strut-wheel clearance different side to side?


#1

hey there everyone!
my first post, searched around for a bit to see if anyone else had this issue, couldn’t find anything.
after installing se30 suspension parts and fitting new wheels on our car, we found a difference in clearances between the inside of front wheels and the strut housing.
the passenger side has about 1/2" (finger width) and driver side has double that.
no obvious damage to any components. everything seems to be installed correctly.
the car had been in what looks to be a minor front end collision prior to my owning it. minor wrinkled fender.
could it be that one strut housing or the other had been replaced with non-oem part with slightly different dimensions? when we replaced the struts i saw that the old ones were both different brands. one was red, the other black (iirc)
wheels are tirerack c1, 15x7
any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!


#2

Probably a bent strut housing. Not the most descriptive phrase, but that’s what it’s usually called I think.

Take a look at the steel tube that encloses the shock/strut. Note how it’s bottom goes into the big steel wheel hub. The strut housing is press fitted into the wheel hub thing. If the strut housing takes a whack it can try to escape the wheel hub a little bit. This is usually detectable by looking hard at the paint around the base of the strut housing. If it’s pulled a little away from the hub, you might see some lighter colored steel emerging. I’m talking like a mm or two.

The next question is…how important is this. Well, if you can adjust the wheel’s camber to something reasonable like 3-3.5deg you could just let it be. If you can barely detect that the strut has moved out of the wheel hub, the joint is probably still pretty strong. On the other hand, maybe it looks worse, or maybe you’re pretty risk averse, or maybe it’s all apart right now and you have a spare front corner laying around.


#3

thanks for the quick reply.
i wouldn’t say i’m risk averse (racecar) but i do want my investment to hold together and not hurt me or someone else.
also i want my car to be right. eliminate any unnecessary variables, potential problems. ie wheel rubbing, possible strut housing failure.
it’s not bad enough to be noticeable from outside the car, but my cohort reported a sound and possible rubbing on the front right. thats when we took a closer look and saw the problem. wheel (not tire) is too close for comfort down there.
i’ll look for any sign of separation in the daylight tomorrow.
thanks again!


#4

just a quick follow up.
checked for damage, couldn’t find any. out of curiosity i measured both strut housings to see whether my car (an 85 eta) was equipped with early or late style housings.
turns out the car has 51mm housing on passenger side and 45mm on driver side.
wtf?! i assume it had been in an accident and one was replaced.
now the question for me is which one to replace? i am no longer certain that the passenger side unit is damaged, the later style may just have less clearance to the wheel.
i’ll probably go to the wrecking yard and get both fronts (later 51mm) from one car so i know they are right, then add spacers to get a comfortable gap behind those wheels.
thanks!