Have a 72 Buick that I have been building for years and we are at a point of wheel placement. I have a Global West front suspension with Qa1 and the Tall Spindle and GM big Brakes. I have a set of Corvette Grand Sport wheels that I mounted Buick centers on to try to get a different look. The wheels are 18x9.5 +56mm offset running 275/40 front and 295/45 rear. Using wheel spacers to get the right backspacing fit. When we mounted the wheel with the 1 1/2" spacers the wheel rim hit the upper A arm at the ball joint. So we spaced it out to 2" which moves the wheel out just enough to clear the A arm but almost hitting the inner fender bolt at the top of the fender. And boy there is a lot of space with 2" spacers Now that they are mounted I am not sure on this look yet but I think I stumbled onto a bigger problem. It looks like any 18" wheel I use trying to run 275/40 would have this problem. Has anyone run across this? The front wheels are big but I know it can be done as many on the board have done it. Will the wheel lean in and hit the arm with only 1/2" clearance in a corner? The shop where I have the car suggested swapping out the tall spindles for 2" drops spindles but I am not sure of the ripple effect on ride height, suspension set up, etc... here are a few pics to give you an idea sorry some are a little out of focus
What tall spindle are you running? Is this a GM part from another model, or something aftermarket? I suspect this is your problem. Also, what upper control arms are you running? Around 20mm offset (6" backspacing) should be about right for a 9.5 wide wheel. So, your initial 1.5" spacer should have been about right. A 17" wheel clears my stock spindle w/ tall balljoints, and my AFX spindles. BTW, Your tire sizes are very tall, so that may create some additional clearance problems. If you want a lower ride height for a real pro touring look, you will need rear springs with lots of drop (around 3"), and a drop spindle (and maybe drops springs too) in the front. Or, 35 series tires. Is this what you are going for?
The spindles are part of a global west kit. http://www.globalwest.net/db-1812.html. It does not state if it is a gm part or not. The upper arms are global west for a A body. This was a pretty popular conversion so I can't believe this has not come up before now. The rear of the car sits up because there is no weight in it. It has global west 2" drop springs and when the bumper, trunk battery, gas tank, interior and top are installed it will drop it down to the height we are looking for. I wanted a little meat to the sidewall, the 40 and 45's gave me that. I think I will check with global west to see what the impact would be on changing out the tall spindles. Nice car. Yes the look is similar. still not sold on my wheel choice so I might have change tires if I change the wheels. I really wanted to run 18" wheels. We will see what gw has to say on it. Might check the chevelle board as well as I know a lot of guys were running global west when they first came out. Thanks
have almost same setup I wound up trimming the billet cap on the control arm and a small wheel spacer
thanks for the responses, so how much space do you have between your wheel and the a arm? how much where you able to grind off? also, does this lean in on the a arm in tight turns? I really like the wide tire look in the front so if I order another set of wheels what size rim are you running in the front and what is your back spacing?
Im running fronts are 18x8 rims with 235 40 zr 18 4.5 inch back space backs are 20x10 rims with 275 40 zr 20 6 inch back space stock arms and spindles but no rubbing problems lowered aprox two inches front and one rear using hotchkiss springs
I have 275-40 -17 on front not sure on backspacing gm zr1 wheels . I ground a small amount off as long as its not touching it should be fine
That's good news, with the 2" spacers in place the wheels clear by 1/2" so I should be able to make this work
