Whose tires are rubbing against the wheel well liner?
 

I just put on some 18"s with 235/40/18's up front and my car is rubbing when I hit a dip on freeway or when I take "cloverleaf" hard. This sucks! I know that I am running a wheel and tire combo that is a half-inch taller than stock, but come on....

I have 18x8.5" +45mm rims up front and my car is lowered conservatively with Tokico's and Eibach's. The suspension "set-up" is old. I mean 5+ years old. So, my springs may be sagging....

Anyone else have this issue???

mines have wore a hole in it alreayd, and i got the stocker wheels on there!

I seem to see the most rubbing issues with people using the Eibach springs. Supposedly they lower the car less than others (H&R) but I don't hear as many rubbing issues with those.

Your wheels are pretty conservative as far as width and offset goes, you should be fine. Perhaps your springs ARE sagging. Another culprit could be your front anti-roll bar. Have you checked the mounts lately? They can bend or break even with street driving. That would allow more roll than normal and could be causing your rubbing issues. Upgrading your front bar might be a good idea at this point anyway.

BTW, is it rubbing at the fender liner or the fender lip?

h&r springs lower 1-1/4 inches, while the eibach only lowers the fd to 3/4-inch. fwiw springs should not sag over time...well at least not over 5 years time. 0.5 inches taller tire doesn't help matters. try 2 degrees of negative camber (for alignmnet) to tuck the tires under the fender lips. this will also move the inside tire shoulder away from the inner fender liner about 0.25 inch.

I recently lowered my 93 with tokico struts and entrax springs! (-1.75) I am rubbing in dips and turnoffs ( like fast food restrurants that have a parking lot that is at a different elevation than the roads surface. It is worce on the left side than the right! I think that the car might have been wrecked, causing the left front fender to be lower than the right front fender. Should I take it to a boddy shop and let them roll my front fenders? I am running te stock 16 inch wheeels as well.

thanks joe

I've got Koni adjustable shocks with springs lowered I think 2" with stock 16" rims and 225/50/16 tires, and I get rubbing when I hit hard dips or if I turn really sharply to the right. Kinda annoying. :(

This may keep from rubbing the liners but will certainly see to it that you rub through tires much more quickly; especially a 40 series 18".

jpandes, you already know the problem. Your tire size is tall and your car is lowered. Without changing one of these you are going to continue to have trouble, no amount of wishing will make it any other way :(

Yup, you are correct DamonB. I am just gonna buy some 245/35/18's, this will give me the stock size diameter wheel/tire combo.

Anyone want to buy a pair of barely used 235/40/18's?...

Eibach pro-kits lower the car 1" supposedly... and i'll bet its every bit of that or more in the front. My feeling is that they lower the front a bit too much, and the rear not enough... i run the fronts on the highest koni perch setting, and the rears on the middle. Car still looks a little rakish.

And yes, i get some rubbing w/ my 235/45/17s sometimes, especiallyon the driver's side... not terrible though,

I run stock wheels on my 93 R1, and the tires have worn away most of the wheelwell liners in front of the wheels.

Of course, the car is lowered quite a bit and I run 245/45-16 R3S03's... Not a street car, so as long as you have some sort of shielding behind the oil coolers (for the occassional off-track excursion), even with the wheelwell liners removed, you should be fine.

I find that rubbing only occurs against the front panel of the wheelwell liner. The top and rear of the wheelwell liner in my car are perfectly fine, while the front panel is shredded from years of rubbing (yes, years). Heck, if I just turn the wheel to either side past about a half turn, I can hear the outside tire rubbing against the liner in the front. I don't think it happens to the inside wheel on a turn...

Oh, and camber adjustment (at least any reasonable amount) doesn't seem to make any difference whatsoever. Not that it should, either, because the rubbing occurs only against the front of the liners on my car.

Do you guys get rubbing against other surfaces of the wheelwell liner? Or only the front?

Don't be too freaked out -- a lot of people have noticed that the left front fender is a bit lower than the others. I still don't understand why this is so, but you aren't alone in finding this condition in your car. It seems to be somewhat normal.

-Max

You know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this results from moving the steering column to the left side. Anyone with an RHD FD want to measure their ride height?

