DeTomaso Mailing List: April 2000, Message #324

Craig wrote:

>Just remind him that some Panteras are quite a bit different than others.  
I've seen tires that clear on a 74, but hit on a 71.  Seems in particular 
that the earlier cars are subject to some "manufacturing tolerances".

Hey, Mike Drew, does this also match what you've seen?

>>>Yup.  The broadest generalization that can be made is that pre-L cars that 
haven't had their fenders rolled can have clearance issues.  Actually, I've 
seen a few L-models that have had clearance issues too (Bill Santos?  Tony 
Harvey?) and I don't know if their fenders were rolled or not.  I was under 
the impression that the fender-rolling came about about the same time as the 
L-model was released, but perhaps the first ??? L-models didn't have it.

Another issue is brakes.  Some aftermarket braking systems can space the 
wheels outwards by 1/4 or 1/2 inch.  That can make the difference between a 
given wheel/tire combo clearing, or not.

Finally, not all tires are created equally.  Just yesterday I was looking at 
a 5.0 Mustang wearing new 245/50-16 tires.  He said his old 245/50-16 tires 
rubbed something awful, but his new ones were considerably smaller, despite 
having the same nominal size.  On Panteras, the Goodyear Eagle 245/50-15 was 
a very nice fit on the front.  Jack DeRyke recently wore his out and since 
they're not available anymore, he substituted BFG Z-rated tires in the same 
size.  Surprise!  They're bigger!  I don't think they've given him any 
problems (Jack?) but it's a noticible difference (at least to hyper-observant 
geeks like me!)

Mike