Rear Left Rubbing Body

[richtersand]

Hi all, I think the answer to this is obvious but I thought I would post anyway. Jeff Miller helped get my body on a few weeks ago. I hear what sounds like the body barely touching the rear left when I hit a bump or something that jumps the rear (independent) suspension. Plan is to left ride height 3/4” or so. Let me know if there’s something else I should be thinking about. Thanks in advance!

[Jeff Kleiner]

Has it been aligned?

Jeff

[CraigS]

We need to see pics. Do you see black marks where the tire has been hitting? What is your ride height measured from the bottom of the end of the 4 inch frame tubes to ground? 4-4.5 inches is normal. The Mk4 body usually has plenty of rear tire clearance so this is unusual. What size are your rear tires and are your wheels the FFR Halibrands or from another source?

[richtersand]

Has it been aligned?

Jeff

No, not professionally. I did the string method at home though. Plan to professionally align in in a few weeks.

[richtersand]

Thanks for taking a look guys. The car is sitting exactly 4" of ride height. I don't think the pictures capture it, but the gap between tire and fender on the left is significantly smaller on driver's side. I couldn't think of a good way to measure it so I used the old "finger test." I can easily get my thumb under the narrowest part of the passenger side. I can't even get my pinky through the same gap on the driver's side. There is a slight line on the tire, which makes sense it's not more pronounced given it's a very slight rub and I haven't been driving much. But I am nearly certain this is where it's rubbing...

Thoughts? Thanks again!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167205&d=1653367563

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167206&d=1653367563

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167207&d=1653367563

[Gordon Levy]

Set the ride height at 4" front 4.5" rear. You can set the camber with a straight edge and a T square. 12" off the ground 3/8" between the T square and straight edge on the wheel is 1 degree neg camber. also make sure your shocks are actually set. There are 3 positions of adjustment and they can come on any of the 3 settings..

[rich grsc]

The lip on the body fender well hasn't been trimmed.

[JCB52]

The lip on the body fender well hasn't been trimmed.

Look at the FFR videos or Utube for instructions how to do this trimming...

[CraigS]

I think a combination of a little more ride height, camber adjustment, and trimming the edge of the fender will get your problem solved. I can't find a pic at the moment but realize that the aluminum fenders had a piece of wire positioned on the underside where they wanted the edge to be and then they wrapped maybe 3/8 inch of the aluminum around the wire so the edge of the fender was twice as thick as the aluminum sheet was plus the thickness of the wire. A lot of guys will try to mimic that w/ the fiberglass. I think you can finds pics of this in some build threads.

[richtersand]

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the insights!