Car lowered - 4 wheel alignment done - new problem?
 

You may remember that I had my car lowered. Now I've just had a 4 wheel alignment performed + installed a Weltmeister bump steer spacer kit.

Drove the car home app. 75 KM and it was nice. Bump steer almost gone + nice handling. However.....:

-when exiting a roundabout in second gear I floor the gas pedal while turning to the right out of the roundabout. It felt great until :eek: NASTY SOUND!!? That was the drivers side rear tire that rubbed onto the fender :(

At home I looked closer at the rear wheels and fenders. Not much clearance. I can barely get my fingers in between the tire and fender (slim office fingers). The rear wheels are 245/40ZR17 Dunlop SP9000 on MilleMiglia Cup1 replica 9x17 wheels. This setup shouldn't rub????

Ride hight measured from floor through center of wheel to fender:

Passenger side front: 62cm
Drivers side front : 62,5cm
Passenger side rear : 61cm
Drivers side rear : 61cm

Attached is a poor scan of the data page from the alignment. Do I need more negative camber? Remember it's a street car. Strangely it seems that there's a bit less clearance between fender and tire in the drivers side rear compared to the passenger side rear?http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/Image3.jpg

Maybe I need to tell:

Venstre forhjul=Drivers side front wheel
Højre forhjul=Passenger side front wheel
Venstre baghjul=Drivers side rear wheel
Højre baghjul=Passenger side rear wheel

BTThttp://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/sad2.gif

looks like you could use some more camber, even for a street car. probably around -1deg front and a little more -1 frt -- -1.5 in the rear. Or a little less if you don't drive the car hard. Or I could be wrong.

Hmm. 61 cm = 24 inches. Maybe too low? Maybe too low with new wheels with not enough offset? According to the data sheet, your "Venstre baghjul" (Drivers side rear wheel) and "Højre baghjul" (Passenger side rear wheel) are pretty close to 0º camber. Like others have suggested, some add'l negative camber will provide some added clearance.

BTW,I have just learned some new Danish (?) technical terms. Never can tell when that'll come in handy. :)

Regards,
Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

I have (had) the exact same situation and have a very similar setup with the 17" wheels and similar ride height. Slighltly more negative camber on the rear solved it, mine is currently around -1.5. I also found the tyre profile had an effect, a square shoulder will rub sooner. I've just put on some Ventus K104's (255/40/17) and no rubbing, even fully bottomed out.

Graeme

So what will happen to the straight line ability if I have more negative camber?

I hate the idea of raising the car now because it looks so damn good! Also the tie rods are level after the Weltmeister kit was installed. If the car is raised that will be lost.

I measured mine to the fender lip...61.5cm at the rear, more like 63 at the front. I agree its a great look adn you should stick with it. What do you mean by straight line performance? I dont have any concerns apart from the harsh ride. The neg camber is essential on the track.....

I'm thinking of going 100 mph in a straight line on the motorway. Will more negative camber make the car less willing to go in a straight line? My mechanic tells me that negative camber won't increase tire wear very much. Only a tiny bit. That's ok. I just don't want the car to "float" on the motorway.

Shouldnt be a concern. I dont have any problem with holding a line at high speed, but I have nothing to compare it to. Safe to say you wont get in any trouble if you try it, but if bothers you can always back it off a bit.

Mikkel,
As long as left/right settings are the same, straight line stability shouldn't be a problem. Increased caster settings will enhance straight-line stabilty.

If you intend to do this around a corner, then add'l negative camber will provide increased tire patch contact.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

My first question is how could the rear ride hieght be the same if you are sitting in the drivers seat.

I found with my car that the driver's side rear dropped 3/8" when my 185 hit the seat. You might find that the car was balanced without weight in the driver's seat.

If not, 1.5-2 degrees of negative camber is not uncommon to remedy the fender rub.

Good luck, let us know how it turns out.