Protege 18s Rub, HELP!! Aftermarket struts needed?????

[xDJ DUBx]

Alright so I knew when I got my pro, it had to be 18s all the way.

They're Sport Max 786s.

I was happy when I got them, then one night I had a car full and every little turn, dip, or bump made the tires rub, BAD.

At first I thought it was the wells, come to find out its the bottom of the strut. I can't even fully fit my pinky between the tire and the strut in the back. So my proty, a 5 passenger car, is now a 3 passenger car because I refuse to have more then one person in the backseat because thats when they'll rub on things that throw the weight. So I need to know, has anyone had this problem? Will after market struts fix my problem? Could I possibly bend the strut plate slightly upward to give just a little more rub for my tires?

HELP!!!!

 

[NCZ13]

yeah... get smaller wheels. 18s are a bit to big. your sacrificing alot of power to have those monstrosities on your car. (braking distance, turning radius, weight, not to mention acceleration)

to me it sounds like your wheels are to wide, and your offset is way off then where it should be. aftermarket struts wont solve your problem...

 

[njaremka]

need to know the specs on the wheels, and the size of the tires. also, if they are rubbing on the strut, it would be all the time, since the relationship between the strut and the tire should never change as the car drives around.

 

[MSP2003.5_Nick]

Are you lowered or stock ride height?

Aftermarket struts with adjustable dampening is what you need. If you want to run big tires you have to have a stiff suspension. I've got 18x8 with 215/35/18 tires and its tuckin rim in the front and tuckin tire in the back. Using the K-Sport full strut coilovers and had to roll fenders. I of course don't do this for performance its for looks while cruisin and I LOVE how they look. When I'm at the track I have 15" rota slipstreams in the reare and slicks on stealies in the front. Street power doesnt matter at all because to race on the street is ILLEGAL anyway, so I don't ever race.

If its that close to your strut you might need spacers, but definetly a stiff strut is what you're gonna need. With a full car and trunk the ody goes down half an inch at most, which is nothing. You probably go down 5 inches.

Also might need an allightment, if you're cambers are wrong that could cause some rubbing issues. Especially with a big wide tire every little mm counts.

Lets us know your wheel specs

 

[aMaff]

dude if the tire's rubbing the strut, no amount of stiffening will stop that. What he needs is a wheel / tire combo that actually fits. They're trying to put the circle in the square hole.

 

[xDJ DUBx]

The solutions I need - There is a certain amount of space from where the spindles for the lugs are to the strut plate, is there an aftermarket strut I could buy that would widin this space just a little which is actuality would raise my car?

Wheel/Tire Specs - 18x7.5 with 225/40/18 and Im also riding stock height, the 18s made it look close to the body enough for me not to want to lower it plus where I live, theyre a lot of small little steep inclines that I cold easily catch my bumpers with if I was any lower.

Jeremiad - I know I could get smaller tires but that will cost too much. Thats the thing though, if u look at the back wheels while its parked, theyre not touching, theyre just very close but as soon as u take a dip hard or have ppl in the back to throw the weight easyer, u hear them rub and its gotta be the struts because thats the only place where there are wear spots from the tire, the wheels are clean. Thats where Im like wtf?

MSP2003.5 - Yeah I think 18s, looks wise, fit the proty body tight. Thats why Im trying my best not to get smaller rims. Spacers seem like they would work but the strut plate is pretty big so by the time I pushed the wheels out enough to clear the strut, my back wheels would be sticking way out.

 

[MSP2003.5_Nick]

Thats really wierd I've never heard of that happening really with stock suspension. I think its just a combination of a lot of things thats making it happen. Stiffer suspension would prevent the tire from over coming anywhere near the strut, but i mean if you don't want to spend the money and like your ride heaight then probably dont wanna do that. You might even have bad struts, should consider checking them, they shouldnt sink that much. I think the tire size is the problem though. Whats recommended on the protege for 18s is 215/35/18 for 17s its 215/40/18. You have 225/40/18 so its too wide and too thick.

I'd recommend just waiting for a bit and the next time you need new tires get 215/35/18 and see how that treats ya. Rubbing wont really hurt a whole lot especially if its not that often. I mean its not good but still not that bad if you can still get 3 people in.

