Front tires hit fender brace - how critical is that thing?

[quentin]

Hey all,

Well, I've had strugges with my tires on my '73se charger.  Thought I had it fixed with a front 1.25" spacer, but driving this weekend out in the country I came over a hill and hit a bump at about 50mph and my front tires rubbed.  I've got a bit of minor cosmetic damage, but not too bad yet.  When investigating, the tires both hit on a little cross-brace in the top center of the fender well.  It appears if I hammered that thing back, or even cut it out, I'd have no rub risk at all.

So... what do you think?  How critical is that brace to fender integrity?  Should I cut it out and not worry about it at all?  Or should I cut it out, and relocate it further in front or back of the fender well?  Should I cut it out, and then make a brace BOTH in front and back of the feder well?  What do you think?

By the way, my front shocks need to be replaced, and their looseness may have added to the rub.  But even with new shocks, I think it could rub in the perfectly bad situation.

Thanks!
Quentin

[71_Charger_R/T]

Quentin, Your shocks have very little bearing on the issue as they don't set your ride height.They just dampen the movement of the suspension. If you want to avoid contact with the brace in a rebound situation (which it sounds like you had at 50 MPH over the hill.)  You need to crank up the torsion bars a little bit.

[quentin]

Thank you.  I don't know much about this... will that raise the visual height of the front end?  Or does it just stiffen the suspension?

Sincerely --
novice car dude

[71_Charger_R/T]

It will raise the height if you crank it up enough, but you can just crank it enough to stiffen it up also.

[quentin]

Ah, cool.  I will give that a shot.  I could live with a very slight height rise, but wouldn't care for it to go too far.  Of course, I care for having a blowout at 50 MPH even less! 

I know you can raise the back with air shocks or leaf spring extensions.  Is there the equivalent of a torsion bar back there too?  When I look at the back of my car, I get the feeling that the driver side is "ever so slightly" lower than the passenger side.  But I'm not sure.  Never had a tape measure with me when I was thinking about it.

Thanks again...

[71_Charger_R/T]

Nope, No torsion bars on the rear. The rear would need the springs re-arched or air shocks installed. You could also install taller shackles but I wouldn't do that.