Ok, I know all of us hot-rodders can come up w/ something: What's the absolute biggest, meatiest wheel and tire combo (using 15" wheels) that can be fit underneath the rear of a stock Maverick? I don't need any B.S. with fender-well mods or wheel-well mods... I want the tires to stay inside the wheel-well, of course; I'm not a tasteless idiot. Although, I want NO tire rubbing. Been there, done that. I'm willing to do air shocks... aaand I'm putting in a Granada 8", if that makes any diff, (which it shouldn't )
The largest tires i could ever run with air shocks @ 60 psi were the 275-60-15, with a 3.75 backspace wheel, even then tires would get scrubbed at full weight with a passenger. After wheel lip rolling i removed the air shocks, Tires would still bump, but would not be cut. Found no benifit to removing air shocks so i put them back on. Here is a pic of how close it is to the spring. http://www.maverick.to/mmb/attachment.php?attachmentid=13222&d=1133396107
245/60r15, with no mods, on 8" wide rim. 255/60 will rub if you don't use slapper bars to control your dip on takeoff. These are 255/60r15. Very close to springs and fender, will rub on takeoff or with passenger on bumps. 245/60r15 had no rubbing issues at all.
i'm running 275/60/15 with 4 1/2" backspacing. the only mod was to roll the fender well lip. even under full load they are very close but don't rub.
skip the air shocks , sooner or later they will be coming though the floor do you mean 9" ? cause a granada 8 is exactly the same as a mav
Granada 8" or 9" is wider than a Maverick rear. A little more than an inch IIRC. Doesn't matter one bit unless you are condsidering stuffing the biggest tires you can under the car. Then it will be enough of a difference that you will need to get more backspacing. More backspacing than others with stock Mav rears are using... If you find that the absolute best combo for you has 4.5" backspacing on another member's car, and he has a stock rear, you will need to add another .5-.75" to the BS to get the same results. Don't use my figures either, you will have to measure it out yourself. Just a head's up. You don't want to find the right combo for you and use another member's specs, only to find that your wheels stick out 3/4" from under the car because of the wider rear. Dave
Yeah, heed the warnings from others on air shocks! The upper shock mounts out back are weak. I had one break out of the floorpan with regular shocks. Dave
To complicate matters more______ in my measurements of the 77 Comet I just bought, the rear is offset 1" towards the passenger side. There's 1" less clearance to the fender lip than there is on the driver's side. This seems to be common in Fords for some reason. My 89 Ranger and the 68 Merc Monterey I just sold were as well.
Mike, what year is your car? Mine is a 74, and with the stock rear and everything, same rims you have, same brand of tire, I start to rub at 255/60r15 but clear with 245 Just goes to show that even the same tire on two different cars can act differently. I notice yours sit higher than mine...I bet I rub because I have my wheels tucked a little deeper...1/2" drop in the back. Forgot I had that...
i have air shocks... i think they are flat, so i get all the movement i can out of them.. but i am going to replace them... soon
Mine are 275 60 15 but my fenders are rolled ,they dont hit.My drag radials are 255 60 15 I think they look better on there.
Mine is a 74. No rubbing but very close. I do have air shocks but I can let all the air out & still no rub. It is funny how the same year cars vary on clearance.
scott.. didnt you say that you had a side to side difference on the rear end, and that maybe there was a frame rail bent or something? or am i thinking someone else said that
I had a lean, and think it is frame related, since all suspension parts are new, front and back. I have a 1/2" drop block under the right side to even out the lean. Still rubs on both wheels...the wheels are centered side-to-side, just not height-wise. I really think it is how low I sit. If I had my air shocks on and/or the longer shackles, they would never hunch down on take off far enough to rub. The rub I have is only very brief, when I take-off really hard. Otherwise, I can drive easily, take turns, etc, without the 255's rubbing, probably 275 too. Apparently the "hunker-down" when I gun it sinks the rear enough to scrape just for a few revolutions of the tire, so after a couple of weeks driving it, I noticed some cheese-gratings missing and/or hanging off the side of my tires.
