QA1 with 15's.....is it possible???

[dboz71]

My son and I are getting back on the 67 and trying to figure out a few things

is it even possible to get the right spindles, hubs and brakes to make 15's work. I know Lucky did it back a while ago but we just don't know how to get there. Then there are all the steering components to put together.....

And help and direction on this would be appreciated.

[ESC]

Yes, I ran with 15x8 front, 15x10 rear rally’s on mine after qa1 upgrade. It’s the Wilwood brake front rear caliper upgrade I did months later that killed it.

I have 17”s now for clearance.

[Mike C]

The single best mod you will do to the truck is getting away from 15” rims IMO. If you have them and need to run them do it. But if you are buying wheels and tires move to the 17’s or 18’s now. I prefer the 17” size, but 18’s have better tire selection these days.

[A1971Blazer]

I put QA1 on my '67 and used 2" drop spindles and 28" diameter tires on 15" wheels. The result was that the lower arm was too low and would drag on the ground if the tire went off the edge of anything that was 3" lower.
I ended up putting the stock height spindles back on to gain enough clearance, and I still have to be careful not to let the front wheel drop off the shoulder of the road. I have about 4" clearance under the lower coil-over bracket. A larger wheel & tire would probably eliminate the issue. If I hadn't already had the wheels, I probably would have used 16" or 17"

[dboz71]

So is it the overall tire height that's the issue? I can see where the ground clearance is low for sure, but whether it's a 15" or 17" isn't it the final total height of the rubber that sets the height? I am new to this, so I am sure I'm missing something.

Or is it getting the spindle and brake set up to fit in the 15 that's the issue.....or all of the above?

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by Mike C

The single best mod you will do to the truck is getting away from 15” rims IMO.

Hate to hear that because many of us still like the old school look with 15" wheels. However, I just went to TireRack.com and found only 4 tires in size 255-70x15, which is one of the common sizes used on our trucks.

[dboz71]

ESC Thanks for your response on the qa1 issue. What spindle, brake and wheel set up did you have that worked and what made you go to the Wildwood brakes??

[HO455]

You didn't specify which QA1 products you're planning on installing. It may make a difference.

[dboz71]

We already put in the full coilovers and a arms with the stock cross member a few years ago and are just getting to move forward from that install.

[ESC]

Originally Posted by dboz71

ESC Thanks for your response on the qa1 issue. What spindle, brake and wheel set up did you have that worked and what made you go to the Wildwood brakes??

It’s been a couple years, but it was right before they launched the full front system that inclds crossmember. I only have the an arms kit with dual qa1 shocks. I went with cpp drop spindles for 73 I believe, and I think I changed tie rod ends too. Initially stayed with stock discs & caliper up front. The rally rims rubbed a bit so I bought 1/2” spacers and extended studs.

This worked great, I ran rally’s, the ride was awesome. But I had a whining vibration noise from diff when going over 70 mph which led to me taking it to a shop for rebuild. They said drums were so bad they couldn’t get ‘em off. This is when I thought, now’s the time to upgrade to willwood. Not the big brake kit, just standard kit. Well they called cause the rear 15x10 rims were rubbing. Luckily I had a set of 17” intro wheels I’d bout 13 yrs ago. I’m rolling with these for now until I can afford to get new wheels I really like.