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Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:01 am

Just bought my first Ghia 2 days ago and I have a question about the spacing between the sides of the rear tires and the body of the car. It's really close, like a finger width from touching. Isn't that to close? I have a couple of repair books but if someone could tell me if this is normal or not and if not what the issue might be I would appreciate it. THanks.

Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:15 am

Its Ok. Mine are pretty close too - a little less than two finger widths. I have 195/60-15 tires.

Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:36 pm

Frobie, congrats on the Ghia! Please tell us more- what model year, what size tires, if you have stock wheels, if the rear end has been lowered. Lots of possibilities.

Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:29 pm

Thanks for the responses. It does not have the original rims on it although i do have them. Tire size say 165 R15 and it has not been lowered. The drivers side rear seems to sit lower than the other side and it concerns me that there is so little clearance between the body and the tire. It is a 1971. Would replacing the shocks give anymore clearance. You'll have to forgive my ignorance on this.

Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:56 pm

i have 195 65 15s on 6 inch wheels.the trailing edge of the tire is less than1/4 inch.and it has been dropped a little as well

Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:48 am

Frobenius wrote:

Quote: The drivers side rear seems to sit lower than the other side

That is not uncommon. The driver's side gets more use. After 34+ years it can start to sag.

My front sags a bit on the driver's side. I will address it eventually.

Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:58 am

Frobenius wrote: Thanks for the responses. It does not have the original rims on it although i do have them. Tire size say 165 R15 and it has not been lowered. The drivers side rear seems to sit lower than the other side and it concerns me that there is so little clearance between the body and the tire. It is a 1971. Would replacing the shocks give anymore clearance. You'll have to forgive my ignorance on this.

Not unusual. Either the torsion on that side should be replaced or re-indexed. Re-indexing might take two or three tries to get right, but it's worth looking into.

Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:55 am

Frobenius wrote: Would replacing the shocks give anymore clearance. You'll have to forgive my ignorance on this.

IMO there is an answer and the right answer. The answer is yes you could install a coil over shock and lift the sagging rear. The right answer is to adjust the torsion bars and let the shocks do what they were design for which is control the suspension travel.

Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:22 pm

I really appreciate the input... i was reading through the Haynes Automotive Repair Manual and saw the procedure...Torsion bar adjustment using the protractor to find the angle....Does it need to be this precise or is it something I can just crank and see if looks right or not? Is there a manual you would recomend?