Cutting the rear tire wells

[ol trunt]

I cut the wells on my bus after calculating all possible axle travel and have had no trouble with it. I left enough extra clearance to allow for cable style chains though I have no intention of ever using them.
Jack




I moved the wheel well opening (isle side) out to the outside so I could still use the original fenders but it would not have been necessary.

[Native]

I see you have lots of clearance. Nice!


We still have a little bump for the wheel well.

[o1marc]

No one has stated the most important factor in lowering the wheel wells, how much suspension travel there is ? My bus sitting stationary the tops of the tires are 1.5'-2" above floor level. How much travel is there on a rough road, 2", 4", 6". I'd love to lower mine , but I think the added space would be minimal in my case.

[T-Bolt]

Ok here is what I've got. My suspension stop has about a 1" gap. (Been sitting for a while so air pressure is low) Top of wheel is about an inch below the floor. So when fully bottoming out the top of the wheel will be flush with the floor. If I build a new wheel well from 16 gauge steel that goes 2" above the factory floor I would be flush with the new insulated floor. This would give me at the worse case a 2" gap above the tire.

For most builds there would not be any real advantage in doing this but there is for me. I have 6 kids so there will be 3 bunks on each side of a center isle. No roof raise so I need all the height I can get. The plan was to do bunks just forward of the wells but that pushed everything forward. I have to repair rust around the wells anyway so not much extra work.

What are the cons to this plan?

[Sleddgracer]

I don't have the experience that many here have, but I have driven trucks of the same or similar GVW and to me it looks like the rubber stop has been worn down and should be replaced - hopefully someone familiar with a bus like yours will step up and add input

[one_eyed_jack]

Originally Posted by o1marc

No one has stated the most important factor in lowering the wheel wells, how much suspension travel there is ? My bus sitting stationary the tops of the tires are 1.5'-2" above floor level. How much travel is there on a rough road, 2", 4", 6". I'd love to lower mine , but I think the added space would be minimal in my case.

Oh contrare Misieur! If you take time to peruse previous posts you will see suspension travel has been discussed at length.

[one_eyed_jack]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

Ok here is what I've got. My suspension stop has about a 1" gap. (Been sitting for a while so air pressure is low) Top of wheel is about an inch below the floor. So when fully bottoming out the top of the wheel will be flush with the floor. If I build a new wheel well from 16 gauge steel that goes 2" above the factory floor I would be flush with the new insulated floor. This would give me at the worse case a 2" gap above the tire.

For most builds there would not be any real advantage in doing this but there is for me. I have 6 kids so there will be 3 bunks on each side of a center isle. No roof raise so I need all the height I can get. The plan was to do bunks just forward of the wells but that pushed everything forward. I have to repair rust around the wells anyway so not much extra work.

What are the cons to this plan?Attachment 29429Attachment 29430

T-bolt. Two inches may be cutting it pretty close, as one must also consider twisting, as when one wheel goes over a hump or opposite wheel drops in a hole. However, those of you who have air ride, have an advantage since you can play with ride height, to a degree, with your leveling valve adjustment.
Sleddgracer. You're right, that stop appears to be a bit hammered-out.
My Bluebird, on springs, has 9-1/2 in. between tires and wheel well. Top of tires are at floor level. Just now had a look at bump stops and discovered the rubbers are non-existent. If the rubbers were in place I would have roughly 3-1/2 in. of travel. So I'm thinking one may want to leave, maybe 4 in. between tires and wheel wells?
Just re-read your post and realized you said you would have 2 inches when fully compressed. So yes, you should be fine.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by one_eyed_jack

T-bolt. Two inches may be cutting it pretty close, as one must also consider twisting, as when one wheel goes over a hump or opposite wheel drops in a hole. However, those of you who have air ride, have an advantage since you can play with ride height, to a degree, with your leveling valve adjustment.
Sleddgracer. You're right, that stop appears to be a bit hammered-out.
My Bluebird, on springs, has 9-1/2 in. between tires and wheel well. Top of tires are at floor level. Just now had a look at bump stops and discovered the rubbers are non-existent. If the rubbers were in place I would have roughly 3-1/2 in. of travel. So I'm thinking one may want to leave, maybe 4 in. between tires and wheel wells?
Just re-read your post and realized you said you would have 2 inches when fully compressed. So yes, you should be fine.

