Tire Fitment and Lowering Question

[rold420a]

I've looked through the forums and learned alot, but i haven't seen anyone with my specific tire setup and I wanted a definite answer from someone who knows. I'm running 4g eclipse rims, which are 18x8 and have a +46mm offset, and they're wrapped in 215/45r18 yokohamas. When putting on these new tires, my mechanic told me that the 225s he originally fitted to the rim rubbed the inner knuckle. Using the 215s solved this issue. Now I'm contemplating lowering my car about 1.5" with the Tokico HPK series shocks and springs. I want to know, will lowering my car cause the tire to rub the inner knuckle? These tires currently fit fine now with no rubbing whatsoever.

 

[undefined0000]

If you're going to lower without being able to cancel the camber, then there is a chance that the tires will rub on that knuckle.

 

[rold420a]

I was planning on using the diy rear camber kit. Would that be enough or would I also need to correct the fronts

 

[white lighting]

On my old setup I had18x9 with a +35 offset 245/45/18 and had no problem. But I do have d2 adjustables. And I would correct both front and rear or you be wearing the tires out a lot faster.

 

[undefined0000]

Best bet would be to correct both. See my civic that I had? Can almost promise you those tires will wear VERY quick

 

[rold420a]

Fixing the camber wouldn't be my issue, I'm just worried that I would lower it and find out that it rubs on the inside.

 

[undefined0000]

Well when you start getting too low, you'll run the inner fenderwell and on turns you'll rub the sides of the tires, when you hit bumps, the tires will skid the top of the fender wells. I've been through it all.

 

[kidtsi]

I dont see how a solid part would change by lowering, the knuckle would move with the rim, so there is no change.

 

[rold420a]

i misspoke when i said it was rubbing the knuckle. I meant to say the control arm. got them confused

 

[paul si]

Keep in mind thet the 2gb has more room on the inside maybe 1/4 inch. The knuckle is curved in a little more so you have a little more space then 2ga.

 

[rold420a]

Would lowering my car decrease the amount of space between the control arm and the tire? That's the space I'm worried about.

 

[Gsk8ster]

hey i have a 98 spyder and i just lowered mine last month. the drop was supposed to be 2 inches but i think it went a whole lot lower. anyways my wheels are under the front fender(you cannot put a stick straight in it has to be at an angle) and the upper control arm doesn't rub because it follows the wheel when it gets lowered. but I did have a question about my suspension = i bought my car july 15 and it had one problem according to the guy selling it: it needed struts. the front of the car bobbed up and down when going over any bumps. so, two birds one stone thing, i bought some new struts and lowering springs (2"). the car dropped, my guess around 3-3.5" in the front and 2.5 in the back (havent measured yet), but the bobbing went away 1.5 months later the bobbing is back just as bad only the front and over bumps in the road. Any suggestions??? tnx

 

[rold420a]

what kind of springs and struts did you install? if you installed oem replacement struts, they aren't design to handle the increased stress from using lowering springs. It wouldn't be surprising if the reason your issue is back is the struts weren't strong enough.

 

[rEclipserGST]

hey i have a 98 spyder and i just lowered mine last month. the drop was supposed to be 2 inches but i think it went a whole lot lower. anyways my wheels are under the front fender(you cannot put a stick straight in it has to be at an angle) and the upper control arm doesn't rub because it follows the wheel when it gets lowered. but I did have a question about my suspension = i bought my car july 15 and it had one problem according to the guy selling it: it needed struts. the front of the car bobbed up and down when going over any bumps. so, two birds one stone thing, i bought some new struts and lowering springs (2"). the car dropped, my guess around 3-3.5" in the front and 2.5 in the back (havent measured yet), but the bobbing went away 1.5 months later the bobbing is back just as bad only the front and over bumps in the road. Any suggestions??? tnx

Doesn't matter what brand the struts were. You lowered the car 2 whole inches. Over time springs start to sag. You never mentioned the brand, so chances are the spring rates are not high like a good quality springs would be. If you would have went with a 1.2" - 1.5" drop, you may have had better luck.

As of now, without checking your suspension we can only guess & assume the struts are blown.

 

[Gsk8ster]

i never thought of that but the brand is an off brand, the cheapest i could find on ebay - "Lotek" but it was around 230 bucks for the entire setup (4 lowering springs and 4 struts) the person i bought them from said on the listing that they are meant for aftermarket springs and can handle lowering springs perfectly. I am wondering if it may be something else in the suspension... i already know that my "cv axle" (i think thats what its called) is ruined because the boot somehow split and there is grease everywhere around it, is there anything else that might cause this bobbing in the front of the car?? thnx for the replies
here is what i bought:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-New-LoTek...its=Model:Eclipse&hash=item1c366919c5&vxp=mtr

 

[eDeclpse92]

Either you got a heck of a deal or someone sold you something that doesn't work very well. Blown struts would be the cause of your symptoms. I haven't heard of that brand before which you might get told, there's your problem. I ended up spending over double that on kyb AGX and megan springs for all four corners. It just sounds like you may have gotten a cheap part that doesn't work. Did you read any reviews on the struts?

