245/45/17's on FMS C Springs?

[Prime Lord]

When I first put the springs on this car many years ago, the car did have a rake to it. it was fine w/ the 16" Pony rims at the time. Now that I have the 17" 99 Cobra rims though, the front rubs like a S.O.B. The edge of the tire is rubbing on the fender itself. Every bump in the road, on full lock turns, and ALL the time when braking. The conversion was done w/ '95 spindles, '95 ball joints (no spacer needed) & stock everything else.

Driver side:

Passenger side:

Now, it still needs an alignment after C/C plates but it seems like the only way to get away from this is to put an insane amount of camber on there. Not exactly what I want to do. Hell, I don't know if enough CAN be put on there.

Is this a typical thing w/ FMS C Springs? Do I just need to go to a different spring setup or is there something wrong here?

Oh...and the back rides like this:

Yes, I know I need to adjust my proportioning valve...actually did it after I noticed how the rear brakes were barely being used.

 

[Prime Lord]

Anyone? Bueller?

Is there maybe a spacer I can put on the spring to regain ½" so that these will clear? I mean there are people running 18's that don't have this problem, right?

 

[PUNISHER RACING]

i have never had luck with a 45 on the front of a fox lowered I always ran a 35 it seems your front springs are a bit wore. what size rear run a 75 that will fill it up

 

[Prime Lord]

Okay, if that was the case, a simple new set of springs would solve the problem. I can try that.

 

[Mustang5L5]

94-95 Spindles DO increase front track slightly. I know popular myth is that they don't but they increase the track 5mm each side, which isnt much. The 96+ spindles increase track 8mm more on top of that 5mm number...for 14 total.

I run 235/45/17's on my 17x8's for that exact reason. I'm damn close though with my C springs.


On and with C springs, my car sits pretty much like yours front and rear. This is the best pic i have to show it, but it's before i installed my 13" front brakes. The wheel gap remained the same though

 

[stang&2Birds]

I have my car set up for handling and performance, not for looks.

To get world-class braking on a Stang, you need good 245+ tires on the front with at least Cobra brakes. Also, you should have ABS.

I have an '86 with less fender width, a heavy AOD, 3-core radiator (more weight up front), iron heads (alum are less weight up front), bigger/wider than typical 245's - RE720s, and I have zero problems with my OEM non-modified front fenders. Oh yea, I even run a 1/4" wheel spacer up front to give me more clearance between the SS brake hose and the inside of my rim.

It's all a matter of exactly what you want. Sorry, in reality, you can not have every option. For example, lowering a Fox or sn95 more than 1" screws up a number of geometry issues in a Stang. So, for handling, you never lower a Stang more than 1" unless there are *major significant* changes (Griggs - $$$) to a Stang's suspension.

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/misc/Mustang1986_with_Mach1_springs/

 

[SuperStang83]

You should roll those fenders too.

 

[stang&2Birds]

You should roll those fenders too.

Only if you want them to rust. If you roll the fenders, they will trap water, snow, dirt, sand, etc. Depending on when you drive, age, and many other factors will effect _when_ the fender rusts.

My car is over 21 years old, was a daily driver through hurricanes, snow, blizzards, etc for over 10 years. You don't see any rust on my fenders now, do you. My Stang is my main DD in the spring/ summer/ fall. I drive it through rain and don't give it a second thought. As long as it's above ~45F, I'll drive my Stang. Below ~45F, my summer-only ultra performance tires suck!

If you only care about your Stang for the next ~5-10 years, roll the fenders. Besides, you can always replace the fenders when they start to rust.

A guy at a local body shop says he loves rolled fenders because they give him more business for fender replacements. So, he's all for them! But, he was nice enough to tell me *not* to do it. Guess that since I don't have a ricer ground-scraping car, he was nice to me.

 

[stang&2Birds]

ARGG - Move the F****** edit button to where it belongs - ON THE RIGHT!

