Hi all,
I switched my car to the SSBC discs in front along with a new dual res master cylinder and new lines about 5 years back. They've worked great, however it necessitated changing the factory 14" rallye wheel for a set of 15" rallyes off a later model. The only difference is in backspacing. Here is the issue, when at or near full lock in one direction, large changes in suspension height (like in a sharp corner with a bump or dip in it) cause the tire to rub against the suspension. You can hear it, feel it a tiny bit. I've given thought to having the wheels rewelded to move the hoops to factory standard for '65, but mostly I just try to avoid overly tight cornering so as to keep things free from contact. The question I have is could this rubbing transfer torque through to the steering shaft? I ask as my lower shaft (tilt column) just snapped at the notch that is just above the lower column bearing. It happened pulling out of my garage in my driveway so I avoided the disaster that would have occurred on the road but it's still unnerving and I obviously don't want a repeat. One other possible culprit is that the lower column bearing had failed completely and had been in that state for an unknown amount of time. It is visually hidden behind my master cyl so I hadn't noticed it until I was doing some deep cleaning on the engine bay a couple months ago. Perhaps that could have caused some twisting of the shaft and the failure? I also tried out a lower ratio steering box a few years ago but replaced with the original shortly after due to the poor steering feel from the "upgrade" so not a lot of driving with the new box. Not sure if that could have had some negative effect. Please weigh in with any thoughts as to possible causes, all theories and ideas welcome. I have never heard of this happening, or even thought it was a possibility. Thanks.
Elvin
