Has anyone experienced fender damage (lip rolled out by tire contact from the Racing Beat Springs and Tokico Luminas? I am running 245 50 16s on the stock rims. I thought the car was supposed to be lowered on .75" in the front but I hit every undulation in the road with a scrape of the front R-1 lip.

Is this normal? Or are my RBs worn out. The actual fender damage happened at a track day when I was pushing it pretty hard but the car drags the ground a lot.

Thanks Jim

 

245/50 is TOO TALL!!!!!

try going to a 245/40/16 or 235/40 something not 50 series this isn't a mustang

 

I had only rubbing in the wheel well (plastic liner) on hard cornering and hitting a bump with the RB springs, stock size tires, and stock shocks.

 

my 225/45/17's rubbed ever so slightly on the fender lip. if i had 40's probably wouldn't have touched at all. once i switched to real coilovers i never had a problem with rubbing

 

245/45/16 is the ideal tire size for the stock wheels. Even stock 225/50/16 will rub on the fender liner ever so slightly. I've got 235/45/17 on the front of my car with Eibachs and GAB R shocks with no contact between the fender and tire. Same goes with my 245/45/16 race tires on stock wheels.

 

i have eibachs with the tokico's and 235/40/17's and i pull the **** out of the fenders all the time(ok,not all the time, buto more often than i'd like). the first time it happened it pulled off the paint, so i was screwed from the get go. now i need to get the fenders fixed, rolled, and spend the $$ for coilovers.

 

It is obviously your tires. 245/50 is entirely too tall.

You didn't mention your wheels. If you are running anything but the stock wheels, your offset could be a problem too (but the tire height is the primary problem)

Good luck with it

 

I miss-typed I have 245 45 16s on stock rims.

 

Good.

Then, you really shouldn't be having a problem, but all springs are a bit different and if those springs are a bit tired (or possibly collapsed) then that can cause rubbing problems.

You certainly should be able to run aftermarket springs with stock wheels and 245/45 tires without any problem at the fender (most cars with that tire will slightly rub in the plastic within the fender well)

I would try a new set of springs.

 

The springs last longer than the rubber upper spring mount. Check that first.

RB springs drop the car more than Eibachs do. I've have both on two different FDs at the same time. I parked them back to back, RB springs are lower.

 

Perhaps that's my problem. I had HKS Sport Springs installed. They are only supposed to lower the car 0.6/0.8 inches (Front/rear). The rears look right but the front is lowered over an inch and the passenger side is lower than the driver's side.

It is very easy to catch the passenger side fender lip entering driveways and it's also fairly easy for the tires to hit the fender liner on bigger bumps and/or bumps with turning left.

 

that's why you gotta get coilovers they even come with these most of the time

 

make sure your bump stop is good.
the bump stop prevents the shock and srping to bottom out.

 

It is not an issue of the mount in my case because I replaced them right before this last track day because the rubber boots were disintegrated ($60 each, ouch) and you have to buy the top mounts to get the boots eventhough they separate. It sounds like my Racing Beats are Beat!
Thanks for the feedback.

 

dont go too low of an aspect ratio or you will kill your rims on that next pothole

 

I have fender liner damage too, and i'm running stock wheels and stock tire sizes (225/50/16). Check out these pics I took this weekend:

http://rx7.homeip.net/rx7/?album=%2F...=cimg0129.jpg&


http://rx7.homeip.net/rx7/?album=%2F...=cimg0134.jpg&

...it's pretty obvious i'm hitting the liner. Not sure what to do about it just yet though.

 

Like I said before the stock wheel and tire setup will slightly rub the fender liner (mine did with 36k miles). No problem. Your pic shows that you have no bump stop left. There should be a big boot covering the shock rod. That is a problem.

The second pic shows the bump stop hanging free and split.

Buy new ones...

 

I had 245/45/17 and got all sort of rolled fenders. I changed to a 235/45/17 and took one of those small novalty bats and rolled my fenders in. You cant even tell that they have been rolled, you just have to be careful and take your time when you roll them.

 

Sigh, makes me not wanna buy racing beat springs.

 

your fenders can definetely rub if you have too fat of a tire.

this was a while ago,
but I had a 235 or maybe 245(cant remember exactly)
tire on stock 16s and stock springs

and had fender rub like you describe.

however my front shocks were worn out.

but still, point is ... ROLLL UR FENDERS!!!

 

Have you tried to set the Illuminas to higher setting?? I have the exact set up.. but so far so good..

 

Position 5 is what I run and it is the same setting as the stock R1 suspension (non-adjustable) which I had before.

SVT Squasher, did you use the bat as hammer and beat the lip in lightly?

 

If you are rolling fenders.. make sure you get a heat gun and heat up the fender before rolling.. Otherwise, paint might chip off.. heating will soften the paint a little.. it might still chip.. just be careful.

 

Well, I replaced my RB springs with HR Sport ones and I no longer get rubbing of the liners. They are firmer, I guess. They are also a bit shorter free length, so obviously they are firmer. Ride pretty much feels the same (still stock shocks).