 

[mfewtrail]

I've only seen one car with a rubbing issue like yours. It had C springs on it and 245/45/17's. The tires were rubbing the inside of the fender on it only after the front struts were completely worn out/dead. The car had basically no front suspension travel and rode like a horse & buggy. After swapping in new struts, the car sat a tad higher and no longer rubbed at all.

 

[Prime Lord]

Well, new shocks & struts are on my x-mas list, cause I need them BAD! 2Birds, How much lift did you end up with after all the spacers and isolators on the front springs? And I'm with you...performance over looks. I would like to auto-x this thing.

In regards to ABS, my spindles have the ABS rings on them, and I hope to do an IRS swap so that will be ABS equipped too...at that point, I'll probably go to ABS (but have a kill switch for driving like a madman).

Okay, well that answers that. Thx 5L5, I thought the rake on the C springs was unusual, but I guess not.

 

[stang&2Birds]

The Steeda spacer is 1/4". Therefore, it'll raise the fender height by ~0.40". The MR (Motion Ratio) is *not* 0.5 on a Stang. That's just another example of incorrect info.

The strut does NOT effect fender height! IMHO, ignore that that post. That's the nicest way I can put it. A very very damaged strut will BIND! IMHO, struts damaged like that result in a car that can't/shouldn't be driven and are very unsafe.

Also, you should always have Fox struts on a Fox car. Sn95 struts are longer.


IMHO:
Gee, C (or B or any of the springs that lower a Stang more than 1") springs and a damaged strut - go figure. Let me guess, it'll snow in the winter in New England this year? Gee, go figure. What a surprise - not!
Hey, I'm also psychic. Let me guess that there are also stress fractures on the strut towers. Gee, another surprise on a car with springs that lower a Stang more than 1" - not!

I've posted many times about the correct way to have lowered springs and many of the considerations. It often gets into a p****sing match with people that have lowering springs. Just because you can buy something, that does not mean that it's a well designed mod. Companies are in business to _sell_ stuff. If people want to buy stupid "tornado" intake things, companies like Summitt will sell it. The same is true for springs and many other products (especially anything that has to do with EFI!). Always remember the phrase: "Buyer Beware".


So....
Some more info:
http://veryuseful.com/InvisionBoard/index.php?showtopic=8

For more info on the proper way to have a spring rate vs a drop, see the section that has:
1.5" (more travel with OEM springs)
------------------------------------- (divided by)
2" (total jounce with stupid B springs)


With ABS, having a kill switch does not mean that you get better braking. In fact, it's just the opposite. The Stang ABS controls both front brakes and the rear brakes independently over 20 times a second. You do not have independently control over the brakes and you you do not know the individual deceleration rate of *each* wheel. The ABS tries to *prevent* lockup. It will activate *before* lockup.

 

[Prime Lord]

Oh, i know killing the ABS will result in worse braking. Thats the point of having ABS to begin with. anyway. So while I could go and get a new set of springs, (which I still might), the spacer seems like it might remedy some of the temporary issues.

 

[mfewtrail]

The strut does NOT effect fender height! IMHO, ignore that that post. That's the nicest way I can put it. A very very damaged strut will BIND! IMHO, struts damaged like that result in a car that can't/shouldn't be driven and are very unsafe.

You obviously have never dealt with a fox body with completely dead struts before(ie: bottomed out/no charge at all). On the car I mentioned above, there was 1/2'' of space between the tire tread and the fender when the struts were dead. After swapping in some KYB GR-2 struts and letting them settle, there was now a full inch of space between the tire and fender. Both measurements were taken on a level concrete driveway. Anyways, nobody should let their struts get into the shape that the ones on this particular car were in...

 

[Fox8950]

I have to agree with stang&2Birds shocks/struts don't effect ride height just dampen the travel of the springs. Only thing I could think of in your case is they your buddy was haulin around alot of fat girls and made the springs tired Lol just messin with ya.