DiMora's widened WeldCraft Wheels (Operation Steamroller)

[WOT]

If possible, Can you please post a picture like this? I'll like to see what kind of clearance you have between the shock, wheel and tire.

Edit: NO hot-linking from modfords.

 

[1fast05]

Nice right up! I did that a few years back, If you have a clutch type posi you'll start to get chattering turning corners, they didn't like the wide tires, I had to go with the tru-trac

 

[DiMora]

Car looks fantastic. Any shots for the side? Could just be depth perception but the front tires look taller than the rears?

Straight on side shots please?!?

I'll have to take some; the front tires are ever-so-slighty taller than the rears unfortunately - not a look I want, but there are no 335 wide rears made with more than a 30 side profile unless I go to a drag-radial, which will give me a 35 sidewall profile.

Is it just me or do the rears look low on air? Saved the pix, zoomed in and still can't tell. Or, is it the way the tire (low profile) is riding on the rim?

It is an illusion, they are aired to 32 PSI.

If possible, Can you please post a picture like this? I'll like to see what kind of clearance you have between the shock, wheel and tire.

Nice right up! I did that a few years back, If you have a clutch type posi you'll start to get chattering turning corners, they didn't like the wide tires, I had to go with the tru-trac

I have an Eaton Detroit Tru-Trac.

Here is what I have - this is before adding 1/8" spacers:

There is plenty of shock to rim / tire clearance; the issue is the tire rubbing the top forward fender-well as posted above.

My goal is to have zero rubbing...so I tried 1/4" spacers all this week and had no rubbing, so I have just installed (as of yesterday) 1/8" spacers and I will see if they rub. My goal is to go with the thinnest spacer possible that allows zero rub. If 1/8 does not do it, I will go back to 1/4" and add some longer wheel studs.

I want to maintain the hub-centric design, so long term, if I need 1/4" spacers, I will be going with some Moser or Strange axles and I'll weld 1/4" longer hub-centric rings onto the ends and add longer studs - so I have OEM alignment and maintain safety with this mod. More pics to follow with my "undercoating" mod I discovered. I'll get to it soon.

 

[DiMora]

Update:

It looks like I may be good with the 1/8" hub-centric wheel spacers. No rubbing thus far, but I did an "undercoating" mod...

The spacers are UPR brand:

I did not have any rubbing at all with the 1/4" spacers, so I knew the 1/8" would be close. There was a lot of unevenly sprayed sound deadener in the areas that were rubbing...I started scraping it off and discovered the Ford factory put on a thick, white foamy material, then covered that material in black sound deadener. It was factory applied in the area where the wheel wells are spot-welded to the rear seat / chassis tub.

Example: Here is the thick ridge of foam and undercoat on the passenger side:

Scraping it off:

Re-protected with some nice, thin 3M undercoating:

Driver's side:

Oh...and for those that asked, the steamrollers weigh 65.8 lbs. I'll get a "before" weight later on when I pull a front wheel.

 

[2L8IWON]

Bringing back an oldie and goodie. How goes your ride and the Steamrollers?

 

[KillrStang]

+1 for updates. How did she corner after having the 335s?

 

[Sharad]

Thumbs up for steamrollers and good use of UPR spacers.

 

[DiMora]

Bringing back an oldie and goodie. How goes your ride and the Steamrollers?

+1 for updates. How did she corner after having the 335s?

Thumbs up for steamrollers and good use of UPR spacers.

I absolutely love it. Corners like it is on rails, to quote Julia Roberts.

I went ahead and added a Whiteline Watts link to keep the axle perfectly centered since my tolerances were so tight. The rubbing was minimal with the adjustable panhard bar setup (not entirely solved with the 1/8" spacers) but it only rubbed when pulling at an angle into my driveway or articulating over speed-bumps...no issues while actually driving at any sort of speed. With that said, all rubbing issues are resolved with the Watts link.

For those that wanted to know the inner rim to rear shock clearance - it is very tight. I would guess there is only a 1/4 to a half-inch clearance. Cutting off the dust covers was a necessity. With them gone, however, they are totally clear. I would post a pic, but I can't really get a camera in there.

I remain pleased with this mod and have no regrets, other than I wish I had a taller profile rear tire (a 35 or 40 series), but they just are not made in a 335/18 unless I go with a M/T drag radial - but then that torpedoes my cornering aspirations.

 

[Mustang259]

Love the mod and the look, I have contemplated widening the stock Brembo pkg wheels from 9 to 10+, but have not seen enough info on the process yet. Your post really helps.
Keep it up your car is pretty cool

 

[KillrStang]

How does it handled with a staggered setup? What the front wheel size?

 

[DiMora]

How does it handled with a staggered setup? What the front wheel size?

It handles great. Best it has ever handled. Fronts are 275's.

 

[AutoXRacer]

Whats the widest you"ll go with the original 10" wheels?

 

[Bill220]

Looks great! Does it tramline at all?

 

[BMR Tech]

How did I miss this thread?

Awesome sir! Love it.

 

[DiMora]

Whats the widest you"ll go with the original 10" wheels?

Fronts: 285
Rears: 305

With that said, Gerald, I am very happy with the 275's on my fronts and have no intention of up-sizing them wider.

Looks great! Does it tramline at all?

Yes - all cars with wide tires tend to tram-line in my experience.

How did I miss this thread?

Awesome sir! Love it.

Thanks, Kelly

 

[05stroker]

What is tramline?

 

[speedfreak1000]

I would guess they are talking about when a car tends to follow the low spots in the road where car tires travel the most. the lane has a high spot in the middle and where the tires travel is lower so the car wants to follow or stay in those tracks.

did I guess right?

 

[PLee]

Very close and along the same lines- it's when your car wants to 'walk' up the ruts in road, as you're driving. Usually not a huge deal, but can definitely change the direction of your car if you're not paying attention.

If you live in the southern half of the U.S. where decent roads actually exist (as opposed to the sh!t we have here in Detroit), it's probably not a huge concern.

 

[Bill220]

What is tramline?

The car will want to pull slightly to the left or right when driven over roads with grooves, uneven pavement etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AutoXRacer]

Fronts: 285
Rears: 305

With that said, Gerald, I am very happy with the 275's on my fronts and have no intention of up-sizing them wider.

So you wouldn't go 315s in the rear...?