165 vs 145 Tires

Is it rubbing at top upper outside of front wheel well?  If not- but rubbing at back of wheel well inside, you can adjust the steering stop or add spacers to front wheels.  145 is a skinny tire!

I believe it’s rubbing top front, I can double check. Seems to rub when making full turns. Just enough to hear it, but not enough to sound horrible.

If I lost a few pounds it might rub less! Haha

Pictures might help.

^^see above^^

Yeah, especially pictures of both wheel wells without the wheels attached.

"Seems to rub when making full turns. Just enough to hear it, but not enough to sound horrible."

^^That^^ usually means that the steering wheel left/right stops aren't adjusted properly and allow one or both wheels to rub the inside of the wheel well when turned all the way to the stop on either side.  The stops are easy to adjust from under the car and it takes a longer to get it up on jack stands than to do the adjustment.

DO NOT downsize to 145-size tires.  That would make your handling worse, especially of the rear suspension is swing arm.  Leave the 165s on there.

I’ll get pics as soon as I can. I dropped my sheet metal brake on my foot and I’m kind of laid up for now.

Rear suspension is IRS with 165’s all around. The front end is pretty low, I think that’s why the tires are rubbing.

I’ll get pics asap

Putting 145's (with only 80% of the tread of the 165's) on the front will not only affect handling, they will also affect braking.  You can compensate for the narrower tires by running ½- 1° (or more) of negative camber, but if you have Karmann Ghia discs you may find that the front brakes lock up before the rear, and that can be dangerous (you don't have to guess how I know this! - years of playing with a Cal Look bug with 145's and then 135's gave some pretty scary experiences).  The shorter tires will also drop the front ½- ¾", so if the caster is minimal now, it being even a little less with the 145's may introduce wandering at highway speeds which is dangerous, and tiring to drive.   

Exactly where are the tires touching?   What do you have for rear brakes?

Adding adjustable spring plates introduces even more weight to the end of the car where you should actually be doing everything possible to make it lighter for best handling.  I know it's the easy way instead of resetting the rear torsion bars 2, 3 or even 4 times before getting it perfect, but it is the best route to take (and you can congratulate yourself afterwards by buying a REALLY nice bottle of your favorite spirit with the money you saved!

Is your Speedster swingaxle or irs?

All great info and advice, thanks guys!

I have front discs but not sure what kind they are. Adjustable front beam, but previous owner welded in adjusters at the wrong angle, so it’s adjusted all the way up. Sits pretty low. I’m an old lowrider bug guy, so being real low feels like when I was younger! Haha

The rear is IRS with drum brakes. It’s kind of low I guess, but not slammed.

Isn't a 145 a seriously skinny tire?  I run 185s front and rear, and of course there are many who punch out their fenders and slap on even wider ones.  More is more, right?  That said, I cannot make any cogent remarks about what the issue might be here, or how to fix.  I can offer up some experience where I found that on my std ball joint front end (from a '72 Beetle, I'm pretty sure, from JPS) the steering stops for the pitman were forgotten and so I had a lot of turning travel, so much so that the right front tire could wear against the trailing arm knuckle during a severe right turn.  I discovered this only a few miles short of a serious blow out, as frayed tire cord was clearly visible at the rubbing point.  Installing and adjusting the steering stop bolts solved that problem.  Turning radius was notably less, but no tire rubbing.  My suspension is set up to just allow 185x15s to clear the standard wheel well dimensions.  Its very close in the rear, but does not rub.

@El Frazoo posted:

Isn't a 145 a seriously skinny tire?

Well, let me put it this way. The wider rear tires on my motorcycles are 155’s.

Seems the stock radial tire on a bug was 155/80x15 on a 4.5" rim. That was also base on the early 914 on the skinny rim.  165/80x15 is normal for a 5.5" rim.  A 185/65x15 tire is good modern option - it lowers vehicle height 1/2" or so --- plus is 1/2" lower at top of tire.  The old 80 series tires are getting hard to come by - Vredelsein and Coker has them.  I recall all MGA/C, AH 3000, big TR 2/3/4s, Morgan, Volvos and Saabs used the 155/165 back in the '70s. Seems other small sports cars of the day were go-cart size 13" (Opel, Lotus. Sprigits).

