How did/would you fit 18x8.5 +45 wheels? Rubbing front lower spring seat..

Just got back from AZP with disappointing news. As my car currently sits, my 18x8.5+45 Raijins wrapped with 245/40/18 Dunlop Direzza ZIIs do not fit the front suspension.

 

Currently on Koni Yellow inserts + H&R lowering springs, roughly 1.5" drop all around. Left front camber is -1.7; Right front camber is -1.3. Rear fenders rolled; fronts are not.

 

The problem is that the Dunlops were solidly rubbing against the lower spring seats, so AZP tried running 5mm H&R spacers, but that put the outside edge of the wheels directly underneath the front fenders - minimal suspension clearance + the risk of damaging fenders if I hit a solid bump hard --- fender rolling would not change that.

 

Aside from switching to coilovers, the only other solution they could come up with were to swap out the top-hats, change camber bolts, and dial in the front camber another degree or so.

 

This is my DD, so I'm not going to coilover route. The 245/40/18s are a perfectly square fitment, so swapping out the tires is not ideal (and currently, cost-prohibitive).

 

18x8.5+45 with properly fitting wheels is fairly conservative -- I know people have run way more aggressive set-ups on lowered cars, and did not seem to come across the same problems I'm having (rubbing lower spring seats and/or damaging fenders). How can I make these wheels fit?

 

Crappy MS paint depiction below to show where rubbing of wheels on front strut housing occurs.

http://i.imgur.com/qj9r84c.png?1

Roll and pull the those fenders and run 3mm spacer

What top hats did they suggest going to? The problem is that you're running a solid amount of negative front camber, but that it's ALL coming from the bolts, so the strut body doesn't really move. Maybe you could use those WL com-c top hats. They would give you additional camber so that you could run less camber from the bolts, but allow the same static camber you have now to clear the fenders. Doing that would essentially keep your wheel where it is but move the strut in a bit.

The problem is that you're running a solid amount of negative front camber, but that it's ALL coming from the bolts, so the strut body doesn't really move. Maybe you could use those WL com-c top hats. They would give you additional camber so that you could run less camber from the bolts, but allow the same static camber you have now to clear the fenders. Doing that would essentially keep your wheel where it is but move the strut in a bit.

 

Right, given my current settings, I most likely would not be able to dial in enough camber with the stock camber bolt (maybe another ~0.5*), and the strut housing would not be moving anyhow. AZP did suggest the WL Com-C top-hats, but noted that the rubber bushings + bearings would eventually fail --- not catastrophically, but it would put the car out of commission for a few days to swap out for new, warrantee'd tophats, which can't happen as my DD.

 

I wonder if I could get by with dialing in as much camber as I could with my stock bolts, rolling the front fenders (preferably without pulling), and running a 3-5mm spacer. Thoughts?

It's not like the WL top hats are going to wear out super fast, they should last a pretty long time, and it would only take an hour to swap out new ones.

 

Rolling the fenders would certainly help, and dialing in more camber with the bolts will only make the rubbing worse, then you're trying to fix the rubbing with a spacer? I suppose you could try.