17" wheels lowered
 

hey everyone im new to this forum. i have 17" wheels and low profile tires im not sure of their size, but ill check if i need to. i just put in 4 kyb gr2 struts and lowering springs on my car. now the front even at the highest setting is reallly low and the wheels rub when i turn the wheel about 360 degress. right side wheel rubs when im driving on a straight road and hit a small bump or something. what ways are there to fix this rub? im open to cutting up the fenders or even replacing them. also i would like to know if new control arms on the front and/or back would help without any mod to the fender. thanks

edit: springs are the shoddy ebay kind for 40 bucks. front springs are significantly smaller than rear. hope this helps?

RE: 17" wheels lowered
 

not a real surprise they're 17" WHEELS ON A LOWERED CAR!
you might want to consider, different springs or rolling your fenders
and i'm sure others here have more suggestions.
And don't cheap out on parts. I mean it's what your car is sitting on, so it's kind of important.

RE: 17" wheels lowered
 

how does one "roll" their fenders

RE: 17" wheels lowered
 

that's funny, because my civic is slammed (2.5" front, 3.5" rear) with 17's and I have no regular rubbing problems.

to the OP: there's four things that I can think of that would cause the rubbing:

1) too wide of wheels... if they're 17x7's, this won't be a problem
2) wrong offset... for 17x7's, you want at least a +40mm offset, preferably +42 or +45 (though with a +45mm offset, your wheels may rub the inside of the wheel well around turns if you hit a bump)
3) too low... if you're tucking more than the tread blocks in front, there's your problem. Even just tucking the tread, you might still rub around turns if you hit a bump
4) wrong tires... you'll need 205/40-17's on most civics (8th gens are the exception).

Welcome to the forum (oh, and the offset should be stamped on the inside of the wheel somewhere, usually on one of the spokes)

*edit: pic to illustrate how low you can go without rubbing on 17's:
Attachment 26381

RE: 17" wheels lowered
 

first of all, get some better springs. The ebay springs suck and are probably most of your problem. Their spring rate is probably really low, allowing for more shock travel and they probably compress too much on bumps and stuff, causing you to rub easier. Get name brand springs and then see if you have problems. The next step after that is rolling your fenders if you still have problems. You can use a baseball bat or a tool. the tool is better. here is addiction2bass' fender rolling video http://youtube.com/watch?v=QHM-A_aFCoY

RE: 17" wheels lowered
 

ya if you roll the fenders use the right tool unless its a beater where crushing a fender wouldnt be that bad ;)

you can do the ghetto baseball bat or what ever BUT thats a huge risk to do it wrong and crush your whole fender causing LOTS of repair costs for body work and paint...

dont cheap out... buy the tool and when your done with it just sell it... you dont lose much cash at all from buying it used or new..... mainly just shiping costs to and from...

but as to rubbing like already said mainly depends on tire size, wheel offset and width. and also how much ya lower the car ;)

RE: 17" wheels lowered
 

The front springs should be beefier than the rears, since the front of your car is more than a little bit heavier than the back. Maybe you put the fronts in the rear and the rear in the front?

RE: 17" wheels lowered
 

i think im going to try new springs because i don't want my struts to go on me anytime soon. im pretty tight on cash so i cant go overboard on expensive springs. does anyone have any suggestions on what i could get for under $100?

RE: 17" wheels lowered
 

you can find tein s-techs on ebay usually for like $150-$200, but I doubt you're going to find anything great for $100 (though I believe DropZone springs are around $100, and they aren't completely worthless).

But the tall springs should be up front and the shorter ones should be in back... that alone might be your problem.

RE: 17" wheels lowered
 

i have stock springs you can buy off me