height should not be a problem for say up to 30" tire, where you'll find an issue at is probably at the rear in the center of the tub area, and the qtr panel at the front, and rear bottom edges. What size tire and everything are you doing?

Re: Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 12:35 pm
by 5448
I've got a 29x12 slick on a 12" rim. Section width is roughly 14.3". I'm planning to cut the frame to the inner wall and reinforce with a 1 3/4" tube cut in half and bent to match the frame geometry. I'm guessing it won't get as low as your car, John, but I want to get it down as much as I can. The plan is to use 36" wheeltubs and put as high as I can and still keep the trunk hinge brackets, unless I can't get the car down far enough. Then I'll have to either relocate the brackets or bite the bullet and go pin on trunk.

Re: Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 12:49 pm
by John_Heard
That tire is close to what mine are, you should not have any diameter problems at the top or front of the tubs. This is an older photo of my tubs on the inside, they don't really go up much higher than the stock ones did to give ya an idea. I don't think you would have problems with the trunk lid brackets but mine are long gone so not sure on that. Again, the parts I would watch for is at the rear where the stock tub meets the trunk pan, I did have a little rubbing back there in the center area back when the car used the OEM outer wheel tubs, but nothing that a little hammer adjustment couldn't fix - it was just a section that was sticking out a little more than the rest.

You will need to trim the qtr lips at the bottom on the front and back to get enough clearance, they will rub there.



Image

Re: Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 11:44 pm
by BracketNova
I had 29 X 12 goodyears on a 12" rim (before I went to 10.5s) without a problem with my widened stock tubs. I ordered my Calvert Split Monos with 2" less ride height. If I did it again...I would leave extra trunk floor to create a flange to weld the tubs back in - fwiw.

-Greg

Re: Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 10:58 pm
by 5448
Finally making a little progress on the minitubs. Like John said, looks like there will be no issues on height, but it is a bit tight at the rear where the stock tub meets the drop off panel. I don't think I'll be able to run the car quite this low, the sidewalls are really close to the quarterpanel and frame, but it looked good for some photos!
Rear_Close_Up.jpg
Rear_Three_Quarter.jpg

Re: Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 6:44 am
by John_Heard
Looks good - did you trim the outer fenderwell yet?

Re: Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:16 am
by 5448
I haven't trimmed the outer lip on the quarterpanel yet. I'm going to wait on any trimming in that area until both sides are ready--my wheel openings differ front to rear about 1/2" from side to side. Once I get everything squared up I'll be able to see how aggressive I need to trim. By the looks on the drivers side the tire will be really close to the rear when centered on the axle centerline mark. I may cheat the wheels forward a little if there's room on the passenger side.
It's all a bit of an adventure right now!

Eric

Re: Clearance Between Tire and Wheel Tubs?

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:00 am
by Bruce69Camaro
Hey Eric, looks pretty good :thumb: