# Tires Rubbing (Lowered w/ ST Coils) - Need Advice



## gli1.8turbo (Oct 11, 2004)

I have my 2006 A3 lowered on ST coils w/ 18" VMR wheels (See pics below). I have the rears adjusted to their highest setting and have never had rubbing issues until yesterday when I had passengers in the backseat. The tires would rub every time we went over a slight bump in the road :-(

I rarely drive with passengers in the back but I don't want to deal with rubbing when I do. I have done research and searching on this and found a separate thread with a fender mod that helps prevent the rubbing: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...t-wheel-tire-you-can-fit&highlight=fender+mod

How many of you guys have done this mod or recommend this mod? I'm not that great with body work and I am concerned I will mess something up if I try doing it myself. I can get someone to help me but I am concerned removing the screw receiver will make it difficult to hold everything in place securely.

Any other suggestions for preventing the rubbing without requiring me to buy different coilovers? I have seen another thread about using a spacer to add height but I'm not sure how I feel about this option: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5731192-Too-low-on-coils/page2

Let me know if you have suggestions. The fender mod seems like the best option at this point.


----------



## Fellow Gaucho (Aug 3, 2011)

There is no body work to be done. The fender stays in place when you take the screw out.


----------



## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

What size tires are you running? Are you using wheel spacers? Are the VMRs 18x8.5 ET45, or a different size/offset? Certain things make it more difficult to avoid rubbing if you're too low, but doing the screw removal mod will help, and everything is held in place so well that you'd need to lose multiple fasteners before you'd have to worry about something actually coming loose.


----------



## Bull_D (May 28, 2012)

i have KW V3's on mine and when set at the highest setting i had a bit of rub, especially with passengers. i put some 30mm spacers on the rears and have never looked back. no issues with passengers, bikes on the rear. my car looks real balanced, yet lowered.


----------



## Fellow Gaucho (Aug 3, 2011)

Bull_D said:


> i have KW V3's on mine and when set at the highest setting i had a bit of rub, especially with passengers. i put some 30mm spacers on the rears and have never looked back. no issues with passengers, bikes on the rear. my car looks real balanced, yet lowered.


I don't understand how spacers would help?


----------



## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

Fellow Gaucho said:


> I don't understand how spacers would help?


He meant spacers for the rear coilover perches, to raise them up.


----------



## Fellow Gaucho (Aug 3, 2011)

TBomb said:


> He meant spacers for the rear coilover perches, to raise them up.


Ah, thanks.


----------



## JRutter (Nov 25, 2009)

It isn't a wheel spacer, it is an extra sleeve that fits onto the spring perch and adds 30mm. So you can spin the back perches down and add the spacer. Here is a pic from ceese's car yesterday. Just remember that because the spring is midway along the arm, any adjustments will almost double by the time you get out to the hub.










OP - I think that removing the bumper screw will probably solve your problem. The height looks very streetable.


----------



## GunKata (Apr 4, 2006)

I've left the screws in the rear in for now, as when I tried taking one out it seemed awfully loose (the panel connection), but today I did cut the fender liner and will see how it is tomorrow on some dips and hard turns and will report back.


----------



## Bull_D (May 28, 2012)

i'm in the UK right now, but i can take a couple pics when i get home and show you how mine sits with the spring spacers. KW sent them to me free as a warranty deal since i was at the upper level of adjustment, but at the bottom end of height according to their charts. i LOVE the coilovers, but i think they have a spring height issues. hence the need for the spacers. i can also get you ground to fender measurements, front and back. IMHO you could use just a tad more height in the rear, get rid of the reverse rake. a 1/2 inch might give you all you need.


----------



## 3pod (Feb 8, 2011)

*Where do you get the spacer from?*

I have the exact same problem. I'm already at the maximum height and I still rub with passengers in the back. Any help on getting the spacers would be great! Thanks. :thumbup:


----------



## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

You guys need this mod:


----------



## ceese (Jul 2, 2011)

GunKata said:


> I've left the screws in the rear in for now, as when I tried taking one out it seemed awfully loose (the panel connection), but today I did cut the fender liner and will see how it is tomorrow on some dips and hard turns and will report back.


I removed my screws and it did the trick and I was lower than you and it did the trick. The fender will stay in place.


----------



## GunKata (Apr 4, 2006)

ceese said:


> I removed my screws and it did the trick and I was lower than you and it did the trick. The fender will stay in place.


ok, ill look again, but it definitely seemed very lose after I cut the fender liner beforehand and i think it would have possibly started sagging or something down the line if I leave the screw out. 

That said, yesterday I cut some of the fender liner out from the rear tire wells. It was fairly dirty and really not that hard, took about 15mins per side maybe. I jacked up each side, then took a heavy duty “x-acto” knife (for lack of a better term, I guess), and pulled it back a little and started trimming it out from about 9 o’clock to 2 o’clock as there is a screw in the rear fender well on my car, which holds both the liner and I believe the rear bumper together. 