Edit: I did some searching around (mainly googling reviews and experiences) on this brand, and its mixed reviews. Some say they are a great bang for your buck, then others say they made a huge mistake and wasted their money. Also, from what I've read, they don't truley have a "lifetime" warrenty. I don't know specifications, but usually when you lower a car, you void the warrenty on the struts even though i saw the lotek were "able" to handle lowering springs. I also saw that their shocks are 1" inch lower than stock struts. That might be why your car is lowered more than you thought.

I would advise against going cheap on something thats important on your car which is a lot hahaha. Your life may depend on it one day.

 

[Gsk8ster]

so much for reviews, i am reading them now and they say they blow in a couple months

but they have a lifetime warranty....it was a pain in the a** to put them on, i dont really have the money for any others though, so i guess im stuck

 

[LandoAWD]

Dear everyone,
STOP BUYING SHIT PARTS.

Sincerely,
Everyone else

OP: Offsets are wrong for 8" or bigger. Think +38 to +35 range.

 

[rold420a]

Unfortunately the tires came with the car, so im stuck with the 46 mm offset. I'm gunna have to do some measuring, but from what it's sounding like, I don't think ill be able to lower it without rubbing.

 

[kidtsi]

You have to understand than when you lower your car the knucle/arm moves with your tire, they are 2solid parts bolted together so the height of you car wont affect the distance between tire and knuckle, im surprise nobody stated this already.

 

[Gsk8ster]

^^^ thats what i said but you clearly explained it better than me -_-
and yes not more shit parts,
that being said I can get a catback system on ebay for 99 bucks shipped---OFF BRAND!!
Learned my lesson once and im not doing that again..
so, what would you guys recommend that i could get for the cheapest but not off brand and that would last a minimum of 5 years (the amount of time i expect to keep my car) from a reputable brand??
preferrably 3" pipe with 4" or bigger tip!! Thanks again!

 

[rold420a]

kidtsi, thank you for clearing that up with me. So if I lowered it, I would only have to worry about it hitting the inner fender? I don't think it would rub with only a 1.3"-1.5" drop right?

 

[eDeclpse92]

^^^ You are correct. You will not hit the inner fender.

 

[WES_393]

I'm running 4g eclipse rims, which are 18x8 and have a +46mm offset, and they're wrapped in 215/45r18 yokohamas. When putting on these new tires, my mechanic told me that the 225s he originally fitted to the rim rubbed the inner knuckle. Using the 215s solved this issue. Now I'm contemplating lowering my car about 1.5" with the Tokico HPK series shocks and springs. I want to know, will lowering my car cause the tire to rub the inner knuckle? These tires currently fit fine now with no rubbing whatsoever.

I have 18x8 +40 rims with 235/40 Pirelli tires, and Tokico HPK kit with Blue shocks. I have about 10-15mm between the tire and my 2ga rear knuckles with −1.7° of camber. I barely rubbed the inner fender and had to roll the fender joint which is no big deal.

Part of your issue might be the tire height. On these cars, a 45 sidewall is too tall for an 18" rim. A 235/40 tire sits right in the curve of the rear knuckles. So if your stuck using 45 height tires, then I'd suggest some high quality spacers and (if needed) some extended wheel studs with proper lug nuts.

so, two birds one stone thing, i bought some new struts and lowering springs (2"). the car dropped, my guess around 3-3.5" in the front and 2.5 in the back (havent measured yet), but the bobbing went away 1.5 months later the bobbing is back just as bad only the front and over bumps in the road. Any suggestions??? tnx

There's very few quality OEM shocks that can handle being used with lowering springs. You'd be lucky to get more than a year out of them. To my knowledge, Koni Yellow's are the only replacement shock that was designed to be used with a lower ride height. Tokico Blue/Illumina shocks hold up OK, but still fail prematurely. So it's not surprising that cheap eBay shocks couldn't handle a few months.

The car sitting lower than expected is probably caused by the springs. For one, the Spyder is very heavy for a FWD car (over 3,000lbs). It also doesn't help that the springs are from a questionable source. Their spring height might be correct, but who knows what the spring rate is. Chances are they're too soft to support a 1.5 ton car without compressing farther than expected.

But I would suggest researching any other questions you have, and start your own thread if necessary.