Front Wheel Rubbing

[MAGS427]

I am in a panic and very distraught. I am the excited owner of #747 picked up December 2007, an already painted non-roller. The build has gone smooth till now, yet slow. Just finished the front and rear suspension and put my wheels on today. The driver side wheel does not go a full turning circle and hits the body. When the wheels are straight the gap between the tire and the body(where the side pipes come out) on the passenger side is approx. 3" on the drivers side 1-1/2". I have checked to see if i screwed something up installing the front suspension and i think all is good. I have not dropped in the engine yet, will this make a difference? Has anyone had a similar experience? I'm also worried about my sidepipes not going through the hole i fear that the whole body on the driver side is shifted forward??

Thanks

Frank

[patrickt]

I don't have any shots of my car with the engine out and the front tires on. But when you see shots of rollers without engines you see the front fenders sitting up high over the tires because there is no weight on them. Any chance you could post some pics of your set up showing exactly where it's hitting? Maybe with a tape measure included to show some perspective?

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Are you sure you put the upper a-arms on correctly? They are offset, and if you put one on upside down, you might get the condition you describe.

[patrickt]

This shot shows most of the my passenger side knuckle/arm/sway configuration.

[MAGS427]

Thanks guys for the prompt response. I'm headed to Vermont for 2 days, so much for a happy long weekend. Patrickt, thanks for the pic, I'm going to try to look at it again on Monday and hopefully post some pictures. I can only hope it's as simple as an upside down upper arm. I dont know though i can swear that the angle of both left and right arms are the same. Worth a second look. Have a great weekend,I'll keep you posted.

[Tim Brewer]

You probably just don't have your coils set right yet, and you can't do that until your engine is installed.

[RICK LAKE]

MAGS427 Frank until the motor is in the car, I wouldn't get too crazy over a rubbing. For the front shocks and springs the collars should be about 2/3's of the way high in the front and about 1/2 in the back until the motor and your wieght are in the car and you can get on some scales and setup the weight. I have 3 shims in the front and back adjustment locations to get the camber and caster into the ball park of spec. They are 1/8" each. You will need to go to the alignment shop and have the car setup to spec after the other work is done. The specs are in the manual to give to the shop. Tell them this is what you want. When done you want about 5 1/2 inches from the floor to each corner of the frame. I measure behind the front wheels and in front of the back wheels. You also didn't say which wheel combo you are running? 15" or 17"? Get the motor in the car and give it a chance to settle with the motor and trans wieght. After 746 cars, ERA is not going to have 747 cause a problem.

[Snakebit]

Is the tire rubbing the side or the top of the fender? If it is rubbing the side, then something is screwed up. It won't matter if the engine is in or not. The spacing for the tires inside of the wheel opening should be the same on both sides. The only thing that will change when you drop the enging in is the height of the fender opening to the top of the tire.

[CJ428CJ]

Like ZOERA said, you installed the upper control arm backwards. Take a look at your assembly manual. There's a clear illustration showing that the offset goes towards the front of the car. If you installed it with the offset towards the rear, that would move the tire towards the rear of the car.

Chris

[cobred]

Are you talking about the inner wheel well directly behind the tire or a part of the painted body? If its the wheel well I think the tire rubs on most 427 eras on hard lefts, I know mine does.

[patrickt]

You can match this diagram up with my photo above and your build. This is a copyrighted drawing by Bob P. that I borrowed from the ERA manual. Hopefully he won't yell at me for ripping it.

[strictlypersonl]

You'll hear from my lawyer. (Where's Jim when I need him? Lime Rock...)

I hope that's the problem. I know that the left side clearance is about 3/8" less than the right, but 1.5" is way off.

[RICK LAKE]

cobred Your wheel should not hit any part of the car when turning. If it is, either the spring is too soft or the stablizer bar is twisting too much. If you are a big man and over the 200lb range, you might want to look at a heavier load spring or shorten the links on the sway bar for a stronger resistance of body roll. I run a race setup that is 40% stiffer than the street setup in the front end. This is with an all aluminium motor and 245 lbs of driver on 17" wheels. My car tracks flat without and roll now in the turns. If you go to a parking lot and do a couple of turns, hard right and left, look at the clearance between the tire and the fender of the car. Video Pictures are worth 1,000 words. You should see about the same clearance on both sides. Rick

[cobred]

Rick, it hits without being in the car. Been like this since new. I kind of remember talking to someone at ERA about this and they said its normal, maybe not. Im going to measure the wheelbase and see if the wheel is back on the left or if its the body or fenderwell placement. Ill report back.Thanks, Ed

[Bobcat]

I`m currently building # 757 and ran into something similar . Several questions : Is your car on the ground and no engine in it ? What size are the front tires ? My car is currently on the ERA stands and my LF tire hits the back part of the fender inner lip on the driver`s side on a left turn . There is no weight on the car , so the suspension is in full droop ... I may have to trim some off the inner fender lip to clear the 245/60R-15 Avons in the front ( which Bob told me in advance I might have to do ), but I can`t really tell until the car is on the ground , suspension height set and engine etc in it .
I remember measuring the tire clearance on both sides and it was about what Bob said ....I`ll go out later today and take some measurements on tire to fender lip measurements along with reference points and center line to center line on the front shocks for my car .
Once there is weight on the front of your car, it should sit a lot lower and the problem may vanish

[MAGS427]

Back from VT, my son was nice enough to wake me up 5:00 am so with the car in mind I headed for the garage. Here are some pictures:

Driver's side upper control arm seems right?



[/IMG]


Passenger Side:




Driver Side:



Sadly I think the obvious (upside down upper arm) may not solve it. The pics were taken with the car on a lift with no engine, even on the floor there is not much of a difference. My tires are the recommended 235/60 15's. Again the passenger side is I think perfect. I understand that the engine weight should help but it will not just favor one side? A 1 1/2 inch difference seems much. I plan on talking to the Guys tommorrow to see what they suggest.

[ERA713]

I have car #713.there is a little rubbing on a hard left turn,just enough to rub the under coating a little.sounds about like cobreds.good luck.

[Cobra 29]

If the front wheels and tires are more outboard than within spec would this contribute to the tires rubbing on the wheel wells during a tight turn?