[gmakishima]

Users with Koni FSD's installed, have you noticed this?

Hi All,

I recently installed Koni FSD's on my car and have about 1K miles on them. I have OEM rears w/3mm spacers up front and I kept the stock springs w/out any modification to them (no spring cutting).

So far the FSD's have been more comfortable than stock and they do offer handling that is comparable (though they feel a little softer in general).

One thing has been bothering me about this setup. I've noticed that when I'm going downhill at speed and transitioning to a flat area, it sounds like the tires are rubbing or coming into contact with the fender liner? It sounds like a plastic scrape type sound for a split second. This also happens when going at speed on a flat area of road and there is a sudden dip down. It's like the entire weight of the car seems to dip down and compress the springs enough to where the tires rub the inside of the inner fender liner.

Does anyone else have this problem? I would think this would be a safety issue... do I need to get stiffer springs? TIA.

Gordon

 

[emccallum]

I have stock wheels upfront and FSDs all around. Using stock springs. I do not have any of the problems you describe. I would check your fender liners to make sure they are properly installed, and try and see where it is rubbing.

 

[gmakishima]

What kind of tires are you all running? I forgot to mention, I am running Michelin PS1's.

Thanks,

 

[blkbeast]

I've got FSDs, Michelin PS2s and the staggered tire setup. No issues here.

Users with Koni FSD's installed, have you noticed this?

Hi All,

I recently installed Koni FSD's on my car and have about 1K miles on them. I have OEM rears w/3mm spacers up front and I kept the stock springs w/out any modification to them (no spring cutting).

So far the FSD's have been more comfortable than stock and they do offer handling that is comparable (though they feel a little softer in general).

One thing has been bothering me about this setup. I've noticed that when I'm going downhill at speed and transitioning to a flat area, it sounds like the tires are rubbing or coming into contact with the fender liner? It sounds like a plastic scrape type sound for a split second. This also happens when going at speed on a flat area of road and there is a sudden dip down. It's like the entire weight of the car seems to dip down and compress the springs enough to where the tires rub the inside of the inner fender liner.

Does anyone else have this problem? I would think this would be a safety issue... do I need to get stiffer springs? TIA.

Gordon

 

[jaj]

Users with Koni FSD's installed, have you noticed this?

Hi All,

I recently installed Koni FSD's on my car and have about 1K miles on them. I have OEM rears w/3mm spacers up front and I kept the stock springs w/out any modification to them (no spring cutting).

So far the FSD's have been more comfortable than stock and they do offer handling that is comparable (though they feel a little softer in general).

One thing has been bothering me about this setup. I've noticed that when I'm going downhill at speed and transitioning to a flat area, it sounds like the tires are rubbing or coming into contact with the fender liner? It sounds like a plastic scrape type sound for a split second. This also happens when going at speed on a flat area of road and there is a sudden dip down. It's like the entire weight of the car seems to dip down and compress the springs enough to where the tires rub the inside of the inner fender liner.

Does anyone else have this problem? I would think this would be a safety issue... do I need to get stiffer springs? TIA.

Gordon

Get the car on a lift or just jack up the front end (use stands for safety), take the tires off and look for rubbed spots on the fender liners. The liners are black plastic and rub marks will stand out from the gray-brown dust layer that accumulates there

The front tires should clear all the way around - if they don't it's possible the dampers are not installed right and you have too little ride height. Does the front end look low? If you measure from the fender lip down to the center of the wheel roundel, what's the reading? It should be about 14.5" or so with stock springs.

 

[LFC09]

stock rims running yokohama advan sports, FSDs, no rubbing issues.

 

[Need4Spd]

The clearances with OEM rears up front w/275mm tires are very tight. It is possible due to mfr variation that you may get a bit of fender rub. Stiffer springs will help slightly but all of them are also shorter, so the car will sit lower. As a result, you may still get fender rubbing.

I had the same issue with my FSDs, but only on the left side. I found it was only rubbing on the forward part of the inner fender (around 10 o'clock position) and only on very extreme compression (like the going up/down Bush/Pine street in SF, and sometimes on big dips on the freeway). I solved this by pulling outwards on the fender lip slightly. That side of the car was hit by a small deer (stupid animal ran into my car, not vice versa!) a couple years ago. There was no paint damage, so I got it pulled out by the Dent Doctor. Evidently not far enough. I was lucky I didn't crack the paint. But pulling it out slightly gave me all the clearance I needed.

BTW, I run Dinan camber plates, which tilt the top edges of the tires in slightly, so that helps with clearance. Like you, I never got rubbing with OEM shocks and was surprised to get that with the FSDs. I don't know why that is. Perhaps there is a slight difference in geometry due to the FSDs. Those of you who responded above saying you have no rubbing with OEM front wheels, that's to be expected. There is no reason you should get rubbing with FSDs with stock front wheels. I tried my FSDs with stock fronts and had no issues whatsoever.

Do you get the rubbing on both sides or just one? Has your car ever been damaged? If not, look underneath with a flashlight. Like one of the other posters said, you will find a clean spot where there is rubbing. See if you can figure out where and whether any fender mods will help or not. Otherwise, I would try camber plates or revert to OEM front wheels. You can get some of the grip back by using a Dinan rear sway bar set to the middle holes.

 

[gmakishima]

Thank you all for all the useful info! This is definitely helpful. Just from the sound I hear when compressed, the rubbing is only on the passenger side. I think I will probably find that there is rubbing at the 2o'clock position in my case. Won't know until I get the tire off. Reason why I think it's at the 2o'clock position is because another driver rubbed my fender there when I was parked and took a little paint off. Must've pushed the fender in slightly there as well.