First I would like to say what a great board. I have only had my 72 Chevelle SS clone for a month and have been reading through this site and found everyone to be very helpful. But now I have a reason to post a question.

I notice my rear tires seem to be rubbing on the inner wheel-well when I go over a dip or bump in the road. I am not very experienced in working on cars, but I'm ready to jump in and learn. Does this sound like a shock problem, spring problem, both or other?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

T.J.

Sounds more like a problem with the tire width or wheel offset to me. IMO, if the tires rub when going straight forward and hitting a bump, it's not a matter of the axle moving sideways, it's a matter of the axle/wheel/tire assembly being too wide.

As Olle said, if it occurs when you're driving straight, it's due to the width or offset of the wheels. If it only occurs when taking a corner, your upper control arm bushings are probably worn out and need replacing.

Why don't we start by asking the tire size & wheel dims & off set

Here's the information I have:
Wheels 15", P235/60R15s in front, P275/60R15s in the rear.
I am not aware of any spacers, but would have to double check.

Thanks,
T.J.

i had 275's in the back of my 70 and the right side tire would rub if someone sat it the back passenger side seat ....check ur back spacing i think u need at least 4.5" bs the wheels i have now only have 4.25" bs so i had to go with 255's

I was having the same problem after i lowerd the rear of my car, but only on the driver's side. I JUST got done rolling the inner lip and used a method described by dennis and it worked very well. There is alot more room for the tire and so far they have yet to rub, and the way the lip looks is very professional. All i did was cut a slit in the metal every 2 inches or so and then use a soft rubber mallet to beat it into submission, took me about 1 1/2 hours because my cut off wheel needs to be replaced so i had to hack saw it. No damage to the paint and no bulging, let me know if you want some pics or anything.

Turns out the rear fenders are after market and were not trimmed to fit exact, BUT I just found out the car has air shocks which only had 10 lbs in them, so I pumped them up to 60 and the rub is gone. The car looks better with it's ass end up a little too.

Thanks for everyone who had some insight!

T.J.

You shouldn't rely on the air shocks keeping your tires from rubbing. I learned the hard way. I had a brand x car... I put wider tires on it and notices there was rubbing. I used air shocks to lift the wells up enough to stop the rubbing. One day I was about an hour and a half drive from home and I one of the shocks failed. The rear end dropped back down. I was on the highway doing seventy. By the time i stopped, all of the raised white letters were gone and I had started rubbing into the meat of the sidewall.

I would suggest fixing the problem so something like this doesn't happen to you.

David