'65 Fury 3 ride height

[barsteel]

Hello!

I had my '65 Fury III out this summer, and while pulling into my driveway, the front wheel rubbed against the inside of the fender. The car rode well otherwise, and it hasn't rubbed since, but today I decided to take a look to see if anything was amiss. The car has a nicely built 440 with a 4spd, although it originally came with a 383.

The factory manual states that I should measure "from lowest area of the height adjusting blades directly below the center of the lower control arm inner pivot" and "from the lowest point of the steering knuckle arm". The specs in the back of the book give one number for ride height, so I can only assume that the spec is for the difference between the two numbers.

I used the front inner control arm pivot and measured from the surface of the adjuster in between the sides of the control arm and from the bottom of the steering knuckle next to the grease fitting. I got "about" 12" and 9 3/4" respectively, the best numbers I could get lying on my back and using a tape measure, which would give me a ride height of 2 1/4", about 3/4" higher than the upper spec of the ride height in the manual, 1 3/8 +/- 1/8. Factor in some error because I was bending the tape measure to hit the floor, and I'd say that I'm roughly in spec, maybe a little over.

The car came with 15" rims and 275 60R15s on the front that have a height of 28". The manual calls for either 7.75-14 or 8.25-14 with a "B" engine (don't know what that is). Those tires have a height of 26.3" and 26.7" respectively, so my tires are about 1.5 inches taller than those called for in the manual.

Has anyone had a similar rubbing issue running larger than stock tires? This is my first C body, so I'm not sure if a 1.5" tire difference will lead to rubbing.

As it sits, the torsion bar adjusting bolts are about 3/4 of the way "in", with maybe an inch of thread showing on the outside of the adjuster. Could my torsion bars be fatigued/worn? There's no visible damage/cracks, etc., and this is my first car with torsion bars, so I don't know if torsion bars "wear" or lose their spring. They are original to the car as far as I know.
Thanks in advance for any answers. Chris

T

 

[Polara_500]

Yep, fatter tires in front will rub on the inner wheel wells. My 65 Polara did (significantly) when I temporarily installed the wheels/tires off my 70 Cuda on it - 2.55/60R15's all 'round on rally wheels... 2.35/70R15 on front, no issues at all.

 

[CBODY67]

The Plymouth C-bodies did come with 7.75-14 or 8.25-14 tires (later F78 and G78, respectively), BUT Chryslers had 8.25-14, 8.55-14, and 9.00-14 tires. With all of them fitting into basically the same wheel wells, front and rear. Heavier cars = more tire.

Where is the rubbing? With the wheels turned, on the inner fender outer centers? On the inner fenders themselves, with the steering all the way to the travel limit?

What wheels rim width and backspacing?

On my '67 Newport, it has P247/70R-14 BFGs mounted on the factory 14x6.5" station wagon wheels. No clearance/rubbing issues.

After I got the lower control arm bushings replaced on the '67 Newport, I wanted to make sure the front height was correct. I tried to go through the factory method. When done, I noticed that the flat areas of the bottom of the lower control arms were pretty much parallel to the ground, side to side.

The KEY thing is to make sure the rocker panel is parallel to the ground, front to rear, visually. If the car has factory HD suspension, the rear end might be a little higher than a normal car, which means the front end needs to be higher to keep everything correct. Which is why the HD suspension specs in the service manual are different, I suspect.

Just some observations,
CBODY67