Originally Posted by one_eyed_jack

Oh contrare Misieur! If you take time to peruse previous posts you will see suspension travel has been discussed at length.

Not in this thread is hasn't. Maybe you can link me to the thread where it is discussed or simply answer the question if you know it.

[ol trunt]

Take a look at Tango's thread----looks to have been mentioned there.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Take a look at Tango's thread----looks to have been mentioned there.

From tango's post on this thread

You need to measure how much travel is possible on the rear axle. Measure from the bump stop to the axle than add maybe a half inch or so for some compression.


Then measure the distance from the top center of the tires to the inside top center of the wheel wells. See what the difference (if any) is.



You do not want to remove any more than that or you risk bottoming out and really tearing something up.


Example: if it is 7" from the axle to the bump stop and 11" from the tire to the well, the most you could reasonably remove is...


11" - 7.5" = 3.5"


And yes...also check the outer & inner clearance as well. Normally, the tires will clear easily...unless someone has gone to wider tires. Always possible.



Skoolies are notoriously over-sprung and rarely bottom out but it is still best to play it safe.

[Native]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Not in this thread is hasn't. Maybe you can link me to the thread where it is discussed or simply answer the question if you know it.

Hi O1marc,


In my first post in this thread [ post #308453 ] I mentioned that I wanted to make sure my tire had well in excess of "enough" clearance. I did this by placing an offset jig on the tire with the air springs deflated. Here is a picture of the jig.

[EastCoastCB]

Like I said, just remember what happens when a tire goes out.
My bus has around a FOOT between the top of the tire and the wheel well. Its DESTROYED from just a flat tire. I couldn't imagine what it would look like if it were a couple inches instead of the whole foot.

[cadillackid]

if you have air springs, you can let the air out of the system and the suspension will bottom out completely for you to measure..



alot of these busses that have smaller wheels have much larger wells than are necesseary, my bus with the 11R22.5's doesnt have more than a couple inches of clearance on the outer fender when its air springs are flat.. i measured 3 inches.. I was conetemplating flat-flooring that bus and realized i couldnt with the 11R22.5 tires..



ECCB is right a flapping tire will do a lot of damage quick.. but whats wierd is my Redbyrd appears to have fiberglass wheelwells.. not sure how those fair in a blown tire situation.. but they must figure enough that a blown tire wouldnt come through and injur the kids in those seats above..

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

if you have air springs, you can let the air out of the system and the suspension will bottom out completely for you to measure..



alot of these busses that have smaller wheels have much larger wells than are necesseary, my bus with the 11R22.5's doesnt have more than a couple inches of clearance on the outer fender when its air springs are flat.. i measured 3 inches.. I was conetemplating flat-flooring that bus and realized i couldnt with the 11R22.5 tires..



ECCB is right a flapping tire will do a lot of damage quick.. but whats wierd is my Redbyrd appears to have fiberglass wheelwells.. not sure how those fair in a blown tire situation.. but they must figure enough that a blown tire wouldnt come through and injur the kids in those seats above..

-Christopher

Could they be fiberglass over steel?

[cadillackid]

ill give them a closer look, because in my opinion fiberglass doesnt stand a chance facing a disintegrating tire...

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

ill give them a closer look, because in my opinion fiberglass doesnt stand a chance facing a disintegrating tire...

My bus has two layers of steel. Good thing, too. One layer is FUBAR.

[naes14]

I'm curious what the clearance is for ADA compliant buses. When the axle is on the stop how much space is there between the smaller tire and the flat floor?

[T-Bolt]

I could easily use 12 gauge steel instead of the 16. I don't see a tire messing up 12g.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

I could easily use 12 gauge steel instead of the 16. I don't see a tire messing up 12g.

I'm heading out to the bus in a few minutes and I'll try to get some pics.
I think my rippled wheel well is 14ga. Maybe 16ga.
Yeah 12 would be a good one to go with. 14 minimum, imo.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I'm heading out to the bus in a few minutes and I'll try to get some pics.
I think my rippled wheel well is 14ga. Maybe 16ga.
Yeah 12 would be a good one to go with. 14 minimum, imo.

how much more damage would be done when a tire blows apart if wheel well clearances were a bit less than standard, especially if extra heavy gauge metal was used in the modification?