Tire wells

[ThemadTurk]

Thoughts on cutting or lowering the tire wells (rear tires) ? Thinking about taking appr 5 to 6 inches off the top and flattening it . This will leave me appr 6 inches of clearance. I added about 1200 pounds of weight to rear area and bus only sat down an inch to inch and half !

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by ThemadTurk

Thoughts on cutting or lowering the tire wells (rear tires) ? Thinking about taking appr 5 to 6 inches off the top and flattening it . This will leave me appr 6 inches of clearance. I added about 1200 pounds of weight to rear area and bus only sat down an inch to inch and half !

I guess you could.
Mine don't bother me much. After raising the roof, I can stand on em with room to spare!
Could always build stuff over em to the point that they're not even a thought anymore. Closets, furniture, all sorts of parts could be used to hide them.

[Versatile]

Originally Posted by ThemadTurk

Thoughts on cutting or lowering the tire wells (rear tires) ? Thinking about taking appr 5 to 6 inches off the top and flattening it . This will leave me appr 6 inches of clearance. I added about 1200 pounds of weight to rear area and bus only sat down an inch to inch and half !

It's your bus and your labor. Lots of labor and time for such a small cubic gain.

[cadillackid]

id say put seats, beds or cabinets over them so it doesnt really cost you that much space..
-Christopher

[DoubleO7]

If they are in good shape I would leave them and build around/over them.
If they are needing a lot of patch work to seal up the rust damage, then I would look at removing them.

Is your bus sprung or air ride?

Some busses seem to have way to much tire to wheel well clearance.

Maybe that is where the pickup truck designers got the idea when there is more room for wheel travel then what the suspension design can give.

[browncrown]

I have seats over them in the front and closets over them in the back...just build around them for the safety and integrity of the vehicle

[Robin97396]

Build around them so you don't have leaks while driving in the rain.

[REDD]

Originally Posted by ThemadTurk

Thoughts on cutting or lowering the tire wells (rear tires) ? Thinking about taking appr 5 to 6 inches off the top and flattening it . This will leave me appr 6 inches of clearance. I added about 1200 pounds of weight to rear area and bus only sat down an inch to inch and half !

Did you a particular reason for lowering/flattening out the top of the wheel wells?

[ThemadTurk]

to make better use of the area than a closet or storage. Integrity and leaks not an issue having tubed out many drag cars over the years. Time and labor as pointed out on here not an issue with the right equipment.
I probably should have asked about issues with suspension and the bus "sitting" down with load on it and not the actual cutting. the leaf springs are incredibly large. There is about 12 inches of travel between the top of tires and the tub now.

[turf]

completely unrelated, but many years ago i was camping with some friends that had a class C. on the way to the campground, they lost one of their rear duals and the tread did quite a bit of damage. it went through the plywood camper frame and left a foot wide hole from the top of the wheel well about 3' back into the bathroom.

one, of many reasons i have a bus now.

[ThemadTurk]

o yes !!!! i worked in the mobile home industry in the 80"s and when those tires would come apart, i have seen them damage the shingles on the roof. lol

[1olfart]

Radial tires WILL tear the heck out of anything, if they blow. They are no where near my Avion trailer, just for that fact.

[Rameses]

Originally Posted by ThemadTurk

I probably should have asked about issues with suspension and the bus "sitting" down with load on it and not the actual cutting. the leaf springs are incredibly large.

I would measure how much room you have between the bump stop for the suspension and whatever it's designed to come in contact with (axle tube, spring pack, etc). Add about 4 inches to that for a safety margin (any body roll that might be occurring when suspension bottoms out) and then subtract that from how much existing clearance you have. The result is how much I'd feel safe cutting down the height of the wheel well.

Simply measuring how much sag you get when putting a light load on the springs doesn't come close to covering all of the real world variables involved.

[BlackJohn]

I would think the wheel wells are designed that height for a reason, not for the sake of a sightly appearance. Possibly those tires can travel to that extent under the right road conditions and not do any damage. You could be asking for a lot of trouble in reducing their size. it's you that will be wearing them or your family members or friends so think twice. One could get a bad case of red-ass should things bottom out.