Rubbing Issues - Need Advice

[Nickgt40]

This is for any and all who would wish to answer because I'm really at a loss for what to do and I need some advice.

To get right down to it I'm having some pretty severe rubbing issues with these SDRs so after only one week of finally owning some of my favorite wheels I'm looking at probably having to get rid of them.


As far as I can tell, right now my options are:

Buy a set of new tires that are 215/40/17 and hope they dont rub. (But with a 45mm offset and 7.5 in wheels, I think I may still be out of luck.)

Sell these wheels and find another 17" wheel with the correct offset and 7" wide so that I dont have a brand new set of tires in my closet and my credit card another $500 heavier.

Roll my fenders and remove the splash guards (which I still may have to do anyways)

Remove the Cup Kit, either partially by putting in different springs, or entirely which will bring me back to where I was suspension wise two weeks ago.

Sell the tires and wheels together and purchase a set of 16in wheels and tires.

Thanks


And for reference here's what my car looks like as of now:

http://forums.focaljet.com/team-rigz...d-finally.html

[OmniFocus]

What size are your tires?

I'd roll the fenders... the splash guards can stay though they might need a trim.

As you probably know, I have the same wheels but with 235/40-17s on them.

Both ends are aggressively rolled and I don't have any significant rub. I rub the liner/body at full lock, but parking lot rub is harmless. Highway rub is the bad stuff.

[sleeperlove]

You may need to add some negative camber as well to help with fender clearence.

The only rubbing I have had with those wheels and 235s is the left front fender liner. Rubbed a nicer gap in it from the bottom up about 8 inches on a track with 8 out of 10 right hand turns. in my eyes it was more clearencing than rubbing.

The cup is likely the biggest problem here though. super low and not SUPER stiff is probably your culprit.

[SVTADAM]

Since you love the wheels, I would try to keep them. First off, I would pick up some camber plates for the front and either camber bolts for the rear, or the SPC upper control arms. That will help with the - camber.

You never mentioned where it was rubbing. Front or rear or both.
For the fronts you can gain a little clearance by bending a tab that is at the top of the fenderwell. See if that helps the front. I would suggest rolling the fenders next.

Good luck.

[S'Cool Bus]

I feel for ya, bro (does anyone even talk this any more?).

Referencing my prior thread entitled "Rubbing the wrong way" I have the exact same problem with my beloved new aftermarket 17" wheel & tire package.

Even though my SVTF isn't lowered (yet) I still had fairly significant rubbing issues on the front tires. I followed the advice of other Jetters & bent back the inner fender tabs as far as I could with my fingers. This somewhat solved the problem but @ elevated speeds & depending upon the severity of the dip, I still have some rubbing.

Obviously it is the offset of the new wheels (42mm) that is the culprit. My only options were to return the wheels & go back to the OEM EAP wheels with the proper offset (not likely) or replace the 17" with the 18" version of the same wheel since it has a higher offset (45mm). Unfortunately the 18" version is only available with a 7.5" width so that extra 1/2" would negate any clearance gained by the increased offset.

My solution? Change my driving habits to anticipate any large whoop de doos or other road undulations & adjust my speed accordingly so I slow down before driving through them to minimize the suspension travel/rebound & hence the rubbing. This will also save wear & tear on the suspension, too.

[brads03zx3]

I thought I had given you some tips already, but I'll give them again. I am running a pretty low setup as well, but not quite as low as you. I have the same wheels with 225/40 NT555 tires. I had the slightest bit of rub when I was running the SVT kit at infineon but I never heard it, only saw that the fender lip touched the side for about 1 revolution.

Where are you rubbing? My guess is the front fenders. Both sides? You need to roll your fenders and add a bit of camber. I have a spare set of bolts that we all use in the lower control arms to add ~.5 degrees of negative camber. I am running them, but I don't think that will help your situation. You need camber plates to bring the top of the tire in.

You can roll your fenders mildly by pinching the tab at the top with your fingers. This helps in many situations, but you may need a bit more aggressive roll. Use your imagination...the 'baseball bat' method is exactly what you think it is. Create as much clearance as you can on the inside of that fender.

If nothing works, I'll take those wheels from you

[Nickgt40]

Thanks for all of the responses guys. The tires are 215/45/17. As of now I'm running -1.5 degrees all the way around. The rubbing is in the front only. I have the SPC bolts on the back and so there are no issues I can tell there. Even though the stance is a little higher out back, I've never had the chance to even REMOTELY push the car with this set up because of the front wheels. So it is possible if getting new wheels isn't my solution then I might have a problem there as well, however by the looks of the clearance I doubt it.

As far as the specifics on the rubbing it is occurring mostly at the apex of the wheel arch. There is a little bit of rubbing when I'm locked left or right but that I'm not worried about. It's when I'm making a right turn at a stop light going 25mph and I can hear the tire making some hefty contact with the fender. Or when I go over an overpass @ 70mph on the highway and hear it too (that's scary stuff).

Here's what I'm going to try on Wednesday: There's a guy I work with who has an 04 EAP with the same size tires on it. We're going to trade front wheels for a few minutes and I'm going to see if the 49mm offset and 7" wheel changes anything. If it does, I'll be purchasing some 04 SVT wheels and selling these (Bradley ). Another option is to hang out around the local Ford dealers and sell the wheel/tire package to an 08 SES buyer so I can get those to replace these. Not exactly a performance wheel but I think they will look good with the car and I can get some beefy rubber without rubbing... and so the saga continues.

[brads03zx3]

Nick, those wheels will change a lot. Your current wheels are .5" wider and have 4mm more offset, so 4mm + .25" is 10.35mm further outboard. I am running 1.8 degrees of camber with no issues, and I want another 1/2 degree for the track. I suggest you do a bit of work to your car to make these bad boys work. They are oh so good looking

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b5...DSC_0006-1.jpg

[ladybug04]

well, i have the cup kit with 7" wheels, 45MM offset, and i cured the rubbing by slapping on some 215/40/17 dunlop direzzas, which run a little wide. hope it helps

bryan

[Liquid_02_ZX3]

A sawz-all and maybe some fender flares.

[Uncle Tail]

I was rubbing. Got the Saleen kit from massive and put it in. I found I had a broken spring on the drivers side. Also put stiffer mounts in as the engine was slapping around on the crap rubber stock ones under hard acceleration and braking it seemed. Now no rubbing. I was on 17" 215/45 Falken Ziex. Was talking to the Ford parts guy here yesterday. He was saying there was options for splash gaurds....16" and 17". Something to check out.

[ladybug04]

Originally Posted by Liquid_02_ZX3

A sawz-all and maybe some fender flares.

lol, some of us dont have the money, or else id be rollin on 275's, on 8.5" rims with the f2 flares.

bryan