Okay, i have a LS swap in my ef. Just recently the bottom pulley has started rubbing on the drivers side bar (please excuse my terminology... I don't know a proper name ha ha!) that goes from the cross member to the lca. It isn't constant, it rubs primarily while at an idle or of course when I hit bumps or have a passenger.

It's never done this before, I just installed new tokico Blues all the way around with tokico springs, but they replaced coilovers and didn't drop it any lower than it was before. Is there something I should check or adjust etc? Not too sure on this one. thanks!

 

what engine mounts are you using? I ask because if the rubber is deteriorating, it may cause the engine to sag and make contact with the control arm.

I would argue that your spring and damper choice is likely the culprit, as I have an EF on stock dampers and springs and have never had that issue. Are you 100% sure that the springs are the same rate or harder than stock?

 

check your motor mounts if i think your saying what i think it is, is it a strut rod connected to your suspension? try using spacers to raise it a bit>like stacked washer.

 

Thanks for the input, I bought it with the swap, I cant take credit for that so i don't know what the mounts are, the dampers are stock, the tokico springs are harder than stock (or so they claim). With the washers, just so I'm clear on it, do you put those sitting under the damper on the strut? I imagine I'll be able to see deteriorating in the mounts with out taking them off right? On the outsides of them? I do apreciate the input and will be looking into it tomorrow and thursday. Right now it barely rubs, but any rubbing is too much so i want to take care of it very soon. It's rubbing on the outside part of the pulley where the belt for the a/c would normally go, i think i have seen aftermarket ones where they don't extend out like that as well. I'd rather stick with OEM as much as I can because i trust that stuff to last, but could be another option I suppose.

 

nvm about the washer, the rod is bolted on top of the lower control arm adding it there will raise it closer to your pulley. think you can try washer on the strut mount to push the rod away from your pulley. other than that i think the springs and shocks might be too soft. is your tokico shocks adjustable?

 

No, non adjustable.

 

I remember this happening on a B20 swap I did for someone. I recall swapping the crank pulley to one from a B16. The B16 pulley was of a slightly smaller diameter. Problem fixed.

 

I don't know how easy it would be to come up with a b16 pulley, that is good to know though. I'm going to check mounts tomorrow and see if anything obvious is going on.

 

sagging mounts? what swap mounts were used in there? proly really gay ones if theyre already breaking apart and worn out

 

the B20's have a bigger pulley then a ls. so unless someone swapped a B20 pulley putting a b16 pulley on your car wont fix anything (its the same part) unless you went with a ctr pulley but you don't want one of those.

 

Seeing as how B20 and LS engines are similar in many ways I didnt know if their pulleys were. I dont have an LS on hand to measure. But if you say LS and B16 are the same, then yea it wouldnt do any good swapping.

edit: just did a quick search and most are saying the LS's are of a slightly larger diameter. This is something worth looking into, otherwise your other options to fix this are more costly and time consuming (i.e. swapping engine mounts). Just re-read a few posts more carefully and saw its only rubbing on the outer most part of the pulley. You could remove the pulley and have a machine shop shave the last part off. Quick and easy and saves you from having to source another pulley. This would only work if you dont have P/S. I believe the smallest outer pulley is for P/S. BTW, I and others have done this before without issue, it wont hurt anything.

 

i had this same problem. first i ran the ctr/n1 pulley, but you probably have power steering so that's no good. now i have an aluminum underdrive pulley from ebay. it works for all the belts, but i got it for the a/c. you'll need to get smaller belts, but this is the best route unless you raise the car.

 

Ended up not getting to the car today actually I do not have power steering, I thought it was for ac, shows how much I have too learn. I wouldn't mind the front being like half inch higher, but nothing is adjustable so that's out for now. If its motor mounts that are bad, what other things could that cause? I ask because the car kind of shakes when I accelerate hard. Intend to rebuild the steering rack, and grab new outer tie rods soon. What are some decent mounts without breaking the bank?

Thanks!

 

shaking under acceleration is usually your axels.