Front Wheels hit during turns

[jhand]

I just added the front sway bar and noticed over the weekend if turning sharp (either left or right) the front wheels hit the backside of the inner fender. I don't remember this being an issue last year, could the sway bar push the wheels back a little during hard turns.
Thanks
Jay

[DanEC]

The sway bars wouldn't do anything to deflect the lower control arm forward or backward in turns due to the links and the rigedity of the a-arm bushings. Must be something else. What diameter tires are you using? I'm running slightly oversize tires on the front of mine and I had to shave a little off the driver side wheel well opening down at the bottom to clear.

[jhand]

I will have to check tonight but I think I went with the 235's

[cscobra]

I'm using the standard 235/60R-15s all around with swaybars front and rear. I had to shave back both front lower wheelwell openings to clear the tires in all conditions. No problems now.

[strictlypersonl]

Pre-731 cars sometimes were tight on the back vertical section of the wheel house. Later cars sometimes required some trimming of the inside of bottom lip as noted in the manual.

[jhand]

Thanks for the info, got some trimming to do tonight

[DanEC]

So it's hitting the lower fiberglass fender lip and not the inside wheel well aluminum panels?

[cscobra]

Mine (#766) never hit aluminum--only the inner fiberglass corners of the rear edge of the front wheel openings. Also, not much material needs to be removed for complete clearance.

[jhand]

its hitting the inner fiberglass wall not the corners or edge, it hits pretty good too on sharp turns

[ERA2076]

Is the car setup to the specified ride height? Put the car on some blocks that match the specs for chassis height. Pull the wheels, shocks, and springs, and disconnect the roll bar - reinstall the wheels and fully cycle the suspension on each side thru its full range of motion including steering lock to lock - record findings. Reconnect roll bar and cycle both sides checking for any interference (can't imagine, but you will already be there) If you find trouble, correct as necessary.

I put a 225/65 on the front of mine. As a quick check on Friday I could not get a 3.5 inch block under the front tire when the front tire was against the inner glass in full bump - 15.5 degrees of LCA angle and the tire is into the fender.

With the taller tire (and the chassis at spec height) the LCA is around 6.5 degrees effectively reducing bump travel as the chassis is lowered with respect to the height of a 225 tire. In order to correct it, I need to raise the chassis or change stuff to get the LCA parallel to the ground when the car is sitting at spec height.

My point is not about my scenario, rather the physical limitations of the interacting parts which need to be understood to solve the problem.

If everything is perfect, do you have enough spring?

I have a feeling something is a miss in the setup.

If you really suspect the roll bar, you could disconnect it, zip tie it out of the way, and drive it to check it out (then put it on blocks and spend the day studying ).

It seems the car is pretty accurately built around a 235 tire - at least on an FIA. I would verify the front ride height first, if you have not already. On mine with a 235, the LCA was parallel to the ground with the chassis at spec height. If they are tipped up, you should consider raising the chassis height which will get you off of the tire and may, or may not, completely solve your problem.

If this ends up a double post - sorry.

chr

[strictlypersonl]

A technical note...

There is nothing magic about having the lower control arm horizontal at ride height. What matters is the roll center height during dynamic actions. Basically, I've compromised in the geometry so that my "ideal" roll center height comes somewhere in between the street settings and what I expect people will use for pure track use. However, neither extreme works very differently from "ideal". This ain't Formula One dynamics.

[ERA2076]

What is your ride height expectation for pure track use?

x-chr