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Coilover/wheel Clash Ke20


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Hey Rollaclub

 

I bought a set of wheels that were run with no problems on a lowered ke25, but when I put them on my KE20, the front right wheel and coilover hit.

the actual rim presses against the coilover, whereas i have a few mm clearance on the drivers side, and everything is good.

All wheels are the same size and offset etc (13x 5.5 + 35 offset), and the coilovers are just modified ke20 struts (weld on coilovers made by previous owner). I tried a wheel on a standard ke20 strut and there was a tiny bit of clearance (<5mm from the tire).

 

So this problem is only in one corner.

 

All i can't think of is bent strut, but it doesn't look bent. Is it possible to change the angle of the hub any how?

 

post-9647-0-38385900-1440304112_thumb.jpgpost-9647-0-02998400-1440304095_thumb.jpg

 

HELP?

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Yeah, bent strut. You might see a tiny bulge right where the tube goes into the cup. That's where the green arrow points.

 

Stand the bare struts side by side on a brick on a flat bench so the stubs ends hang over the side and measure from the stub axle to the bench. Only a mm or two on the stub will make 5mm difference on where the tyre rubs.

 

Alternatively get a wheel aligment and see what camber you have.

 

You could strip the strut, heat it up to red hot with a gas axe down by the cup and bend it straight, but it will tend to deform back again unless you reinforce it with a gusset. Then the problem becomes welding a gusset onto a cast stub cup.... That's the red line.

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Ok. Think of the original rims and tyres. Then compare this to the new rim and tyres. The new setup offset is more positive, the rims are wider and the tyres are wider.

It all adds up to a lot. The way to put on wider rims and wider tyres is to make sure the overall tyre diameter is similar and that the rim offset is set further outwards from

the strut, ie less positive. Wheels flex in motion so you will need some clearance between tyre and strut. This all affects suspension geometry and too much can have bad

handling effects. There are rule limits for registered cars.

Edited by styler
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Thanks for the replies guys. Pretty bummed! There aren't any other explanations for this problem hey. Well, is a bent strut unsafe, even if I ran lower offset wheels? Would like to get it fixed, but don't have the means myself. Any idea how much it would cost to fix the strut once I confirm bend?

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No-one would bother, just get another pair or something else that fits. The bend will be really small, but you won't know until you strip them and check one against the other.

 

If you're keen then strip it to bare, put the bearing nut on, put a metre of pipe over the nut & stub axle and heat the strut tube up in a vice. Lean on the pipe until it reaches some mark you made on the bench when you had the good strut in there.

 

That's all we used to do on the cheap-arse rally car before we could afford decent stuff. That's also where we learned we couldn't get a weld to stick to the cast stub body, but maybe a professional welder can.

 

You'll have to get them pretty exact, it would be a disaster to get positive camber! ...and don't smash it through potholes or up kerbs, or bottom the strut out, which is probably what happened to it!

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Get a standard factory wheel, ie stock rim and stock tyre fully inflated. Measure the "Backspace" and compare to your new wheels. Easy done with 2 metal rulers, one horizontially across the

back of the stock tyre and another going vertically down to the mounting flange, measure from mounting flange to bottom of horizontal ruler. Record this number in mm. Also

measure tyre to strut clearance on a mounted wheel as from factory for added clearance, you do need that clearance or close to it as wheel flex in motion.

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Some more specialized suspension places can bend struts around 1 deg around the base, any more would be cut and weld base to suit.

They usually do it to correct bent struts but sometimes for more camber for modified cars, its not an ideal solution so check with the experts first.

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