been searching but can't find something specific to my question. i just installed some used tein ss coilovers and am not slammed or anything (25.75" to fender in front, 26" on rear) but i hear scraping when there are dips in the freeway, the car dips pretty low on those freeway dips. my wheels are 18x8.75 +20 and there is sligh poke on the front, rear fenders rolled.

not sure if it's my wheel hitting the fender or the air deflector or my j-pipe (the version with less clearance)....but my question is, if i increase the stiffness 1 or 2 clicks all around will that minimize my up and down movement when i go over freeway dips? currently at 9 in front and 11 in rear from full stiff.

any help is appreciated...this is my first lowering experience and it puts my stomach in knots everytime i hear the scraping sound

 

the scraping is usually the wheel hitting the plastic fender liner. sounds bad, but isn't doing any damage. go over a bump or driveway entrance slowly, turn the wheel and park the car. get out of the car and see what the tire is hitting.

yes, increasing the stiffness of the coilover will help with not rubbing. i have mine set at full stiff up front and 3/4 stiff rear. not a lot of rebound, so i don't scrape or rub anymore and i'm a lot lower than you.

just keep playing with the settings until you find your sweet spot.

 

thanks for the response. i'm going to increase the stiffness one click, test it out, and then go from there. i know a lot of people are lower than i am so hopefully that helps out. i tried out the speed bump and see what it was hitting but didn't turn the wheel so i'll try that one also

can i leave my front strut bar out during this "testing" time? i'm assuming it won't have any impact on the car for a few days

oh man full stiff! hardcore haha

 

^yup a lot of people don't even run a front strut bar at all.

and yeah turn the wheel while you do these tests, THAT is when people rub and scrape...when the wheel flexes out on uneven surfaces you hear that horrible sound.

 

Agreed, stiffen the damper to avoid excess suspension travel. Not sure if 1-2 clicks will solve your issue though, but at least the fronts are easy to adjust so you can do small increments like that to test it out. Not like the back seat, where you have to take it apart to get to the damper adjustment.

 

I still have the back seat out and won't put that back on until the height and the damping is just right. I'll mess around with a few clicks but if that doesn't work I will raise the car quarter inch or so. At least gives me hope that stiffening might help. Thanks!

 

^ If you have to raise the car, then I would sell the coilovers

Most likely tire hitting the fender liner. I cut mine with a dremel to solve this issue. Im 24" ground to fender at all four corners and I dont scrape going down the highway.

And you can look at your J-pipe to see if it has scrape marks on it. Should help you narrow things down a bit.

 

I wouldn't touch the fender liner unless you're sure that's the problem. Just imagine all the water that's gonna come flying in though that hole and where it's all gonna go. And then what if it didn't work? Check under the fender and see if it looks like its got some heavy wear on it. If that's not the case, make sure it's not just the plastic piece under the bumper getting scraped. Also look at you're -j-pipe and subframe. If you're scratching the j-pipe, then you got to stiffen your supsension or raise it, or save up for a new jpipe. If you do cut the plastic fender liner with a dremel, I'd use some black duct tape to cover the hole.

 

i'll take a look at the j-pipe tomorrow when i get a chance to get under the car

yea i'll stay away from cutting the fender liner. i'm going to check the air deflector tomorrow and might put some white paint on the bottom to see if that's what's hitting the ground. will also check j-pipe for scrapes

anyone trim this air deflector up before? i don't see it having an impact if it's trimmed some

thanks to all so far for the advice...really want to get this all figured out so i can get my rear seats back in and not cringe everytime the freeway has small dips!! almost wish i kept my old set up...but i'll get this to work one way or another!

 

Duct tape is not going to fix it in this case

Painting it white on the bottom edge is a smart way to check. No problem trimming it if it needs it. Most people scrape their away some by pulling in/out of inclined entrances.

Im only talking about trimming the outside edge of the fender liner, near the face of the rim (take a look under there and you will see where it scrapes). Not talking about cutting a hole in the top, directely above the tire.
I have not had any problems with dirt/water in the engine bay.

 

^what he said. you can just cut the section of the fender liner right over the tire. you don't need to cut out the whole thing. it won't have any adverse effects and it'll stop that crunch sound when you pull into places.

 

do you have a picture of what you did to yours? i'll only do this as a last resort but i'm curious to see what you did

did you mean the air deflector or the fender liner? right now only the air deflector scrapes on certain inclines as expected if not angled. gotta just check to see if that's making the noise also on those dips

 

no i mean above the front wheels, that plastic fender liner that is tucked away above the wheels...you can cut that (like NBP 05 TL) suggested and the tire wont have anything to rub against when you make turns, etc.