@62veedub- with 165's and Beetle drums on the rear you might be ok.  With 185/70's, steel 6" Sprintstar wheels (they were heavy!) and stock drums the weight and diameter of wheel/tire combo reduced the rear braking efficiency enough that the fronts would lock up WAY before the backs when there was dust on the road, it was wet out or I just really needed to come to a stop NOW.  I really did have to drive defensively most of the time.  Type 3 rear drum assemblies (3/8" wider, 3/4" bigger diameter and 2? mm bigger piston in the wheel cylinders) balanced things out quite nicely.  After selling the Cal Look car I drove a Baja bug for a while, and with the size difference of the front/rear tires I found the type 3 brakes to be the answer there as well.  Now, with all sorts of aftermarket disc brake kits available you don't have to mess with stuff like that.

Chances are they're aren't any steering stop bolts installed in the beam at all.

Two 8mm x 1.25 pitch bolts and two jam nuts and you're done.

Do NOT CHANGE TO 145 TIRES!

You're welcome.

If your beam adjuster is all the way up then you must have dropped spindles.  They lower the front 2.5" and increase the wheel offset by 1/4" per side.  2.5" is quite a bit - if the adjusters could raise it to 2 or so inches - you might be better off.  I don't think the 1/4" is issue as I have 1/4" spacers and don't have any issues.

Thanks for all of the advice everyone! I truly appreciate all of it.

Yeah, I have dropped spindles. The adjusters were welded in at the wrong angle by the previous owner.  The car drives and handles great.  I’m totally ok with the low ride, just like to keep the tire rubbing to a minimum.

I’m not sure if the car has steering stops or not, I’ll have to look and see what’s under there.

Unfortunately, I found out that my foot is indeed broken, so I won’t be under the car for a bit.

Unfortunately, I know how you feel. A long while ago, I dropped a 4" drop axle from a trailer on my foot.

Heal up!

Seems to me the simple solution is to get rid of the drop spindles.  Your adjusters were likely welded in the correct position to be used with stock height spindles.

@LI-Rick posted:

Seems to me the simple solution is to get rid of the drop spindles.  You adjusters were likely welded in the correct position to be used with stock height spindles.

I would second that.

@LI-Rick posted:

Seems to me the simple solution is to get rid of the drop spindles.  Your adjusters were likely welded in the correct position to be used with stock height spindles.

@Stan Galat posted:

I would second that.

I don't know guys- if the adjusters were in the correct (stock) position, wouldn't  @62veedubs be able to raise up the front end to almost stock height?

@ALB posted:

I don't know guys- if the adjusters were in the correct (stock) position, wouldn't  @62veedubs be able to raise up the front end to almost stock height?

That's a good point ALB.  I think most guys weld them in a position where all the adjustment is for lowering. If you buy a raised beam, it is just the opposite.

Another thing to consider is if all the leaves are still in the beam.

@LI-Rick posted:

Seems to me the simple solution is to get rid of the drop spindles.  Your adjusters were likely welded in the correct position to be used with stock height spindles.

Third.

Lose the drop spindles for regular ones. Add two caster shims to the bottom tube. Adjust for a reasonable low ride height.

@LI-Rick posted:

most guys weld them in a position where all the adjustment is for lowering.

Almost nobody welds their own adjusters in a 60 year old beam. People buy them pre-built, and this is how almost every beam you buy will be -- with the adjusters presupposing a car lowered on the adjusters.

@Stan Galat posted:

Almost nobody welds their own adjusters in a 60 year old beam. People buy them pre-built, and this is how almost every beam you buy will be -- with the adjusters presupposing a car lowered on the adjusters.

Of course you are correct. They just mill the slot in the appropriate spot, whether lowered or raised.  

Lots of good info and advice. Thanks guys! Not sure what I’ll do yet, but I have plenty of time to think about it while I heal up!