For those of you who have ran auto-x events at Zephyrhills; has anyone else had any bad tire to fender rubbing issues??

I went to the PCA Autocross event, had a blast, great group of people and honestly probably one of my most enjoyable events thus far, until I got home and did a post-event inspection of the vehicle later that week....

I looked at my two front tires, and the outer edges are chopped up a bit and worn down, which I suppose is from the sliding and understeer in the turns, and is what I expected, but then I looked at the inner lip of the fender at the top center area and saw bare metal!!! The drivers side was MUCH worse than the passenger side, but I could tell there was some serious rubbing.

Now before the event there wasnt one paint chip at all on the inner fender lips, and have one prior event at Sebring since the car was lowered, and the car was fine after that.

Then started looking at the video I took with the GoPro, as well as the multiple pictures that were taken of the car courtesy of the event photographer, and determined that based on the area of the fender where the tire was rubbing against, as well as the drivers side being much worse than the passengers, that the tires were turned at the time the rubbing was occurring, and there was some serious weight transfer to the drivers side front area, which is the 180 degree turn around area at the farthest point in the track:



here is a video of it; you can hear the car bottom out pretty good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6JrFHP6iWc



Now it is not the turn around itself that caused the rubbing, because there is still some space between the tire and the fender at this point, but it is that damn dip in the middle of the turn around where the car practically bottoms out. This dip is causing the tires to make contact with the inner fender lips; thus causing this rubbing.

First off, is there anyone else with a lowered car having this issue? I cant believe I would be the only one having this problem.

Second, is there ANYTHING we can do about that dip? I'd be willing to pitch in some $$ and time to help fill that area in and make the turn around area level. I'm very frustrated that I wont be able to run the Zephyrhills course anymore unless I change my suspension setup, because its very convenient to where I live, and I had a blast with the group of people I ran with.

Time to find a good paint shop; I can't imagine repainting that small area will be expensive. I put some touch-up on it for now so it doesnt rust at all.

 

Pending your spring and rebound rate and how hard you are forcing your car through the turn. I ate up my Hoosiers at Ft Myers during Pro Solo and my car has stiff suspension but the instructor and I were hard on it non stop.

Also your tire pressure comes into play. Not to mention the surface you are dealing with.

As for the paint chips the cheapest investment is tape it up. You'll see you aren't the only one. Heck omgwtfbbq makes designs out of tape.



just my .02 . there are def some better and more knowledgeable people on here that can assist you further.

 

Roll your fenders?

 

Sorry, dude, the site is not the problem. Your suspension and/or choice of wheel/tire combination is the problem. If your setup allows a tire to contact a fender under ANY circumstance, it's nobody's fault but yours. I'm gonna bet that your car wouldn't have any rub issues as-delivered from the factory with the factory-specified tires. You've changed something (or things) to allow that to happen.

FYI, there are dips at SPC as well, and occasionally they come into play on an autocross course. Just one of the many things* an experienced autocrosser looks for when they walk a course, especially if their car is sensitive to such things.

* a long list that would include things like general course navigation, changes in pavement type or smoothness, sand and dirt, humps and bumps, dips and ruts, broken or deteriorated pavement, puddles, changes in pavement camber, painted lines or other surface treatments, and anything else that could affect how the course should be driven in your particular car.

 

lol the guy wants help and you blame him???? good old tr

 

He just knows the frustration of every autocrosser who has spent countless hours and dollars trying to make the widest wheels possible fit under your car. It's all part of the game.

 

[Gently]The guy wants help changing the event surface to suit his car. We should all be so lucky. [/Gently] Moreover, modifying pavement isn't trivial. Filling in a dip is several thousands of dollars to do it right (even if it's not part of an airfield, as Z-hills is...more complication). Even patching holes is an undertaking, and not often cheap.

 

"The guy" is new to autocross and he's approaching a problem from the wrong angle. Perhaps I could have sugar-coated my response a little more, but I didn't.

 

stock wheels and tires. only thing is a 1.5" drop from the H&R springs.

 

Yes, the H&R springs lowered the car about 1.5" all around; I doubt it would rub from the factory. I completely understand, to me it is just frustrating that in order to run that course I'll have to go back to stock springs. I'm going to run SPC today and see if there is any rubbing at all.