Thread: Suspension FAQ
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Old 11-07-2006, 01:22 PM   #14
chmercer
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this isnt really specific to any topic, more just general info ive picked up along the way.

"so you want to run donker wheels like good ol charlie"

i see about 50 million cars every day on zilvia that have widebody but dont need it and/or install it wrong. widebody comes with a lot of things you need to consider to get proper wheel fitment, but not much of anyone does. they just rivet the panels to their car and roll. this is not the right way to do it.

i wont talk too much about the physical installation of these since that has already been covered, but i will say, when you are cutting out the metal from your rear fenders, cut it out wayyyyy higher than you think you need. you should at LEAST be cutting into the body crease. your radius cut should get very close to the fuel filler door. you never want to have to take these panels off cause you lowered your car and now your chopping into the tire.

as for actual wheel fitment. if you put these panels on without the wheels on the car, it wont fit. plan and simple. your shit will be sunk. if you let some body shop install them, shit will be sunk.



this is the goal.

ok so lets jump ahead, youve got your fenders cut out big enough to fit 22s if you want. also before you do this, make sure your car is at the ride height and alignment specs that you want it at. because it will be tricky to change these things properly after you install your fenders. now comes the actual placement of the fenders, which has the biggest effect on the appearance of your car. i cant really tell you a step by step on how to do this since it depends on how agressive your wheels are and such, but heres some general stuff.

before you start doing this, you want to disconnect your rear shocks from the spindle so that the car will go as low as possible.

a good way to start out is first line the panel up with the body crease and screw your panel in on the top corners. this way you have the alignment with the body crease while still being able to manuver the panel around the wheel.

so your car is max low to simulate full suspension compression, and your fender is loosley mounted. now you want to get the fender as close as possible to the tire/wheel. since you are at the bottom of the suspension curve at this point there is no danger in it rubbing while being super flush. if you have a hard time getting the fender like 2mm away from the tire at all points, a good technique is to put maybe a quarter inch thick pad of newspaper in between the wheel and the fender, and then bolt the fender down. the paper will compress to very thin, but it will still cause a gap to be formed.

also, the wider your wheels, the higher up the fender arch will be (since you are pulling the fender outwards and upwards so that its wider), so the lower your car will have to be to acchieve the same look.

another thing - on the fenders, you can bolt them down to the car in multiple ways. my preferred way is to screw it down all the way up against the wheel well, cause it makes more tire stick out and gives you that "shoehorned" look, but if you want more of a full widebody look, you can skip the holes along the edges of the sideskirts (you do have aero right? this is 2006) which will cause the fender to bubble out all around the wheel well, instead of just the top.

maybe ill put more later
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