 

25.75 is about where I am in the front right now at about 2/3 dampening and I don't have any rubbing or scraping problems going down highway or smashing over bumps.

I plan on going a minimum of 1/2 lower front. But I am at +32 offset so that may be most of your problem.

Have you thought about rolling front fenders at all?

 

I am running 7 from stiff in front and 10 in rear and it has helped some. I did the check where I go over a speed bump, park, and turn the wheel and the wheel rubs the inner lining on the side closest to the driver (if you look from the side it would be the right inner lining of the wheel well). Knowing that part doesn't bother me as much

Didn't roll the front because it looks like not much would be gained, seems really thin in front already? And I think I would need to cut the metal portion where the bumper meets the fender so I held off. Does rolling fronts give much more clearance?

 

ISC have 32 point dampening. I am at 20 front and 23 rear I believe. I will probably go to 25 rear and 22 front before its over.

I like a firmer ride though. And I am going lower.

 

I had 22kg front and rear springs on d2 coilovers for my old s2000 the suspension did not flex at all almost made you feel sick driving it . Tires would flex more then suspension. I believe d2 coilovers can still custom order springs at that stiffness

 

will rolling my front fenders provide much clearance? seems like they are already pretty thin from factory.

i also know people have talked about cutting the tab where the fender meets the bumper...is this easy to do without ruining the structural integrity of that area? do i cut this before or after rolling fronts?

 

rolling front fenders is def a good idea...every little bit you can get is worth it IMO.

cutting the tab is a piece of cake. you'll see the area were talking about and can feel it with your finger. you only need to take off a little sliver of metal, a dremel works quite well. you can do it before OR after rolling fronts. doesnt matter. the fender roller tool can only roll so much of the fender, it'll stop before it even gets to that section you have to cut out.

 

I would be wary about not running a strut bar.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/no-front-strut-brace-%3D-cracked-windshield-823253/

even if he does get away with not having it temporarily, the change in ride will not be the same once he puts it back on.

if only this model of teins had preload adjustment. That would help scale with the damper stiffening. There comes a point where a damper will be too stiff for the springs to work properly, that's not good either.

 

^wow good to know. i'll forward this link to my buddy who isn't running one right now.

thanks

 

thanks for the heads up! luckily i only went about 50 miles without the brace but it's going back on today regardless. it's honestly not that hard to remove it to adjust the damping anyways...but the rear seats are a different story haha

just putting the camber kit on right now then going to get my alignment done and wash it too. hopefully get some pics up later today with my final setup. will look into rolling the front fenders soon so i can eliminate the few times i hear some kind of rubbing on freeway dips.

 

Minor update...cut off some of that tab where the fender meets the bumper but still get rubbing on dips at highway speed. Next step is to set up a time to roll the front fenders hopefully that fixes it!

 

Update:
I am at 24.5 inch all 4 corners. 20 front and 23 rear but I already put back seat in sooooo. But I am going to 23 front and maybe 25.

I noticed some crunching on hard dips and over interstate bridges.

If firmer ride doesn't help then more persuasive measures will be used.

 

Depending on the dip, there is a chance your subframe will scrape the ground. I have that issue during unknown dips. My subframe is scraped to hell. Stiffening up the level will help.

I am currently on SS and my EDFC says I am at 6 on the front and 8 in the rear. Definitely helps.

Lift the car up and check for scrapes on subframe and wear marks on fender liner. I have both...

 

So yesterday I had my fronts rolled and the guy cut away some of the liner near where the fender meets the bumper. This is the area where I was rubbing. However now there is a very sharp edge and it has begun shredding the side of my tire on dips instead of just rubbing.

Can someone post ASAP the underside where they cut the tab? I cut the tab some but prob not enough. I want to cut it more but want to se what others have done.

Can anyone help?! This is my DD

 

Cut the tab where the fender meets the front bumper. I shaved mine completely flush to where is no lip left. There is a philips head bolt there too that I even relocated. It's the bolt near the fender/sidemarker section of the headlight that holds the bumper in place.

I shaved/bent that tab that held the bolt because my tires would hit it on big dips, but not anymore. I done all this the first couple of days of installing my wheels, so I dont have any shredding on my tires, even after 6 months of use.

Dont be afraid to trim some more, just plan it out and be patient.

 

Thanks for the response. Just to make sure you mean cut the entire horizontal tab at that intersection? Right now if I looked at a back to front section view it looks like an L at that intersection and it should end up just being the vertical section?

Any chance you could turn the wheel and get a quick pic for me? Thanks again for your help, you and sharksbreath have been very helpful