Help needed to solve a mystery asap.

[Kieran Williams]

Hi guys, this morning i finally sold my wheels to a fellow mk1 enthusiast, at the moment though we are a bit stuck. The wheels (17") fit on my car no problem, it has koni's on it(lowered 35mm) and is polybushed but thats it, the wheels fitted fine with no obstructions.

Unfortunately the new owner has found that they do not fit on his mk1,. When his car is put back on the ground the suspension cup rests flat on the tyre by what is about 1/2", so the wheel will not even rotate.

His car is a restoration project and has the original suspension still fitted the only thing i can think of is that his supension is knackered and the car sags on it enough to foul the wheel.
Obviousley this problem needs sorting so he can fit his wheels.

Any help would be much apreciated
Ki

[LimeyMk1]

Did they have the same tyres on Kieran?

Only thing I can think of is that he may have put a higher profile tyre on.

The distance from the hub to the spring seat should be near enough the same as it is a rigid assembly, I'm not aware of any differences between the Mk1a and b. There may be some variation due to the camber but not 1/2 an inch.

[Kieran Williams]

Tyres are the same ones that were on, there was only two hors between me taking them off and him putting them on his car???

[LimeyMk1]

Is it at all 4 corners?

Did you have spacers on them?

Is his a Mk1b?

[Kieran Williams]

I had no spacers, his is a 1b

nOT SURE WETHER ITS ALL 4 CORNERS YET, WILL SPAEK TO HIM LATER

[Kieran Williams]

he tried front and back on one side and both were the same....puzzled??

[WeirdNeville]

Camber adjustment could make a difference, as could some aftermarket brake discs if they are not stock thickness at the bell (highly unlikely I know, but it's all I can think of).

[crazybrightman]

from your description it sounds like the wheel is free when fitted, but then when owered on the ground it binds on the suspension leg? which is odd as the wheel and the leg are a fixed distance and cant move towards each other. as mentioned it culd be a camber issue if their strut is leaning in or out too much. even so the wheel should bind even before the car is put back on the ground.

[Kieran Williams]

Update on this, we think that as the wheel is free when unweighted it definately fits. The actual spring cup on the strut seems to be sinking down as weight is applied, just goes to show how knackered suspension can get

[coverco]

Update on this, we think that as the wheel is free when unweighted it definately fits. The actual spring cup on the strut seems to be sinking down as weight is applied, just goes to show how knackered suspension can get

Surely the distance between the spring cup and the hub is fixed, it sounds like an angle problem to me. The shocks do not alter the height of the car it would have to be the springs, although even if the springs were completely knackered the cup would still be the same distance from the hub centre.

It all sounds very strange, let us know what happens

[Kieran Williams]

it looks like with age the actual cup moves on this one

[coverco]

it looks like with age the actual cup moves on this one

That is very worrying, if the cups move would the springs not drop down?

[Kieran Williams]

no idea , all i know is that the guy bought my wheels for his £300 restoration project and found that although they fit with no weight on the susp they foul when it is loaded.....i could have been an ar$e and said that it was not my problem as i know they fit on a mk1, i have had them fitted to two different ones....i did however say that he could bring the wheels back, i should have no trouble selling them with brand new tyres at £225

the general consensus from the other forums also is that there is either somthing very wrong with the car or that the spring cups are very shoddy and sag under load!!

[greglebon]

Hmm...if the shocks were knackered, the car would sink lower on the springs when it was lowered down onto the ground.../

He hasn't fitted a set of springs that are either too short...or worse still...have had the ends cut down to "stiffen" them.....?

[JohnnyC]

Hmm...if the shocks were knackered, the car would sink lower on the springs when it was lowered down onto the ground.../

He hasn't fitted a set of springs that are either too short...or worse still...have had the ends cut down to "stiffen" them.....?

The compression of the strut shouldn't make any difference to the tyre clearance.
Just sounds like the strut cup is knackered/corroded.

[MartG]

Could a knackered wheel bearing be allowing the wheel to tilt a little

[coverco]

Hmm...if the shocks were knackered, the car would sink lower on the springs when it was lowered down onto the ground.../

I thought the ride height was set by the springs when the car is at rest, why would the shocks allow the car to sink down?

[greglebon]

Don't the shocks take SOME of the load...?

If the cups distort under the weight of the car, surely they could disintegrate if you went over a pothole, etc........


Some sort of MOT failure issue....?

Also, would they ALL distort by the same amount?
I could understand one, maybe 2 being corroded...but all 4..?

[MartG]

Errr....he has got the strut bolts in the right holes on the hub, hasn't he ? And the camber adjustment inserts are in properly ?

[Kieran Williams]

Again, no idea, his car is situatd between mansfield and nottingham if anyone fancies a peak, i would love to know the reason why, bit miffed at having to sell my wheels twice