Wheels rubbing on body work

[craigie76]

Hi,

The NS rear wheel is rubbing on the body work. Previous owner fitted new steel wheels running 185/55/15 tyres. I have a 1968 bus. The OS rear has maybe a 3mm gap between the tyre and rear panel. Is this just a case of wrong size wheels or something more serious?

Cheers.

 

[faux]

Hi,

The NS rear wheel is rubbing on the body work. Previous owner fitted new steel wheels running 185/55/15 tyres. I have a 1968 bus. The OS rear has maybe a 3mm gap between the tyre and rear panel. Is this just a case of wrong size wheels or something more serious?

Cheers.

The 185/55/15's seem to be far too low profile for a standard gear box, I would up it to at least 185/65/15's, not that that will help with the rubbing.

It sounds like the wheels have the wrong offset, though the arches can be pulled by a few mm's without any damage.

 

[sparkywig]

How many arches are fitted on that side? Two, three? :roll:
Funny that, my n/s rear did the same until I cut the bodged arches off the inside. They were hammered in so the new ones could be fitted over the top.

 

[craigie76]

Have to edit previous post...tyres are actually 185/65/15 must of been blind when reading tyre size.

The tyres are rubbing on the pretruding lip of the rear panels if this helps.

What offset should the wheels be?

 

[uber cool]

post a photo of the problem area and wheel, that might shed some light on the problem

 

[craigie76]

Couple of pics

 

[uber cool]

Aha now that doesnt look like a standard rim, looks like a 356 replica rim which is 5 " or 5.5" wide and not 4.5" as standard.
Mine runs on 185.60.15 on these rims (5.5") and it is close, but not touching. I would guess you can just pull your arch a little bit to make a little more room.

see photos of mine.

I've since lowered mine a bit more, so the tyre sits high in th earch and clears the arch a little more

 

[mysteryspots]

I bought some BRMs last year and had the same issue but on the off side. I tried pulling the arch out a little but over did it and have distorted the arch. Be careful if you attempt this. I wish I had just gone out and bought a slightly narrower tyre instead.

 

[craigie76]

Gone to a body shop for a price to flare the arches. Not sure how much yet but may look good once dropped a few inches. Quite like how the original minis look with big arches and wide wheels.

 

[neil'69]

Have you tried swapping the wheels over, n/s to o/s, to see if the problem is the arch or wheel? While they're off just take a quick measurement from the inner lip to the inner arch above the chassis leg to compare.