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When I hit bumps the tires rub! The fiberglass fenders I put on are too close to the rubber! Will air shocks help? I have air shocks on the rear! I just bought this Rat Rod to go to town once a week! Anyone got an easy quick fix. (I already raised the fenders up as much as I can by oval shaping the bolt holes ).

Obviously those fenders don't go well with the extended wheelbase, looks like they'd need a bunch more whackin' even if the front ride height was several inches greater.

I can't tell what I'm looking at on those adjusters...could you put up some close-ups of them?

Air shocks and booster springs are both bad ideas, there should be a better way to deal with this. Any idea what the P.O. put in for spring leaves? If you're lucky he just left some out to lower it and it's made the ride too soft.

LEAF SPRINGS ? Where the h____ are leaf springs on the front of a bug ? I can't find any such thing. I need to raise this, so do I change shocks for taller or shorter ? Is that do-able ? I can't drive this to town. Yesterday, I went out for the first time and the tires rubbed at every turn and big bump. I am ready to risk taking the fronts off right now for my next outing! Help please anyone?

Hack (or cut smoothly) the leading edge of the front fenders off coming out straight from the body, or even angled back slightly. The fenders will still keep mud/derbis from flying up onto the car or passing cars and then you'll clear the front tires.

Your wheel base has been stretched (like most rat rods I've seen) so no fender made for a stock car will fit properly. Why ruin the stance and look by jacking up the front end? The straight edge on the front of those fenders won't look bad and will alleviate your rubbing problem.

Well the torsion bar front ends have leafs of spring steel inside. The usual experts remove them looking for something called stance.
https://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.as ... -411-107-A

You also have two adjusters, have you tried turning them up yet?

What do you need fenders for????? Its a freaking rat rod, take them off

triumphman wrote:When I hit bumps the tires rub! The fiberglass fenders I put on are too close to the rubber! Will air shocks help? I have air shocks on the rear! I just bought this Rat Rod to go to town once a week! Anyone got an easy quick fix. (I already raised the fenders up as much as I can by oval shaping the bolt holes ).

ARE YOU SAYING THOSE TWO LONG PIPES have leaf springs inside ? IN THE CENTER OF EACH IS A WELDED BRACKET THAT HAS A BOLT AND NUT SETUP THAT IS ADJUSTABLE. BUT I DON'T SEE ANY THING THAT THEY ADJUST ! Is it internal ? Maybe the PO removed all that stuff ?

The springs are inside those tubes. Jack the car up, loosen the nuts on the stationary bolts on the adjusters. You will then want to tighten the set screw a few turns. There should be 3 or so inches of adjustment.

Chip Birks wrote:The springs are inside those tubes. Jack the car up, loosen the nuts on the stationary bolts on the adjusters. You will then want to tighten the set screw a few turns. There should be 3 or so inches of adjustment.

Really, inside those tubes ? Will this help with the fender rubbing problem I am having ? I hope the PO did not remove the leaf springs from inside the tubes! The way this thing rides , he may have. Any easy way to tell if there are springs still in there ? Thanks again.

This is an adjuster (ball-joint in this case) and if you look hard you can see the slot allowing some movement allowing the beam's splines to be rotated in either direction to raise or lower the front of the car. There are two styles, Avis style and the Sway-a-way styles and this is the more positive Sway-a-way style.

I hope this helps.

Yes, this look similar to what is on both tubes. I will try it. Thanks.