Norm Swanberg

Hi, I have a 1988 944 Turbo, not an S. It is pretty much stock. The front tires are 205/55/16 on phone dial wheels. They are street tires that came with the car and now have less than half the rubber left. They are rubbing at the top of both wheel wells. The only change to the front end is putting on Koni gas adjustables, from my 87 NA. The shock incerts are new. Sway bars are 25.5MM front, 18MM rear. I doubt they rub on the street, but do during drivers ed. Any ideas why? Any suggestions ? Slow down on the corners is not an option. Thanks, Norm

KuHL 951

Seems odd that they would rub in the OE tire size. I run 255-40/17 and just touch the inner liner under deep braking heading downhill while turning. There's no chance that you have early offset turbo phone dials is there?

RKD in OKC

Front ride height is too low.

Norm Swanberg

The wheels are the 87-88 style, not the 86 with a wider lip. I do not know what is stock ride height. I measured from floor to the bottom of the fender lip by the top of the tire. Tire pressure was 40lbs on each side. The left was 25.25 inches and the right 25. Is this more or less stock? I would guess that a .25 inch difference from one side to the other is not a big deal. I am not trying to break records, just have fun. I have heard rubbing exiting 15 (a right) at Thunderhill, while accelerating. I have not heard rubbing on left hand turns, but Thunderhill has lots of them and I normally hear tires squealling. I am thinking of Weltmeister sway bars, 28mm front and 22mm rear. Any thoughts?
Thanks, Norm

xsboost90

my 89 only rubbed the drivers side under hard cornering w/ 215/17s and it was sa-lammed on the ground. Have you had an alignment, sounds like maybe there is some positive camber or something. What offset wheels do you have on there? 23 or 52?

Slantnose!

I'm lower than that and run 245's without any issues.

Norm Swanberg

Thank for the input. The front end was just aligned, with one degree of negative camber, front and rear. I no not understand what is a 23 or 52 offset, but they are not 1986 wheels. Perhaps 17" wheels with 40 series tires have a smaller diameter than 16" wheels with 55 series tires. My best guess with a tape measure is that I have a 24.5" diameter on the front tires. I was planning on the next tires being Toyo Proxy RA-1's and their diameter is shown as 24.9". This would give me more G's on the corners and a taller tire. This would not work without something changing. I would not think I am driving harder than Porsche had in mind. This includes 100mph+ downhill, braking for a 79 degree turn with 4 degrees banking. Brake pads are Hawk HP+, but I know it rubs at times when accelerating out of a turn.
Thanks, Norm

nitehawk951

Norm, I think I have this problem as well. A tech who said he has seen this a lot on later 951'944's told me that there is a stud on the power steering pump that strips frequently or something. He said this causes the rubbing especially on one side. Do you feel it rub when you are turning the wheel but not in motion? It seemed weird when I first heard this but check into it man, as will I.

Norm Swanberg

Thanks for the input. I will check that out. The only time I have felt it is in hard cornering. The tops of my tires are below the bottom of the fender lip when it is sitting. It is not close to rubbing at this point. It hits at the top of the tire, not the side.

I just talked to someone who suggested that the rubber stops in the shocks that keep you from bottoming may be gone or shot. I will try that also. It may be something you want to try. Norm