K-sport coilovers / endlinks rubbing - need help!

[Bentiac]

We just finished installing the coilovers last night with 6" hyper coil springs. Had an alignment done this morning and noticed that there was a high pitch noise when turned fully to either side... took a look behind the wheel and this is what I see:





The endlinks are being pushed into the fender wall. Has anyone else had this problem? Or is this an installation error? Here is the same side with the wheel turned fully to the opposite:

 

[clement_ghost]

You put the left strut on right side and right strut on left side?

 

[Bentiac]

Unless the stickers they came with were wrong, I don't think so. Those pictures are from the left front and the sticker says left...

 

[extremez31]

I'll try not to confuse you.

Lets work on the right side first. (passenger side)

The swaybar end link needs to be on the Left hand side of the strut, can you confirm?

 

[extremez31]

I'll try not to confuse you.

Lets work on the right side first. (passenger side)

The swaybar end link needs to be on the Left hand side of the strut, can you confirm?

See image below.

 

[zps2004]

You can't install them wrong. The end link will not fit if they are swapped from left to right.

Why is there a nut on the back side of the end link between the ball and the mount to the shock? There should only be a nut on the front holding it to the shock. That extra nut would cause the ball of the end link to stick out more and hit the chassis like you have.

 

[zps2004]

So I just looked through this and it does seem like the end links have a nut on the back side. I just don't remember seeing it while swapping shocks.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/track-tests/2011-mazda-2-touring-suspension-walkaround.html

When you look at the one picture though they have the wheel turned all of the way and the end link is not close to hitting anything. Does it only hit on the one side or both? I will take a look at my Bilsteins when I get home and see how close they get to the chassis.

One other questions do you have the camber maxed out on the camber plate and the shock body?

 

[Bentiac]

Thanks for the replies...

Yes I can confirm that sway bar links are on the correct side of the strut (I don't think it could be done any other way).

Both pictures are from the left wheel/ the first one is with the tires turned all the way to the left (I think I could turn more if not for the endlinks) and the camera is pointed towards the end of the car / the second picture is with the wheels turned all the way to the right and the camera pointed to the front of the car. The exact same thing is happening on the right hand side of the car... the sway bar seems to be centered.

I don't have any upper camber adjustments... it's just the factory holes. I have -2.5 degrees camber which is a combination of the k-sports and camber bolts... I didn't make any modifications to the k-sports though. 1/16 total toe out and caster is the factory 3.5

 

[Bentiac]

We might have switched the top mounts around when changing the springs (hand)... that's the only thing that comes to mind if this is not a known issue... need to check

 

[zps2004]

That shouldn't make a difference. The stock top mounts are symmetric. Are your end links ok? For some reason it looks like yours stick out farther, but I can't tell if that is just because of the angle of the shot or not.

 

[Cleverfrog]

what it looks like OP did, unless those links came like that, is he/she put a nut on the back side to be able to tighten it together which in turn makes them stick out further causing this issue.

 

[Bentiac]

If you look at this stock picture closely and compare it to my second picture, the endlink seems to be identical (installation and the way they stick out):

 

[Cleverfrog]

Did you lower your 2? I know for the protege ksports the rear endlinks have to be longer to keep the sway bar in the correct position. Maybe the mount moves too high up when it's lowered?

This makes it look like the endlink head is under the brake line tab where as your pictures show it above it. Could be a design flaw with the ksports.

 

[Bentiac]

I'm lowered and about 1.5" from tire to fender but I doubt I'm the only one in that height with the K-sports. I've got 6" springs but there are at least 2 other autocrossers on the forum with 5.5" springs who compete at the lowest height possible... If the issue is height it would be easy... but in that case I shouldn't be the only one with this problem.

 

[Andres3165]

I had the same issue, solved it by pushing the coilover as far away from the engine on the Top adjustment (3 bolts in the engine bay); this will separate the link from the inner fender wall, then adjusted camber only with the camber bolts and slotting the wheel hub/coilover connection.
You might have to re-align the car.

Andres

 

[02semiata]

I am jealous of all the camber you guys have lol. I am at -2.0 btw I have some pictures that might help you in my build thread

 

[Bentiac]

I had the same issue, solved it by pushing the coilover as far away from the engine on the Top adjustment (3 bolts in the engine bay); this will separate the link from the inner fender wall, then adjusted camber only with the camber bolts and slotting the wheel hub/coilover connection.
You might have to re-align the car.

Andres

Thanks Andres, good to know I'm not the only one. I'll see how much I can adjust from the top. I looked earlier and I could see how the fender wall is just a bit thicker at the height we have it at and that's causing the problem.

I wonder if the aftermarket endlinks are any better. Found this for Mazda 3 but wonder if there is a comparison for the 2:

 

[Bentiac]

I am jealous of all the camber you guys have lol. I am at -2.0 btw I have some pictures that might help you in my build thread

You have some shinny housing on your coils....jealous

 

[Bentiac]

So I tried what Andres suggested... the right hand side had no more room to move and the left moved a tiny bit... both sides are still rubbing. Any other ideas?

 

[Bentiac]

So I've got responses ranging from "I had no rubbing" to "I had to hammer in the fender" not sure why the inconsistency but I've got to do something about it. I could:
1) Modify the fender wall / not an option as it's not ST legal
2) Reduce negative camber from -2.5 to almost -1.7 to get clearance / not an option
3) Alternative endlinks that don't stick out too much.

I'm going with 3 unless anyone has a better suggestion... will have to take some measurements and build my own endlinks...