KW V2 and rubbing

KJJ · 5th November 2003, 00:15

I finally had the KW V2 suspension installed with Apples settings (2.25" front, 1.25" rear, quarter turn toward firm from middle). I have the OEM 18" wheels. The car looks great, much more aggressive, and the ride is surprisingly nice.

However, I think it might be a little too low for me as I had trouble pulling in my driveway, which has a sharp angle leading to the garage. Today I had 3 passengers in the car, and I took a left turn relatively quickly. It rubbed pretty badly. Upon inspection, I saw that the edge of the right rear tire was shredded. There were strings of thin rubber hanging off the tire! I'm going back to the shop to fine tune the settings in two weeks after it settles. I'm planning to roll the fenders. Should I raise the car at least .25" all the way around? Maybe stiffen it by another quarter turn? I will post some pictures when I get a chance.

Thanks.

Teutonaddict · 5th November 2003, 00:30

Quote:

Originally posted by KJJ
Today I had 3 passengers in the car, and I took a left turn relatively quickly. It rubbed pretty badly. Upon inspection, I saw that the edge of the right rear tire was shredded. There were strings of thin rubber hanging off the tire! I'm going back to the shop to fine tune the settings in two weeks after it settles. I'm planning to roll the fenders. Should I raise the car at least .25" all the way around? Maybe stiffen it by another quarter turn?

John-

I'd try rolling the fenders first to see if that doesn't cure what ails ya! FWIW, I had fender clearance problems soon after the KW install while making aggressive turns in an empty Beast! I rolled the passenger side fender maybe 1-2" of the arc closest to the rocker panel (door sill) and at the opposite end closest to the bumper. Those were the only places I was having rubber-to-metal contact.

Since that time, even with two adults in the back seats, I get only the most occasional contact, and I've not seen the shredding like you described since before my fenders were rolled. FWIW(2), I also had to re-roll slightly when I replaced my track rubber: going from Yoko A032R's that had essentially been worn into slicks to a brand new, full-tread version was a little more rubber than called for.

I have not made any adjustments to the Nowack specs that Apples shared with us since my initial install. I have NOT experienced bottoming off the bump stops in the three track events since my install last fall.

Now all that being said, you'd provide yourself an extra margin of cushion by going up .25" at all four corners, so do what makes you most comfortable!

-Dave

Lscman · 5th November 2003, 00:48

Firm shock damping to restrict suspension movement is a real ineffective bandaid. I would NEVER compromise suspension setup to address fender interference. Raising the car 1/2" won't help enough either, unless you're willing to limit your sedan's capacity to 4 skinny folks and drive like grandma on rough roads. In that case, a Ford Focus 4dr is more capable. Obviously four persons with some luggage will gouge the tire again & this is dangerous, inconvenient and costly. Can you imagine the grade that Car & Driver would give such a setup? It'd be rated lower than a stock Taurus. I would never own a $50K+ vehicle with such issues.

The fender needs clearanced (bent), so you can drive the car in any manner without puckering.

KJJ · 5th November 2003, 03:49

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely roll the fenders (anyone knows a good place in LA?)

I will also raise the height. I measured the distance between the fender lip to the center of the wheel. Front is 13". Rear is 12.5". Lscman, I saw your other post suggesting between 13.5" and 14.5". Mine is a lot lower than that. I forgot to measure the stock settings. Now I wonder how much I should raise it. I do like the lowered look, so I don't want to raise it back to the stock height. Any idea?

Here are some pictures. You can see the shredded edge of the right rear tire.

Front:

Rear:

Side:

BostonRocket · 5th November 2003, 05:52

I noticed that you have S-03s mounted to the wheels. That may be one reason for the rubbing. They are much rounder than the other makes. When I had S-03s, I rubbed everyday. Now that I am on Michelins, the car never ever rubs. Mind you, I am also running half-inch wider wheels, and I have no problems now. So food for thought. Lastly, the rear on my car is as low as yours.

'Rocket

V-10 4 Me · 5th November 2003, 07:05

On my stock setup I have

13 & 11/16" Rear

14 1/2" Front.

I would like for ELEVENS to chime in if he could rtell us what his was before and after the H&R Springs...

Front

Rear

jajo · 5th November 2003, 07:15

KJJ, your car is sooo low, I like it though

Any back or front angled pics? Thanks

KJJ · 5th November 2003, 07:42

jajo, thanks. Yes I kind of like the slammed look too, although I know it does not necessarily help handling. I'm afarid I do have to raise it next week. These are the crappy snapshots I took just to show the height. Here's one of the front quarter view:

5th November 2003, 07:56

Front is set at 13.5" and the rear at 13.25". This is too low to avoid hitting bottom.

Front:

Rear:

Cheers.

KJJ · 5th November 2003, 08:02

I'm thinking raising it 1" all around, which will make it 14" front and 13.5" rear. That's about 0.5" lowered than stock height. That sounds about right? Although an inner voice is telling me to go lower - maybe raise 0.75" instead?