I haven’t had a chance to really push the car with any cornering, but I did notice that when I gave it some gas over a dip this morning that I usually can rub a little, it did not rub. So, hopefully this will help solve the problem of rear rubbing – esp on the track if at all possible, so I will know that in about 2 weeks for my last HPDE of the season. I did notice that some of the pieces I cut out did have noticeable rub marks on them from the tires.


----------



## ceese (Jul 2, 2011)

3pod said:


> I have the exact same problem. I'm already at the maximum height and I still rub with passengers in the back. Any help on getting the spacers would be great! Thanks. :thumbup:


If you are running KWs or STs just hit the KW web site and give their online store a call. Ask for the 30mm spacers. Since they sit with the perches and are closer in the angle than the wheel they can raise you as much as two inches or as little as a sixteenth of an inch with your perches dialed all the way up. 









Fig. Spring spacers Article no.
3 Aluminium spring spacers, height = 15 mm 65030045
2 Aluminium spring spacers, height = 30 mm 65030046
1 Aluminium spring spacers, height = 50 mm 65030047

I was thinking the 30mm weren't going to be enough but they did the trick. This was right after we installed them with the emergency brake still on and before we adjusted the final height. It ended up about 8mm over the top of the tires when we were done.


----------



## t_white (Jun 10, 2006)

Get better coils, or atleast stiffer rear springs.

I barely ever rubbed..


----------



## Uber-A3 (Feb 23, 2002)

GunKata said:


> ok, ill look again, but it definitely seemed very lose after I cut the fender liner beforehand and i think it would have possibly started sagging or something down the line if I leave the screw out.
> 
> That said, yesterday I cut some of the fender liner out from the rear tire wells. It was fairly dirty and really not that hard, took about 15mins per side maybe. I jacked up each side, then took a heavy duty “x-acto” knife (for lack of a better term, I guess), and pulled it back a little and started trimming it out from about 9 o’clock to 2 o’clock as there is a screw in the rear fender well on my car, which holds both the liner and I believe the rear bumper together.
> 
> I haven’t had a chance to really push the car with any cornering, but I did notice that when I gave it some gas over a dip this morning that I usually can rub a little, it did not rub. So, hopefully this will help solve the problem of rear rubbing – esp on the track if at all possible, so I will know that in about 2 weeks for my last HPDE of the season. I did notice that some of the pieces I cut out did have noticeable rub marks on them from the tires.


why would you cut the liner before trying to remove the screw. It's not going to sag, there are people on here that have had the screw removed for close to 100k miles.


----------



## jds215 (Mar 24, 2011)

speaking of removing the screw...anyone take it a step further and just cut that tab off? I've got my screws out but still periodically rub on dips and forget about having anyone in my back seats. I'm very (relative) low with 9.5" et 48s in the rear.


----------



## ceese (Jul 2, 2011)

jds215 said:


> speaking of removing the screw...anyone take it a step further and just cut that tab off? I've got my screws out but still periodically rub on dips and forget about having anyone in my back seats. I'm very (relative) low with 9.5" et 48s in the rear.


Someone mentiond dremeling out the plastic behind the tab and bending it up.


----------



## GunKata (Apr 4, 2006)

Uber-A3 said:


> why would you cut the liner before trying to remove the screw. It's not going to sag, there are people on here that have had the screw removed for close to 100k miles.


cos it was hitting the fender liner? it may be hitting the screw as well, but from the marks I saw on the liner, it was hitting that a lot. Ah, those must have just done the screw and not the fender liner, which makes sense then.



t_white said:


> Get better coils, or atleast stiffer rear springs.
> 
> I barely ever rubbed..


what is your offset? and it looks like your tires are streched?


----------



## Uber-A3 (Feb 23, 2002)

you remove the screw and the tire will wear the liner down as needed. It's only felt so it won't damage your tire.


----------



## jds215 (Mar 24, 2011)

ceese said:


> Someone mentiond dremeling out the plastic behind the tab and bending it up.


good idea...i may take a peak at that. That tab is the only thing rubbing right now


----------



## cldub (Jul 2, 2010)

GunKata said:


> cos it was hitting the fender liner? it may be hitting the screw as well, but from the marks I saw on the liner, it was hitting that a lot. Ah, those must have just done the screw and not the fender liner, which makes sense then.
> 
> 
> 
> what is your offset? and it looks like your tires are streched?


They are. Those rear wheels are 18x9 et30-something (correct me if I'm wrong Tommy) with a 205/40. 

Stretched tires will most definitely help the rubbing situation


----------



## tp.wannabe.s3 (May 21, 2010)

if tire can withstand extreme condition on the ground then it should be able to withstand the plastic liner.


