rich beebe

As Viken said, RSA stands for RS America (964). It's a lightened C2 with a lightweight fixed rear spoiler, storage compartments instead of rear seats, RS door panels, cloth sport seats, no sound deadening, lightweight carpets, a few suspension tweaks, manual steering, etc.

I'm very surprised to hear your are having actual suspension contact with 8.5" front rims and 225/40 tires. My 8.5" fronts have an offset of 61 and they fit the 964/RSA fine. The only contact you might have on a 964 is under full lock, against the wheelwell. Do you know what offset your rims are? Should be stamped right on the rims (ET__). If you have suspension/spring contact, and Ruf told you they should fit fine, maybe someone sold you the wrong offset rims.

McCulla

Rich, I can't honestly remember what the offset is, but I will check when they are off tonite. I'll compare with your figure, as that might also be the problem. Thanks!!

Viken

As I posted in the other thread, the 8.5" wheel has a 58 mm offset. At least that is what RUF told me when I looked into these.

McCulla

Viken, Thanks for that reminder, I remember your telling me that, actually I have that printed out at home. I'll check tonite, Thanks again.

McCulla

OK, here's the (rather lenghty) situation: Viken is correct, 58mm offset; Took the wheels off the car, only the driver's side was rubbing (it was the "plate" that acts as the bottom resting place for the spring on the coilover that was scraping on the wheel); Put the 7mm H&R spacers that Weissach sent me on and remounted/drove the car. All seems fine, but when I look at the clearance behind the wheel, it is LESS on the driver's side than on the pass. side. When the ROW M030 suspension was put on, it was 4-wheel aligned, corner balanced, and the kinematic toe in was checked/adjusted. It seems that the camber (?) is different on the driver's side, is this acceptable? I might check with Weissach for a 10mm spacer as the clearance is still only about 5mm, Do you all think this is adequate for street driving? Thanks to all for all your help!!!

Viken

Why is the camber different from left to right? If it was done to compensate for the driver's weight, it shouldn't be that different to cause rubbing.

Also, do you know if your car was in an accident at some point? If so, you might very well be seeing a (L to R) difference from a less than perfect repair job.

As to the spacers, you should have them on both sides and the smaller the better.

Greg Fishman

McCulla,
Did you get a print out of your alignment specs? That should tell you if you have any difference in the camber between the left and right.

Greg

McCulla

Viken, you hit on the $64000 question, why is the camber different?My guess is that the shop that put the M030 on missed the spec. I bought this car new with no miles, so no accidents. The 7mm spacers seem to keep things clear so I think my next move is to a good alignment shop for a total check. Unfortunately, here in Lincoln, NE, that could prove very elusive!! Thank-you

McCulla

Greg, I unfortunately did not get a print out of the alignment. One of those stupid blind trust deals. I gave them the factory specs that Gert Carnewal sent with the suspension and asked them to follow them. Learning fast to ask more questions!!

rich beebe

In reference to the camber issue, I don't see why a car, for the street, would have a driver's weight factored into the camber setting. In my mind, that would only be something down on a race car. Even then, we only factored in my weight, in an ITS car, in reference to corner weighting (done with driver in driver's seat). We used tire temperature readings to make adjustments in camber. Also, camber is not going to affect the relationship between your tire and the strut assembly. The strut/coilover move with the tire when camber is adjusted. If you are rubbing your rim against the spring perch, I'd say you have the wrong offset rims. That's just my opinion though. Ruf and Weissach may disagree, for whatever reason. Spacers can work, but it sounds as if you should really have a 52+/- offset on those rims for your fronts. My 61 offset clearly would not work on your car. Your camber may be different on the driver's side, which for the street, shouldn't be necessary (that usually is done to compensate for a certain track's layout), but this is not the spacing problem with your rims (different on both sides). I'd try to find out why both side are different, relative to the spacing, and not try to fix it with different spacers. Like Viken said, run similar spacers - the smaller the better.

McCulla

Thanks Rich! Great information from all of you, I really appreciate the help!

Greg Fishman

Even if a shop is not familiar with Porsches they should be able to at least check your alignment and give you the specs. Also call the shop that did your work most reputable alignment shops will keep the results of your alignment on record.

Good luck
Greg

McCulla

Greg, will do on the attempt to get the alignment info from the original shop. Thanks!!

Randy

For what it's worth, I put 8 1/2 and 10 x 18 Ruf wheels on my wife's 96 993 Targa with 225/40-18 and 285/30-18 SO-2 tires. I also had to run a thin spacer on the front to keep the inside of the wheel from rubbing on the spring perch/spring. The car had been lowered using H & R springs, although this really isn't related. The suspension settings were set up for DE's. She experienced a mild push with this setup since the 225 front tires seemed to be a little narrow on the 8 1/2 inch front wheels. When they wore out, they were replaced with 235/40-18 tires, which fit the wheels much better, and were still within an acceptable o.d.. The sidewalls were more nearly perpendicular, rather than kind of rolled over. There still was no rubbing problem, I think the camber was -2 degrees or so all the way around. The car was much better balance wise, and it looks like the life will be better since the shoulders aren't being scrubbed off so badly. Finally, Asgar at Weissach is a class act, and I am confident he will help you figure out how to get your setup working.

MikeF

Just curious, when adding 6-10mm spacers, did you also add longer wheel studs? I believe PCA requires 7 full rotations of the lug nut for use on the track. Even with 6mm spacers I doubt you're getting 7 full turns. Is this right?