Shelby Drop done, but there's problems

Hi all. I just completed the Shelby drop on my car, which was just something I opted for while doing a power front disk brake conversion. I noticed a bad ball joint on disassembly, so I ordered all new control arms, and decided to do the drop. The problem is that when I turn, the front tires rub on the fender lips -see photo. Now if anyone was following my other thread, I said I upgraded to 15 inch wheels. I did a lot of searching on here and determined that 225/60-15 tires would work and shouldn't have clearance problems. So, I'm unsure if the rubbing is due to the tire size or because I did the drop. Now, I have not had the wheel alignment yet, but, will an alignment correct this problem? Can the wheels be moved back within the wheel wells by adjusting the strut rods? Is it possible I screwed something up? I drilled new holes 1 inch lower using the 1968-1973 mustang template. Thanks for any suggestions etc.

On the bright side, the power disks are working nicely!

 

Your tires seem to sit nice and centered in the wheel wells - doesn't seem that they would ever hit when turning - are the top control arms tight and not moving forward when turning?

 

You mean bolted tightly to the shock towers? Yes they are very tight.

 

Did your car always have that raked look? The drop does bring the front end down slightly along with your increased tire size could be adding up to be your problem - possibly new springs could solve your problem?

 

A bit, but its probably dropped 3/8 inch with the mod. I'll try raising the front end 3/8 with my floor jack, then check the clearance.

 

Mine were REALLY close to that same area without any shelby drop...

This is 225/60-r15

This is before I did any mods to the suspension...

 

Raised it up to an inch and a half with jack and it still hits.

 

Just have to try an alignment, but I'm not sure if the lower control arm can be pushed back with the strut rod to give a bit more clearance. Wouldn't want to have to get smaller tires!

 

Is the tire that tight to the rear of the wheel arch also???
Do you have the upper control arms on the correct sides??? ( I dont think the uppers are asymmetrical) If so...
Did the shelby drop template move the bolt holes forward as well as down??? I have seen some templates that do this and some move em rearward and others that drop em straight down.

 

I dropped the hole 1 inch down, not rearward at all like the 65-66 mustang requires. The tire is not as close to the rear of the well. As far as the arms on the correct side, I don't know. Before installing I checked them out and they appeared to be identical parts; the same numbers stamped in them, and no visible differences. I was careful to check there wasn't a right and left side, but I never changed a set before so I'll have to check that out. Thanks

 

Moving the holes down 1 inch on a straight plane to the ground (not 1 inch down from the plane of the 2 original holes) does move the new holes slightly rearward keeping the tires centered and keeping the same caster - what you did is lost some of your positive caster by moving the top control arm forward

 

You can rotate the A arm shafts toward the front a turn to gain more caster, but you'll have to pull them out and knock out the studs to do it. I always use the early mustang template on Mavericks as they are caster challenged.
It's possible that an alignment will help center the wheel in the well.

 

That makes sense. I researched it all first and I was sure it had to be down an inch from the plane of the original holes 90 degrees, not an inch down to the ground (like hanging a plumb bob). I'd hate to pay for an alignment then end up having to move everything back to the factory holes and then pay for another alignment. Why can't this just work? That my luck.

 

ive ran into this.
the best way i could figure to fix this is to put shims in the upper control arm. you put some shims in the front bolt of the upper control arm between the shaft and shock tower. this will move the upper ball joint back and wheel back in the wheel well. this will also increase the caster. ive found that you can not get enough caster into these cars.

 

Cool. What type of shim? Tapered or just machine washers? And how thick (shims, spacing) do you recommend? 1/8 of an inch?