No rubbing with 255/40-17s all around with H&R springs, Eibach sway bars, -1.5 degrees camber fr/rr, 45-mm offset wheels.

Almost everyone has this problem after lowering there cars. There are quick fixes and expensive fixes. First the left side of the car is lower on the FD. As Max said, who knows why?. IMO, the eibach pro kit spring rate is low so you get more of a 'bouncy ride' than some of the more aggressive rate springs. This can wear out the inner fender plastic and destroy the ABS wiring that runs above the plastic.
The fender lip issue can be fixed by changing the worn stock bumper stops(Part with the 3 bolts and rubber boot-$80 from dealer/this usually fixes it), having a body shop roll the front fender lips is another fix. The best fix and most expensive- get a set of adjustable coil overs like the Tein Ha's.
I hope this helps.
Happy rotoring!

I do not mind the rubbing, but since I drive on rough chatanooga roads with unrolled finders it tries to pull my finders out and it cuts into the treade of my bran-spanken new yokahama esta tires! not a cheap problem should I just take it to a shop and have them rolled?


thanks joe

I noticed this last week when I was setting the rear toe on my car. I was doublechecking the ride height and the left rear fender was almost a 1/2" lower than the right. I didn't bother checking the front.

Hey guys, is this from the driver's persepective (left side lower)? If so, I've got the exact opposite - the passenger side is 1/2" higher.

No, you've got it exactly the same as everybody else. The passenger side of the car is a little higher than the driver's side. I've even noticed it just jacking up the car.

I could be bass ackwards, but I remember there was a 1/2" difference.

My theory on this has been that driver's side is heavier due to the added steering column and DRIVER WEIGHT, which causes the car to sit lower on the driver's side.

I'd bet that the car is driven 90% of the time with only the driver in the car.

*I'm glad that i'm not the only one whose car sit's a half inch lower on the left. I thought is was just my fat ass punishing the springs on that side, causing them to sag.



;)

My husband's 93 r-1 was noticeably lower on the driver's side. I measured it at about 1/4 inch. I measured my 94 touring out of curiosity, and both sides are the same height. I haven't lowered mine yet. Have you guys that notice the driver's side being lower all lowered your cars or are they like that on the stock springs?

I must say I have been trying to find a solution for the rubbing issue too. I just last week noticed that my passenger side front fender is around 1 inch higher. The crazy thing is we checked the car in October to see if one side sat higher but they were even!! So somthing between Oct. and last week caused the car to rise on that side.. Maybe it was the wheel stands I was doing at the track!! Kidding of course!!!
I also have had bad rubbing on the wheel liner and fender lip while on the track or real hard driving.. I am using Koni yellow's and Eibach pro kit, 17's SSR Comps 245/40/17 front 265/40/17 rear.. Not sure if I should change springs, upgrade front sway bar or what.. Anyone??

That's cool. His & Her FD's ...

A while ago I heard or read somewhere that the FD was designed with the right side being a bit higher at rest without driver so when a driver got in it would be level (designed as a RHD that is). When they produced LHD they didnt change that and so the right is higher without anyone in driver seat and when someone gets into the drivers side (left) it gets even worse. Of course I cant remember where I saw it but it seemed to make sense to me (except of course that they forgot to compensate when going to LHD - but as you all know the list of to complain about as far as engineering is this car is very long).

I am hoping my coilovers will be able to be adjusted to compensate....

Shawn

I have the same problem that you guys have, I have the eibach supre low springs and the tokico shocks. My wheels hit the lining and the lip. I have lost two tires from the lip slicing them in half while I was driving. Would the allignment trick work for me or should I try to get smaller tires and wheels. I have Rp01s with 235/45-17 on right now.

eric
'94 Montego Blue

Lowered and bigger rims/tyres??!?!

Mine is stock. Stock height, stock rims, stock tyres. And it still rubs the wheel liners!

Eric,

Have your fender lips "rolled" by a body shop. That stopped my car from rubbbing against thel lip. I also recently switched from the Eibach Pro Kit springs to M2 Coil Overs conversion springs, that use stiffer 550/450 Eibach springs, that also enable me to raise the the ride height. No more rubbing, but a much harsher ride.

