I'm Wearing Out My Headlights...

[ecenshu]

I'm wearing out the inner guard(rain guard?) on the front left side. Not sure why the right isn't affected though. This is probably due to a few things that have been changed. I was running 255x35x18's and had no tyre scrub, I then switched to 265x35x18 tyres(due to 255's not being in stock and I was desperate to get the car back on the road) and that got a little tyre scrub. After a wheel alignment that brought my castor up to 5 degrees from 3 degrees, I'm now getting some major scrub.

What should I do? I've been told by a suspension mechanic to just move my front bar forward, that seems like an odd suggestion I thought. Would an extra 10mm on the tyres really make that much of a difference? Should I just remove the inner guards altogether? Or should I just get the alignment changed back to 3 degrees castor?

Also, I'm now feeling kinda uncomfortable with my suspension setup(Koni Sports with Whiteline springs) it is sitting too low to be convenient as a daily driver however they are set to max ride height via the included circlip grooves. Not to mention that my kidneys are starting to feel the pinch of the rather harsh damping. I was thinking of getting the SydneyKid group buy but have no idea what ride height that would allow(I know the measurements but I've never seen it). Anyone on here running the Bilsteins on their R32 GTR?

[Sambo33]

i pulled the front splash guards off mine when i changed my front bar.

what are your wheel center to guard measurements?

[ecenshu]

I don't really have an exact measurement but guestimating arround 1.5-2cm between the wheel and the guard. Theres no contact between the actual guard and wheel, it's mostly the splash guard.

Will get more accurate measurements a bit later.

[Sambo33]

measure from the center of the wheel to the guard lip mate

sydneykid recommends 355mm front and back for the 32 GT-R for best handling.

my car used to be way to low at 320mm and i noticed a huge handling improvement on raising it up to 350mm

hope that helps a bit.

[djr81]

I'm wearing out the inner guard(rain guard?) on the front left side. Not sure why the right isn't affected though. This is probably due to a few things that have been changed. I was running 255x35x18's and had no tyre scrub, I then switched to 265x35x18 tyres(due to 255's not being in stock and I was desperate to get the car back on the road) and that got a little tyre scrub. After a wheel alignment that brought my castor up to 5 degrees from 3 degrees, I'm now getting some major scrub.

What should I do? I've been told by a suspension mechanic to just move my front bar forward, that seems like an odd suggestion I thought. Would an extra 10mm on the tyres really make that much of a difference? Should I just remove the inner guards altogether? Or should I just get the alignment changed back to 3 degrees castor?

Also, I'm now feeling kinda uncomfortable with my suspension setup(Koni Sports with Whiteline springs) it is sitting too low to be convenient as a daily driver however they are set to max ride height via the included circlip grooves. Not to mention that my kidneys are starting to feel the pinch of the rather harsh damping. I was thinking of getting the SydneyKid group buy but have no idea what ride height that would allow(I know the measurements but I've never seen it). Anyone on here running the Bilsteins on their R32 GTR?

Simple answer is to dial out a bit of castor. You wont notice it miissing as it doesn't do much other than make the steering a little heavier.

Am running the Whiteline/Bilsteins on my 32R. Front end is fairly stiff (relative to stock) & the back end is quite soft. Perfectly ok for the street. Heights should be 355 front 345 rear.

Edited June 14, 2007 by djr81

[ecenshu]

Got the measurements, 325mm(F) 330®, so it really is way too low. My shocks are in need of replacement/repair anyway because the fronts have leaked. Fronts are like pogo sticks but I think the rears are ok. It would be ideal to change them all at once right?

djr81: The rears should be lower than the front?

[Nightcrawler]

I pulled out my splash guards when I first played with my R34 and never put them back in ....

[Deluxe]

I pulled out my splash guards when I first played with my R34 and never put them back in ....

Likewise........ I say pull em out and don't think back!!!

[djr81]

Got the measurements, 325mm(F) 330®, so it really is way too low. My shocks are in need of replacement/repair anyway because the fronts have leaked. Fronts are like pogo sticks but I think the rears are ok. It would be ideal to change them all at once right?

djr81: The rears should be lower than the front?

Well, not really. The guards are different heights front & rear, so the measurements are different. But really the thing is a little nose down.

The other thing that less castor does is ease the load on your front upper wishbone links which are the most common wear point on the R32 R's.

[nisskid]

ditch the splash guard or cable tie it forward a bit, might be just enough to clear.

[salad]

The other reason for rubbing is that going to a 10mm wider tyre has increased the rolling diameter.

With the heights of 355/345, front will have ~35mm gap from guard to tyre and rear will have ~25mm gap from guard to tyre. I can highly recommend the Bilstein shocks in the groupbuy, have been worth every cent.

Just pull the splash guards out, extra castor helps improve steering response and hence turn in is better, so I wouldn't be reducing it.