Front tires rubbing need stiffer springs??

[jdpolzin]

Good point JD. The springs are also supposed to be set in there in a certain position.

I think he needs to add some shims. He is in the same exact situation I was in.

JD - I dropped down from 245/45s to 235/45s. Rubbing is totally gone - might be time to pull my spacers out!

That would look awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[84ttype]

I did reinstall the isolators, I'll double check to make sure they are still where they're supposed to be. Also the Spohn control arms come with what they call a stepped spring seat, which is two notches that help distribute the weight of the spring. I can't imagine sitting the spring any other way than I currently have it as that would put the whole weight of the spring on those notches. Spohn Performance :: Chassis / Suspension / Drivetrain has a picture of the control arm so you can see what I'm talking about.

That's a good point JD about the spindles I'm looking for pics right now so I can compare them and make sure my spindles are stock. I'll see what I can find out.

 

[charlief1]

One way to tell the diff on aftermarket spindles is the finish of the casting. The aftermarket spindles have a finer grain structure and smoother finish. Hope you find someone to scale all 4 corners to see what your weight percetages are, it helps even the car out for handling. Check your front to rear bias and side to side percentage.

 

[84ttype]

I pulled the calipers off today and found a part number looks like they are stock spindles.

So it looks like the springs may actually be the culprit in this case.

 

[jdpolzin]

Sounds to me like the springs are cut or are some sort of lowering springs I suppose. So with that being said, I will figure out your tire sizes as compared to mine. Of course i dont know your backspace of your rim so it may be different. With the 5658 springs and your Spohn arms, you have the same drop as mine. Let me figure this out real quick and I will post back!

 

[84ttype]

my tire size is listed at 25.6" tall and my wheels are 15x7 with a 3.75" backspacing.

 

[jdpolzin]

Well your dimensions are:

Width 8.86"
Height 25.63

My tire dimensions are:
Width 9.65"
Height 25.72"

So The height of the wheel above center on your is 12.815" and mine is 12.86" so they are pretty close. Off the top of my head I think my backspace is 4.75" and I can only guess but yours is probably 4.5" so your rim is essentually going to sit out .25 farther than mine. But the tire itself is almost 3/4" narrower. Now some of this width is going to be eaten up by the backspace as well. Anyhow, I think the 5658 will work well for you.

Now another thing you should do is measure the height of the wheel well from the ground on both sides. Measure to the bottom of the black trim at the peak of the wheel well. Maybe I can figure out the height of your springs in the car with this info! -----Jeremy

 

[jdpolzin]

OK I am off on the BS of the rim. Bummer! Well, the best thing to do at this point is to try to figure out how high the springs are sitting right now. I was 3/4" off on my guess for your backspace but we can still work with it.

 

[jdpolzin]

Well I just double check my backspace and they are 4.5" which is a good thing. You are also 1" narrower on your rim size so that will help out a lot.

 

[Silver Fox]

84TType - If you are happy with how the springs make the car ride, just use the spacers.

Although you have a narrow rim, 3.75 inches of backspacing is putting the rim out a bit. Our cars seem to like 4.5 inches of backspacing on the front and an 8 inch rim. I have 8.5s with 4.32 inches of backspacing, and I had the same exact rubbing you did.

 

[84ttype]

Well I'm use to driving my '03 VW GTI which curently sits about 3 inches off the ground, with the adjustable coilovers set as hard as they go. That being said anything drives like a cadillac to me. I'm leaning towards the 5658's right now if anything just to replace the old springs. by a rough estimate if the stock buick height is ~27.5"; -1.2" for springs (after they settle), -.5" from my spohn arms, and -.4" for tire size. I'd be sitting at 25.4"...roughly. I can live with a half inch I guess.

 

[jdpolzin]

I think your car will look great and probably wont ride half bad. You may need to get a slightly shorter tire if all else fails. Then I would drop the rear of that beast a little! Keep up the good work man!

 

[84ttype]

Thought I'd post an update. I finally got off of my lazy butt and swapped out the springs with the 5658's... my rough guess turned out to be right on the money!! I'm sitting at 25.5" right now, most importantly no rubbing... almost. It's not a problem anymore though the only time I got it to rub was hitting some speed bumps at a speed I wouldn't normally wouldn't be going. The front end feels a lot stiffer now, more solid. All in all it was a big improvement in handling. Thanks jdpolzin and Silver Fox for all the help and info!

 

[Silver Fox]

Thought I'd post an update. I finally got off of my lazy butt and swapped out the springs with the 5658's... my rough guess turned out to be right on the money!! I'm sitting at 25.5" right now, most importantly no rubbing... almost. It's not a problem anymore though the only time I got it to rub was hitting some speed bumps at a speed I wouldn't normally wouldn't be going. The front end feels a lot stiffer now, more solid. All in all it was a big improvement in handling. Thanks jdpolzin and Silver Fox for all the help and info!

My pleasure. Please post some pics of how it is sitting now.

 

[jdpolzin]

AWESOME MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah please post a couple pics if you could! Also, if you have time, it would be very cool if you could post pics and a little info on the 5658 thread in my signiture. It's just good way to log info for others to read about and make decisions on what they want to do with their cars. I almost wish the thread was titled something different because it talks about many different springs and results from each different spring but oh well. I'm very glad you got it worked out though! Good work man! ------Jeremy