my wheels hate me..
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 366
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my wheels hate me.. PICS!
Hello all,
I've recently lowered my car with H&R springs, Bilstein Sport shocks. The spring pads are Bump2 for rear and Bump3 for front..
Here are 2 pics... Just to give you an idea of what my car looks like..
Anyway, I discovered a funny thing after installing the new "stuff" (suspension and AMG wheels).. Before my installation, I used to run the W210 8J*17 wheels (as shown in my signature) and I experienced lots of rubbing at the top of the fender.. I got fed up and got myself some proper wheels (AMG 7.5J * 17, offset I think is 35 or 37), running 215/45/17 tires..
The funny thing is that my RIGHT wheel rubs the lower portion of the fender... As in where the two-tone bit is.. My left wheel is totally fine.. I am really confused about this
and this drives me mad as I've been trying to eliminate the rubbing problem since somewhat a year ago 
... The wheels no longer rub at the top of the fender though, thank god. 
Any ideas/opinions are grately appreciated,
Jeff
I've recently lowered my car with H&R springs, Bilstein Sport shocks. The spring pads are Bump2 for rear and Bump3 for front..
Here are 2 pics... Just to give you an idea of what my car looks like..
Anyway, I discovered a funny thing after installing the new "stuff" (suspension and AMG wheels).. Before my installation, I used to run the W210 8J*17 wheels (as shown in my signature) and I experienced lots of rubbing at the top of the fender.. I got fed up and got myself some proper wheels (AMG 7.5J * 17, offset I think is 35 or 37), running 215/45/17 tires..
The funny thing is that my RIGHT wheel rubs the lower portion of the fender... As in where the two-tone bit is.. My left wheel is totally fine.. I am really confused about this
and this drives me mad as I've been trying to eliminate the rubbing problem since somewhat a year ago ... The wheels no longer rub at the top of the fender though, thank god. Any ideas/opinions are grately appreciated,
Jeff
Last edited by jeffreyli86; Jul 13, 2006 at 02:17 PM.
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From: Seattle
1990 300ce
mine did that too. How severe is the rubbing? My tires eventually just shaved away the plastic where it needed to... the rubbing was very minor, and it left no grooves whatsoever in my tires... At least it's rubbing in a place where it's not visible.
Thread Starter
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Originally Posted by Bigpete123
mine did that too. How severe is the rubbing? My tires eventually just shaved away the plastic where it needed to... the rubbing was very minor, and it left no grooves whatsoever in my tires... At least it's rubbing in a place where it's not visible.
when I was braking heavily to avoid traffic tonight on the highway).. I can take a pic of the area where the tire rubs.. As far as I can see, it has done no damage whatsoever to the tire but I think a bit of the rubber part of the fender has been shaved OFF (you can see the metal)..Could this problem be due to me not getting alignment done after lowering the car? This is actually on my priority list but I just don't have the time to bring the car to the mech this week, or the next
Cheers,
Jeff
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From: Houston, Texas
Dora the Explorer
If your wheel is rubbing the lower back part of the wheelwell, you may have a bent control arm. Look at your wheel and see if it sits closer to the back of the wheelwell. It should be even and the distance to the back should be the same on both front wheels.
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From: Boulder, CO
86 W124
Get an alignment, my car used to rub at full steering left with stock everything, after the alignment that was fixed. You may need to rebuild the lower control arm bushings which is always fun but your alignment specialist should be able to tell you.
The amg spacer kit is way expensive for what it is. Try researching what components make it up and then go to home depot and mix and match.
The amg spacer kit is way expensive for what it is. Try researching what components make it up and then go to home depot and mix and match.
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Thread Starter
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Thanks for the replies..
Are the control arms expensive to fix? I've spent enough on the car already this month and I would hate to have to spend more
Also, should I take my car to garages offering laser alignment or are traditional methods good enough?
Cheers,
Jeff
Are the control arms expensive to fix? I've spent enough on the car already this month and I would hate to have to spend more
Also, should I take my car to garages offering laser alignment or are traditional methods good enough?
Cheers,
Jeff
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Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 462
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From: Boulder, CO
86 W124
anyone who can do alignments on lowered cars is good enough. The control arm bushings are cheap but you have to drop the control arm in order to change them which means compressing the spring. They are most likely in greeat shape and you just need an alignment.
Pete
Pete
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Originally Posted by ptoro01
They are most likely in greeat shape and you just need an alignment.
Pete
Pete
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From: London, UK
W124
W124s are not easy to align. You need somewhere that can do a proper four wheel alignment. There are different settings for lowered cars. Make sure they know this.
The AMG spacer kit is just a plastic bush to hold the fender away from the chassis to allow wider AMG wheels. Any plastic bush will do.
The AMG spacer kit is just a plastic bush to hold the fender away from the chassis to allow wider AMG wheels. Any plastic bush will do.
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From: Houston, Texas
Dora the Explorer
Originally Posted by jeffreyli86
...what could be the culprit for my RIGHT wheel to be nearer to the front doors than the LEFT ones?
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From: Long Beach, Ca
lots of cars
Yeah, you got something wrong with that suspension. I got 18x8 35mm offset 225/40/18 tires and i tried to make them rub yesturday and couldn't do it until the tires started to squeek...
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Thanks once again for all the replies and sorry for bumping this old thread up again..
Anyway, I cannot refrain from asking this one stupid question.. Since the alignment of my car is not right (due to maybe a bent control arm), can I run the car like this for another 1 or 2 weeks?
I tried to book the car in for the coming Saturday but my mech can't make it. I am far too busy during the weekdays to drop the car off .. I've heard from people that this may cause premature wear to part of my new tires (maybe the outer edges may wear unevenly and quicker)..
So, what is my position here? Is it best for me to avoid using the car until I get it all fixed? To describe the situation a bit, the car will not run in a straight line if I get go of the wheel but it will only pull slowly to the left.. If I want to keep the car straight, I will have to hold the wheel at the 1 o'clock position (normal should be 12 o'clock)..
Please advise as I only just got some new wheels and tires and I seriously don't want to ruin them
Cheers
Anyway, I cannot refrain from asking this one stupid question.. Since the alignment of my car is not right (due to maybe a bent control arm), can I run the car like this for another 1 or 2 weeks?
I tried to book the car in for the coming Saturday but my mech can't make it. I am far too busy during the weekdays to drop the car off
.. I've heard from people that this may cause premature wear to part of my new tires (maybe the outer edges may wear unevenly and quicker)..So, what is my position here? Is it best for me to avoid using the car until I get it all fixed? To describe the situation a bit, the car will not run in a straight line if I get go of the wheel but it will only pull slowly to the left.. If I want to keep the car straight, I will have to hold the wheel at the 1 o'clock position (normal should be 12 o'clock)..
Please advise as I only just got some new wheels and tires and I seriously don't want to ruin them
Cheers
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From: Seattle
1990 300ce
keep in mind that I am not a professional, but I don't think you will run into major issues if you keep driving like this. If the rubbing is really severe, that's a different story. But my impression is that you aren't rubbing all that badly.
