Tires rubbing my trailing arms

[Jon]

I recently posted a question in the steering/suspension section about my new tires rubbing my trailing arms. I have a 2WD truck but it has to do with increased tire size issues so if you 4x4 guys have any suggestions/advice I'd really appreciate it.

Here it is:"I recently installed larger tires on the front of my 1995 2WD F-150. They are on my stock rims. The size has made a great improvement in ride and stability over rough terrain. The tires are Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ 31x10.5 R15. I looked up this size in a very "popular" and "reliable" major magazine in their semi annual "What Hits and What Fits" tire section. Unfortunately the magazine must not have considered lock to lock wheel turning. These front tires rub against my stock trailing arms at about one to two inches before full lock on the steering wheel. My entire suspension system is stock. If anyone could suggest the least painful way to fix this (i.e. to my bank account) with my main concern being reliability and safety, I'd really like to hear from you. I was considering a Superlift front suspension & steering linkage package (the one that won the SEMA award) as a future upgrade. I don't know if this will do anything on its own for my trailing arm contact problem though. As I mentioned before, my truck is 2WD. I intend to keep it this way as I like the twin I-beam setup for handling and wheel travel. I'd like to keep any lifting to a levelling situation or a 4 inch maximum (similar to the stock 1995 F-350 4X4 ride height). If anyone has any ideas or suggestions they'd be really appreciated."

[warponyxlt]

get rims that have less back spacing or or wider ones that will not bulge the tires out so much

[Wes]

I think your rims are to narrow. 31-10.5-15's need an eight inch wide rim, from memory. Mickey Thomson's web site says 8.5 to 11 inches. http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/truc ... aATZRadial I am guessing your 95 f150's are 6.5 inches or so.

[Jon]

My rims are wide enough as per my tire mechanic. I have 32x11.5R15's on the same size rims in the rear. They work great soaking up the bumps and ripples that my suspension misses. I went with one size smaller on the fronts so the steering wouldn't get too mushy. My tire guy said I could even go one higher on the rears (I'm glad I didn't do this on the fronts too) but it might be a bit too spongy during cornering (especially on pavement). Anyways, I have to look up my stock offset still to see where I'm at in my current situation and what I have to do to fix the rubbing.

[Redcap]

You need wider rims. I wouldn't even think about running 32x11.5 on something that skinny, no matter what some tirejockey says. Just because it is possible doesn't make it right.

[Fordnatic]

Does it really hurt anything? My 68 F100 has a 4" Rancho lift and 35x12.50's. I did a power steering conversion using a 2wd box. The tires have always rubbed on the radius arms a little, enough to keep them polished nicely. It's never hurt anything. It's not like I apply a lot of pressure when the tires come to the stop. The radius arm is pretty smooth, doesn't do any damage at all to the sidewall of the tire, and I've driven it for years like this.

[Jon]

Cool! That's great to hear. I love it when I don't have to spend money and time on stuff that wasn't supposed to happen in the first place.

[Jon]

P.S.

Fordnatic,

I'd love to hear some info / see pictures of your '70, 410 Merc powered, F100. Sounds pretty cool.

Jon

[Fordnatic]

Sorry, that's about the best picture I have available right now. Unfortunately I am 4000 miles from it, it's stored in a friend's barn. I bought it at a junkyard as a 14 yr old and rebuilt it from one end to the other. The 360 it had when I got it oil fowled a plug constantly & I had to clean it every 50 miles or so. The shifter in the trans had about 4" of sideways play in it. Learned to do bodywork and paint, suspension and engine work. Drove it all throughout high school and college, to the tune of about 150000 miles. Never did get beat on the street!! Surprised a lot of "hot" cars. I really want to reunite with it and give it a restore.

[Jon]

Fordnatic,

Cool truck. Thanks for sending the picture. Looks like it was a lot of fun to drive. My high school truck (my Dad's '81 302 Custom / it was bullet proof and a blast to drive / long lost now) is the reason I bought my 5.0 '95 XL. Hope you get your truck back in your driveway someday.

Jon