I've brought this topic up before and everyone swore that it was impossible for the lower bolt to touch the rotor. Well, I swapped in a new set of lower ball joints when I did a complete ITR 5-lug swap, and a new brake setup. So I have completely new spindles and rotor size and, well, it has happened again. And now it is even more obvious with the new rotors that they were the cause. There is a definite change in texture of the rotor surface.
So what can I do? Do I need a stiffer front sway bar? Stiffer springs? A sharper camber setting?

 

dude, you have bearing problems. the springs or swaybars have nothing to do with the rotor rubbing the lower control arm. are you sure the axle bolt is getting torqued down enough?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedworks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dude, you have bearing problems. the springs or swaybars have nothing to do with the rotor rubbing the lower control arm. are you sure the axle bolt is getting torqued down enough?</TD></TR></TABLE>Axle nut was torqued to whatever the Helms book spec was. Front wheel bearings where replaced before I did the 5-lug swap, along with new ball joints. So they probably have less then 1000 miles on them.

 

it is definately a bearing problem. jack your car up and see if you can feel any movement.

 

you wheel bearing is fucked or the knuckle is bent.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by non-VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you wheel bearing is fucked or the knuckle is bent.</TD></TR></TABLE>This same thing happened on my old 4-lug GSR setup (also both sides). And the bearings have less then 1000 miles on them. AND one of the reasons I went to the ITR setup was because of the larger bearings. There was no noticable wheel wobble associated with a bad bearings. And I've never known of both bearings on a Honda going bad at the same time. (or any car for that matter)

 

wow...that just leaves me speechless....id def be scared driving that around....my only guess for that would be what was already mentions...either bad bearings or a bent knuckle

 

I'm more pissed then anything. I just bought the Stop-Tech setup and dropped a good chunk of change down. And now my brand new rotors are getting all chewed up.

My car is showing quit a bit of roll in the corners:

 

i agree that it can't totally be the wheel bearing's fault.no way you've worn out all those wheel bearings and done it that quickly.
are you running bumpstops?i'd remove the shock and jack the suspension up to see if it contacts just from travel.looks ot me like you've got way too much up travel,and that's maybe combining with all the various parts flexing,and the little bit of play that's there in the bearings.
Chris

 

The bump stops are there, but they were "trimmed" when the Flex's were installed...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mrlegoman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The bump stops are there, but they were "trimmed" when the Flex's were installed...</TD></TR></TABLE>
i'd jack the suspension up to the point that you'd be on the stops and see if it's hitting then.if it is,you may need to make your stop point lower in the travel(assuming that won't limit travel too much).if it's not hitting at that point,you've got a lot of flex somewhere.
chris

 

Here is a link to a large pic of the drivers side jacked up:
http://www.smallmountain.us/im...2.jpg
Close...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mrlegoman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Here is a link to a large pic of the drivers side jacked up:
http://www.smallmountain.us/im...2.jpg
Close...</TD></TR></TABLE>
wow,that's still a ton of clearance.something's moving or flexing a lot.
or-judging from what i saw at VIR-you're literally driving the wheels off of it.
Chris

 

Well, that pic was just me jacking up on the LCA. If there was some more downforce to compress the spring, I can see where it would be possible to touch. Even with some added camber, it still would rub. So I'm stumped.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mrlegoman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, that pic was just me jacking up on the LCA. If there was some more downforce to compress the spring, I can see where it would be possible to touch. Even with some added camber, it still would rub. So I'm stumped.</TD></TR></TABLE>
oh okay-i thought that was pretty far compressed withtout the spring.i can see it rubbing if it goes further.
maybe remove the shock,put the tire back on,then jack it up to see at what point it starts rubbing.looks like you're going past the intended limit of travel.
i'm assuming the coilovers you're using have a shorter body than stock?that,along with the trimmed bumpstop may be letting it travel too far.you cold reinstall the shock without spring,or measure to get an overall length when you have the suspension to the point it almost hits,then find a way to limit shock travel to that length.
stiffer springs would help keep it from traveling as far,but if the car handles to your satisfaction,why mess with it?
a stiffer bumpstop(like the poly ones you can get from several companies)at a length to hit right before there's rotor contact would stop it,but hitting a hard bumpstop with no progression could cause problems too.if you're hitting it at any point during the corner,the sudden increase in stiffness could cause handling problems.
maybe a longer bumpstop with more progression-like the stock ones,but not trimmed or not trimmed as far?
Chris

 

Have you checked if the brake caliper on that side is binding on the slide pins? That could possibly cause the rotor to flex under braking.

Also, remove the shock on that side and jack it up until the upper control arm hits the inside of the fender well. That will tell you how much clearance you have at full bump.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mrlegoman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Here is a link to a large pic of the drivers side jacked up:
http://www.smallmountain.us/im...2.jpg
Close...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Something is wrong in that pic. The cotter pin is not captured by castle nut. On every castle nut I've seen, the cotter pin is defintely captured. I would check that area.

 

What about the lower control arm bushings, and the compensator arm bushing?

They could be flexing so much to induce that. Aftermarket balljoints also frmo what I can tell, I wouldnt be so sure of the quality on them(unless you have previously tracked on them)

 

Here is a reply I got from Brian at FastBrakes:

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The problem arises when the car is lowered enough that the lower ball joint
moves into the plane of the rotor. Normally this happens if the car is
lowered more than approx 1.75" and you are using a rotor that is deeper than
the stock rotor...really stiff suspension keeps it from happening on the
race cars, but street cars will have this come up every once in a while.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Like I said, I've never considered my car lowered, but I do run the Teins full-soft on the street.
Hopefully sometime tonight I will take off the lower shock fork and jack the LCA up to see if I can induce contact. With the extra weight I'm running in the front of the car, and running the Teins full-soft AND cutting the bump stops down, the 8K springs my be just too soft to dampen while in a sharp aggressive turn on the street. Or even will on a track setting, a wrong hit on the gator on the track may have the same effect.

 

I took the lower forks off and jacked up the LCA. We have contact:

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mrlegoman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I took the lower forks off and jacked up the LCA. We have contact:

</TD></TR></TABLE>
bingo.try dropping it down to the point that you still have a little clearance,to account for bumpstop compression and flexing of all the various parts,measure the distance your shock needs to be,then limit it to that.
just out of curiosity,how close are you in the pic to hitting the control arm against the shock tower?
Chris

 

per the im I sent you.... stiffen up the front (bar/springs) and then see if things are better.

I would install a piece of plastic around the lower ball joint and after you next session look and see if the plastic has worn back towards the ball joint.

keep those rotors safe!

 

wow, unreal.... I would have said a bent LCA but since both are like it... Crazy ****.

 

It's happening again. Stiffer springs, biggest front sway, new lca's with new bushings and I'm still rubbing.


Going to get some poly bump stops and put them in the top of my shock tower to prevent the arm from traveling up to the point of contact. Kind of a band-aid to the real problem. But kinda out of options at this point.

 

at least you know you are pushing that civic PAST it's max!