66 TBird wheels calipers etc

[byersmtrco]

Ok . .. Here's a wierd one . . .

A friend of mine bought my 15" reprod KH wire wheels (They're actually made by Zenith I believe)

He has a bone stock 66 Conv. The wheels won't clear his calipers??!!!!
He had different wire wheels before w/narrow spacers. He went as far as to change to longer wheel studs in the frt to get thicker spacers and they still won't clear.
I'm confused. I figured it would be a slam dunk .

To add to my confusion . . . At one point when I had the 65 . . . I put one of the wire wheels on the front (just to see how it would look . . .It looked pretty good !!!) I was going to run the wheels on there to one of the events we were taking the 65 to. Then I realized that would be almost like work . . . switching 8 tires & wheels . . . TWICE. But the wheel spun freely on there. I only tightened it just a turn beyond hand tight and let the car down off the jack . . .

Any thoughts here ?????????

[Guest]

I know the wheels from a 64 won't work but I thought a 65 had the same brakes as a 66

[RustyNCa]

I know the wheels from a 64 won't work but I thought a 65 had the same brakes as a 66

That's what I thought also. I know from running different wheels on my 65, the calipers on the 65 way overhang, more so than any other car I have ever dealt with.

I am running a one inch spacer up front to get my wheels to clear the calipers. It was the only way I could make it work.

[byersmtrco]

Rusty,

Is this to run the baby moons? Aren't those DEEP?

I feel bad. I gave him a screamin deal $1100 (almost new tires incl) but now he can't mount em ????????

I love the TBirds . . . but . . .

Chevrolet's are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier . . . Everything is a slam dunk. Want disc brakes for your 65 Chevelle? Take em off an 84 Cutlass (M/Cyl & all) Bolts right on. Want 15x8 rally's? Bolt em on . . . Nothin hits . . . Need a sway bar for the rear? Find a Vista Cruiser or malibu wagan at the pick n pull . . . Bolts right on. Need a heavy duty frt sway bar for a 72 El Camino? Take one off a pre 81 Trans Am . . .
Don't even get me started on engine and trans interchange-ability(spl Chk) . . . OR overall dependability . . .

[RustyNCa]

Rusty,

Is this to run the baby moons? Aren't those DEEP?

I feel bad. I gave him a screamin deal $1100 (almost new tires incl) but now he can't mount em ????????

I love the TBirds . . . but . . .

Chevrolet's are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier . . . Everything is a slam dunk. Want disc brakes for your 65 Chevelle? Take em off an 84 Cutlass (M/Cyl & all) Bolts right on. Want 15x8 rally's? Bolt em on . . . Nothin hits . . . Need a sway bar for the rear? Find a Vista Cruiser or malibu wagan at the pick n pull . . . Bolts right on. Need a heavy duty frt sway bar for a 72 El Camino? Take one off a pre 81 Trans Am . . .
Don't even get me started on engine and trans interchange-ability(spl Chk) . . . OR overall dependability . . .

Yeah, GM did a much better job at standardzation than Ford ever did.

Yep on my moon's. If you look on the factory wheels you can notice that they curve outward in the center a large ways to clear those calipers, most wheels don't have that and run flat over to the spool section of the wheel which reeks havoc with clearing the caliper. I ordered my Moon's with the offset in the wheel figured in with spacers in the plan from the very start. We searched for a company that had a set that would work without spacers..... and never found any.

Here is what I am running on my 65. I know some people do not like them, but I have not had any issues with running them on both the 58 and the 65. These are not the spacers that just are held into the gap between the wheel and the hub, these are hub centric spacers with hardened bolts, etc. that you actually torque onto the hub. Granted depending on offsets etc, they may put more stress on the wheel bearings, etc, but I haven't had any problems.

You can get them from 1" up to 2". If I want to run the factory wheels which are in my storage shed, I just pull the spacers and I am back to stock.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/WHEEL-SPACERS-ADAPTERS-FORD-RANGER-MUSTANG-COBRA-1-0_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZQ7c301Q3a0Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a30QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em14Q2el1262QQhashZitem5d2515cd4bQQitemZ400054144331QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Here they are on my 58.

[byersmtrco]

Thanks Rusty !!! You have the brake setup !! You can't run 14's though (or can you?) I notice you have KYB's. Do you like those?

[RustyNCa]

Thanks Rusty !!! You have the brake setup !! You can't run 14's though (or can you?) I notice you have KYB's. Do you like those?

No, the brakes are 13" or 13.5" rotors, I can't remember which. I installed 15's on it once, but I didn't check to see if they cleared I only did it to see what the moons and white walls would look like on the car. I think 16's are probably the smallest tire you can run with that brake setup. They do sell smaller rotors that would be setup the same, I think down to 10.5", those would probably clear 14" rims.

Yes, I really like the KYB shocks. I am running them on the 65 Special, the 58 tBird, the 68 Cutlass and on the old 71 Jeep. I did get a set of the GR2's on the back of the 58 and I wish I had gotten the GasAdjust ones instead for it, they seem to have better dampening and firm up the ride more. I did however run the GR2s on the 65 special, I wanted that softer feel with it.

I don't seem to have a photo of what those brakes look like behind a set of wheels , here is the closest that I have.

[Hawkrod]

Just a note, depending on offset those bolt on spacers do not apply any more load on wheel bearings than when using a stock wheel without a spacer. As far as load is concerned, the spacer could be 30 feet long as long as the wheel offset put it back where the stock wheel sits. All you are concerned about is the centerline of the load not where it bolts on. By using spacers and then using a negative offset wheel you are not changing the load centerline thus no additional load is applied to the wheel bearings except for any additional weight from the wheel, tire, spacer combo compared to the original. It is basic physics but most people did not get that far in math! LOL. I am also running a spacer and negative offset wheel on my 62 with 66 brakes. Hawkrod

[RustyNCa]

I am also running a spacer and negative offset wheel on my 62 with 66 brakes. Hawkrod

Good point, I never really checked to see if my setup are that way, all I cared about was clearing the caliper on my 65 and getting the widest rim and tire I could on the car.

With the 58, the rims and tires were free, they cleared the calipers, but then they wouldn't clear the shock and something else I don't remember what, as a bonus they gave me the look I was after.

So how difficult was it to adapt the 66 brakes onto the 62. I have a 64 that I was thinking if I get it running and the running gear is good, I may want to convert it to disc brakes.

Oh, very kool car, with my tastes, I would lower the front about 2" though

[Hawkrod]

Brake conversion was easy, the steering was a little tougher but for a 64 it should be a bolt on as you can use 65/6 stuff. The columns are very different from 62 to 66 and the splines are different at the box so it was not easy. The pictures don't look it but the car is lowered and any more an I catch on speed bumps. I actually went to a larger tire to lift it a bit. Hawkrod

[byersmtrco]

Thanks Hawkrod !!! Good info !!! He should be fine w/1" spacers.


Good looking BulletBird !! They make COOL Hotrods.