tyres catching on arches

hi all my cabby is lowered 2" all round and running on 195/50/15 i have fitted coil assistors but still catch arches sometimes apart from replacing it all back to stock( cant afford it at mo ) what else could i do to stiffen up the suspension  

hi.not a lot you can do without spending you could get lower profile tyres or new spring uprated shocks ,coil overs ,roll your lips but without cash not a lot sorry dude good luck

My rear tyres have always scrubbed the arches on my cab, (when I've got people in the back anyway). I just put up with it, by the time the tyres have lost alot of the lettering on the side wall its time to change the tyre anyway.

wheels could be wrong offset, I'd say the tyres are to big to run lowered more than 25mm. you don't say what suspension you have fitted…. I'm guessing that it's the rear's catching???

stretccchhhhh on some 165's! roll the arches and lower another foot or two.

Sorted. =D

Standard wheels wouldn't catch, so you must have something either wider or with a different offset, or both!

I am having the same problem, mine are RMs and I think they are 7.5s on the rear so they do poke out a bit. Lowered by 40mm, so can I get stiffer springs or something? Sorry to high jack lol

GaVR6in said

I am having the same problem, mine are RMs and I think they are 7.5s on the rear so they do poke out a bit. Lowered by 40mm, so can I get stiffer springs or something? Sorry to high jack lol

Hi gav i think you have 8.5 on the rear and 8 on the fronts as i was going to buy your car before you had it.

Just measured them and ther rears are 9.5s

mike_turbo said

GaVR6in said

I am having the same problem, mine are RMs and I think they are 7.5s on the rear so they do poke out a bit. Lowered by 40mm, so can I get stiffer springs or something? Sorry to high jack lol

Hi gav i think you have 8.5 on the rear and 8 on the fronts as i was going to buy your car before you had it.

Just out of interest how come you didn't buy it?

Maybe these would help….

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Eibach-Rear-Camber-Shims-VW-Golf-Mk1-1974-1983-/280528549112?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4150cdf4f8

They may well help thanks, still would like to stiffern up the rear suspesion tho

'I have camber shims on mine, had to run them to clear rear arches. Stiffer rear springs aren't the answer, they will just make it undriveable and somewhat tail happy.

Your problem is the mk1 cab came with 5.5/6" wide wheels, the rear arches just can't take 9.5 inches without some serious work.

I have 7" zenders on 20mm spacers, effectively 8" wide. I have no idea on the lowering amount, but it's low. In order to run these at the ride height currently running,  I have ground the return lips off totally (welded the two parts together), smoothed them down with a sanding wheel. The plastic arches have then been sanded back to match the arches under. Several fixings are now removed and the plastic arches bonded. I also have 1 degree neg camber to ensure clearence. So far no real catching.

Prob best to run less width and get some professional arch work done!

chris-h said

'I have camber shims on mine, had to run them to clear rear arches.

Do the camber shims give an obvious -ve camber look or is it very subtle. My tyres just to say catch the rear arch every so often so had considered some shims. I guess 1 deg on a scale of 1 - 360 is tiny (is that how it works) ? I maybe only need a 1mm movement inwards to avoid rubbing

It depends on how you set them. I think they run 0 - 5 degrees. you'd be suprised what a small amount of camber will do

chris-h said

It depends on how you set them. I think they run 0 - 5 degrees. you'd be suprised what a small amount of camber will do

Thanks, that looks subtle enough. Easy to fit ?

Just a few pics so you guys can see the look I have on the cabby at present. Taken the front lower since the pics!






Hope these give you a bit of help with the arches guys!

Thanks 8.5 dishes it is then.