All I have changed suspension wise is putting Tokico Illuminas and Power Stops all around. Before doing this, I never had a problem with either front tire rubbing. Now, both do badly. What I keep seeing posted is this starting after changing the ride height or the tire size. Since I am still running on the stock wheels with original size tires with the stock springs, did the struts change the ride height?

Thanks…

no rub for me 235/40/18frt 275/35/18rr.9"borbet wheels all around. stock susp. i now have a set of jic flta2 to put on i hope i do not have a problem.

can you post some pics of what your fenders look like now?

Just lowered my car with tein coilovers about 2.5 inches and was rubbing all 4 corners. 18x8.5 and 18x10. Was planning to roll the fenders, but had a friend that did it and started to crack the paint so, decided to cut the inner fenders about 1/4 inch and no rub at all and no crack paint. Took awhile to do but way worth it!

This is absolutely correct as far as I'm concerned. When I first noticed the left side was lower, I removed the strut/spring assembly as a whole and switched sides. To my surprise, the left side was STILL lower after the switch. So the difference definitely was not in the struts/springs.

It therefore leaves no other solution other than the car was engineered to have the right side higher so that when a Japanese driver sits on the right side (a right hand drive car ofcourse) the car would be perfectly level.

On my car, the difference is a little over 1/2 an inch :(

-Tom :)

I actually noticed that the car does not settle into the exact same ride height every time. When I come to a stop at any one time it can vary slightly, maybe by 1/4", on either side. I too get rubbing in the fenderwell (not the lip, just in the liner) under hard cornering with STOCK springs and wheels. I have Koni yellows but they are set to the highest perch. I think its either my upper mounts are worn out, the sway bar mounts are loose, or the ball joints are worn, as all of those can contribute to rubbing. What is bothersome is Mazda routed wires underneath the fender liner, that is why it bulges into the wheelwell. I've noticed the small hole has exposed some wiring. If it gets any worse it could begin damaging it. I don't know how people get away with running such low ride heights without rubbing, they must not be cornering hard enough ;).

I actually noticed that the car does not settle into the exact same ride height every time. When I come to a stop at any one time it can vary slightly, maybe by 1/4", on either side. I too get rubbing in the fenderwell (not the lip, just in the liner) under hard cornering with STOCK springs and wheels. I have Koni yellows but they are set to the highest perch. I think its either my upper mounts are worn out, the sway bar mounts are loose, or the ball joints are worn, as all of those can contribute to rubbing. What is bothersome is Mazda routed wires underneath the fender liner, that is why it bulges into the wheelwell. I've noticed the small hole has exposed some wiring. If it gets any worse it could begin damaging it. I don't know how people get away with running such low ride heights without rubbing, they must not be cornering hard enough ;).

I've got Tokico's but no power stops. No rub here. What are power stops?:p:

Another idea
 

Check your bumpstops - you really shouldn't be hitting them in the first place, but if they are worn and your suspension bottoms out in a big freeway dip or something, they will stop you in some cases from hitting your wheel well liner.

mine rubs, for some reason just the f@#$#$# left front one. 17x8 with 235's on. there's a whole in the wheel liner and now it's working it's way into the wires??????

curious, you fellas that have the hole's worn through the liner and such...are your FD's daily drivers/driven a lot?

I was able to get another suspension set-up and stop the rubbing before I wore the liner all the way through.

M2 CoilOver conversion springs, Tokico 5 ways, & Sway bars. No more rubbing.

left front sits lower
 

My left front sits approx a half inch lower than right front and my left front rubs sometimes (on the lip). My setup includes: koni yellows at their highest setting, racing beat springs (.75" drop in front), bbs rx 17x8 rims with 235/40/17 in front. I also have 1.5 degree negative camber to tuck the tops of the tires in a bit away from where they rub.

My battery is about due to be replaced. At 40 pounds, do you guys think it will make much difference to relocate it to the RIGHT rear storage bin w/ a smaller 25 lb battery? Surely can't hurt but I'm thinking the difference won't be very significant.

Thanks,
Tony