to anyone who thought i was going to be eating fender steering, you weren't wrong!
so straight on the tires tuck great, and obviously at full drop the sheet metal is going to limit my steering. however, i was more limited at ride than i expected so i need to go a little further than just a lip trim.
since every little bit counts, i started messing with a body lift. 1/4" didn't change much, and 1/2" you could tell there was significantly more under rocker gap, so she's now sitting with a 3/8" spacer on the body mounts.
next was the wheel spacers, could i pull them in even more? since the sheet metal is my steering limit at drop and i now know where that is, it looks like my current clearances will allow me to narrow it another 1/2" per side. so i have ordered some 1.5" wheel spacers that'll be here today. this should be a big change up there. enough of a change that it'll most likely require that i "tub" the inner wheel well.
then the fender trimming itself, i channeled my Jeep Cherokee Fender trimming experience from college when i did more than i can remember and got to it. the fender lip that sticks in has 3 sections to vs a full round. i trimmed 2/3 of that lip off at the outer bend line, leaving only a minor flange. then to the dismay of my forearm, i hammered that little seam up and out of the way. this rolled lip leaves the fender just as stiff as factory, with significantly more clearance, but also with a clean finished edge that's still painted and won't ever cut a tire.
finally i think i'm going to have to invest in an air management system with height sensors. that'll make sure i'm always at full ride when tooling around town, but also make it easy to lower for a softer ride on the highway. excuses for more toys ... aw shucks.
as it sits now without the new wheel spacers, i can now get my full hand between the tires and fender at steering lock at 8" ride. at 3" ride i still have enough steering to change lanes quickly on the highway, but never plan to drive it that low for more than a picture.