----------



## t_white (Jun 10, 2006)

cldub said:


> They are. Those rear wheels are 18x9 et30-something (correct me if I'm wrong Tommy) with a 205/40.
> 
> Stretched tires will most definitely help the rubbing situation


18x8 et25, 18x9 et27. Tires are 205/40s but suspension will also make a difference. I already wore down the fender screw tabs so it no longer rubs. Well it never rubs now since I am on stock wheels again and still way lower than you with 20mm rear spacers.


----------



## Tcardio (Mar 19, 2009)

t_white said:


> Get better coils, or atleast stiffer rear springs.
> 
> I barely ever rubbed..


love that car! BALLER


----------



## Tcardio (Mar 19, 2009)

who the hell cares about rubbing. if you lower your car its gonna rub so what! just take the screw out. its not gonna make the bumper fall off:screwy:


----------



## jds215 (Mar 24, 2011)

t_white said:


> 18x8 et25, 18x9 et27. Tires are 205/40s but suspension will also make a difference. I already *wore down the fender screw tabs *so it no longer rubs. Well it never rubs now since I am on stock wheels again and still way lower than you with 20mm rear spacers.


did they take a lot of abuse before being worn down? I don't want the tabs to cut into the sidewall, especially since im running a 225/35 on a 9.5.

Do you think i can get away with just letting it wear down, or just bend it/cut it?


----------



## cldub (Jul 2, 2010)

jds215 said:


> did they take a lot of abuse before being worn down? I don't want the tabs to cut into the sidewall, especially since im running a 225/35 on a 9.5.
> 
> Do you think i can get away with just letting it wear down, or just bend it/cut it?


It's a plastic tab. It's not gonna hurt the tire


----------



## JRutter (Nov 25, 2009)

The metal on mine was rubbing my tire at one point, as evidenced by the ibis white paint marks on the tread and wear marks on the tab. I used some vise grips to bend the corner up slightly and that was all it needed to clear. Exactly what you rub probably depends on your specific wheels, tires and alignment.


----------



## eddiefury (Aug 5, 2007)

i got nothing for ya...but i love your stance!


----------



## t_white (Jun 10, 2006)

tcardio said:


> love that car! BALLER


Thanks, too bad the wheels are so and I no longer show much love to the car. hopefully it will have new wheels at some point soon.



tcardio said:


> who the hell cares about rubbing. if you lower your car its gonna rub so what! just take the screw out. its not gonna make the bumper fall off:screwy:


Pretty much, not sure why people complain so much honestly..its just plastic unless you are touching metal then I would be a little more concerned. I'd rather rub the liner than the outer metal fender (which I have also had on other setups with my cars).



jds215 said:


> did they take a lot of abuse before being worn down? I don't want the tabs to cut into the sidewall, especially since im running a 225/35 on a 9.5.
> 
> Do you think i can get away with just letting it wear down, or just bend it/cut it?


You will be fine to let it wear down to the point that it no longer makes much noise. This setup is what wore mine down the most and then it barely rubbed.

Rears are 18x9.5 et40 with a 225/40 tire.




cldub said:


> It's a plastic tab. It's not gonna hurt the tire


 It's plastic (fender liner/tab), and then the metal section from the rear quarter. depending on the wheel/tire setup I did rub that but it never did much damage.


----------



## jds215 (Mar 24, 2011)

Thanks guys. Looks like ill let nature take its course:thumbup:


----------



## wishntoboutside (Mar 11, 2002)

TBomb said:


> You guys need this mod:


That mod works as well as the I grew up mod and raised the car to normal heights -).


----------



## SilverSquirrel (Jul 24, 2006)

wishntoboutside said:


> That mod works as well as the I grew up mod and raised the car to normal heights -).


----------



## jds215 (Mar 24, 2011)

Im going in reverse. It seems the older i get, the lower i go


----------



## gli1.8turbo (Oct 11, 2004)

Thanks for all of the helpful information. I am going to remove the screws see if that does the trick. 

This thread was helpful because I was under the impression that I had to do more than just remove the screws. I thought I had to go 1 step further and dremel off the tabs but it sounds like I don't need to worry about that based on everyone's responses. I will just remove the screws and let nature take it's course and see what happens.


----------



## cldub (Jul 2, 2010)

gli1.8turbo said:


> Thanks for all of the helpful information. I am going to remove the screws see if that does the trick.
> 
> This thread was helpful because I was under the impression that I had to do more than just remove the screws. I thought I had to go 1 step further and dremel off the tabs but it sounds like I don't need to worry about that based on everyone's responses. I will just remove the screws and let nature take it's course and see what happens.


Honestly just take a look back there and see what's goin on. It's really not that bad to deal with, the plastic you can even trim off with a box cutter.


----------