When I first got my 18s I couldnt even have me in it and not rub the fenders in back lol. Needed spacers in front not to touch struts too. 8 inch is friggen wide!! Took me a bit of work but they fit good now with not more than 1 mm to spare haha its tight but it works so yours will too they are thinner.

maybe post a picture of it se we can see whats really going on.

 

[xDJ DUBx]

How much money do u think it would be for the stiffer struts? I mean the ride height can be fixed with springs so if I got those struts, Id just buy some springs to bring it back down. Ill do, Ill go to a suspension place and have them check em out.

Ahaha, thats cus you did some crazy s#!& with yours. Well see, my rims are used and a little beat up so I just might say forget it, sell my rims, buy new ones of the same in maybe a 17.

 

[CrazyCaker]

Wheel/Tire Specs - 18x7.5 with 225/40/18

That tire size is way too big. And what offset are the rims? You should be on 215/35R18 for rubber and have a +45 or higher offset.

 

[MSP2003.5_Nick]

Well you can get a full set of tokico HPs for like 350 at protegegarage.com They are pretty cheap. You could get the Tokico adjustable illuminas for under 500 too. Tokico HPs come on the MSP stock with racing beat springs. I had them with Teins for a while, looked good but bit I wanted it WAY lower

First step would be to get it checked out. Most shops have like a flat rate of 20 bucks to take a look which isnt too bad. They would be able to tell you what you need better than some guy online whos trying to use his minds eye to see what you're talking about lol.

Just make sure you dont get an asshole looking at it, or an old guy who wants you to get 13 inch stealies instead.

 

[aMaff]

Nick, how are new struts going to help??? The strut moves with the wheel and tire up / down, so stiffer struts isn't going to help.

 

[MSP2003.5_Nick]

well from what he was describing I though he was saying the wheel is sitting under the base of the spring seat so the top of the tire hits the bottom of the spring seat. Which makes sense because the stock ons are huge and wheels are supposed to fit under the spring seat. Stiff suspension would stop it from depressing enough to touch that.

I think thats what hes talking about anyway. Thats why we need pictures!!!

I attached the worst paint drawing ever but thats what i see in my mind lol
I dont even think i know what I'm talking about because the strut is attached to the wheel so it should never touch the bottom of the spring seat lol. I dont even know we need PICTURES

 

[aMaff]

Yeah...that's not how it works. I see what you're saying, but that's not how the strut works.

EDIT Your diagram is correct. Now show me how adding stiffness above the spring perch helps the situation....

 

[MSP2003.5_Nick]

Yeah i just realized I'm dumb, spring seat is attached to the wheel so they will never ever touch......... I dont even know anymore. What am i doing with my life man!!(boom08)(chair)

EDIT: what do you think the problem is?

 

[aMaff]

Yeah i just realized I'm dumb, spring seat is attached to the wheel so they will never ever touch......... I dont even know anymore. What am i doing with my life man!!(boom08)(chair)

HAHAHAHA don't worry about it. I just couldn't figure out any other way to explain that.


The only thing I can think of is that over bumps, the alignment's changing (which is normal) allowing the tire to hit the strut body. Only thing I can't figure out is that McStrut suspensions gain POSITIVE camber under compression, meaning it should get further from the strut. Unless once it bounces back up it's hitting the strut then. I dunno.

 

[MSP2003.5_Nick]

Makes sense, and the tire size probably doesnt help a whole lot.

So the verdict is....... DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!

215/35/18 tires
get an alignment

Dont get struts, I'm dumb........
Unless you wanna get struts..... Because they are gonna be shiny..... and shiny things cant be bad.....

 

[aMaff]

I don't think the alignment's the problem either. I'm just saying that's what happens under suspension movement: the alignment dynamically changes. Perfectly normal behavior. Tho, it probably wouldn't hurt to get it checked.

I think that the tire, wheel (probably both) sizing is wrong.

 

[xDJ DUBx]

Tire Offset - 40

Here are a couple of pictures of the problem.
At the moment theyre not touching but thats because Im not hitting a dip hard or have 4 ppl in the back

 

[BlueWolfCry]

I didn't read through, but it's prob the offset. Your tires are a bit big, but I don't think they should cause rubbing. The strut won't change much. If it's the offset, you'll need to switch it out or have less ppl in it.

And to reply to the 2nd post, I think 18's look great.

edit: ok 40 is too low, 45 is the lowest it should be.

 

[aMaff]

you mean wheel offset?