Austin@Wunderladen Racing
Elite Sponsor
- First Name
- Austin
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2021
- Threads
- 46
- Messages
- 1,074
- Reaction score
- 2,240
- Location
- Chicago IL
- Website
- www.wunderladenracing.com
- Vehicle(s)
- 2018 FK7
- Thread starter
- #16
I realized I never posted up about some other stuff I had done while the car was apart. I noticed the frame rails showed signs of rubbing from the front tires, the fronts are a 255 on a 10.5" wheel so it's not unexpected. I'm not big on using the frame rails as a steering stop and I didn't want to shred the new liners I had just installed so I added some nylon washers between the factory rack stop and the inner ball joint, effectively making the rack stop longer and thus making the wheel stop before hitting the frame rail
I also wanted to make sure that the liner wouldn't get rubbed at the top of the wheel well. I had noticed that there were also rub marks there, which told me the bumpstops on the dampers weren't doing their job effectively. After getting the dampers apart it was easy to see why, they were too short! So the wheel travel was being stopped by the chassis, not the bumpstop; that's no bueno for performance or comfort.
The factory BC bumpstops are nothing special, made from a very hard foam so they barely compress when pressed on. I spent a fair amount of time looking for a taller bumpstop and ended up choosing to go with some that my friends over at Professional Awesome offer. Not only are they a fair bit taller, but they are also a much more progressive rate. So they ease into compression and slowly add extra spring rate vs just stopping the damper in short notice.
I spent a bit of time to dial in where everything needed to be to maximize compression travel without having the liner get rubbed. I was also able to adjust the damper to gain over an extra inch of droop travel! I did have to add a helper spring to accommodate for this but everything ended up working great. After NCM I checked the wheel wells and there were no rubs anywhere and the car felt great going over curbing at 80mph!
Have a test day tomorrow at Gingerman. Weather is looking good so far so hoping that it holds out!
I also wanted to make sure that the liner wouldn't get rubbed at the top of the wheel well. I had noticed that there were also rub marks there, which told me the bumpstops on the dampers weren't doing their job effectively. After getting the dampers apart it was easy to see why, they were too short! So the wheel travel was being stopped by the chassis, not the bumpstop; that's no bueno for performance or comfort.
The factory BC bumpstops are nothing special, made from a very hard foam so they barely compress when pressed on. I spent a fair amount of time looking for a taller bumpstop and ended up choosing to go with some that my friends over at Professional Awesome offer. Not only are they a fair bit taller, but they are also a much more progressive rate. So they ease into compression and slowly add extra spring rate vs just stopping the damper in short notice.
I spent a bit of time to dial in where everything needed to be to maximize compression travel without having the liner get rubbed. I was also able to adjust the damper to gain over an extra inch of droop travel! I did have to add a helper spring to accommodate for this but everything ended up working great. After NCM I checked the wheel wells and there were no rubs anywhere and the car felt great going over curbing at 80mph!
Have a test day tomorrow at Gingerman. Weather is looking good so far so hoping that it holds out!