Help! Rear tires rubbing through fuel filler pipe!!!

[joeo]

Thanks for this. I've been dealing with the tire rubbing a hole in the fuel filler for a while. TCKline setup with 255/40 R17 tires and it rubs the fuel filler.
Never heard to these packers before - so thank you!

-Joe

[houtan]

Originally Posted by joeo

Thanks for this. I've been dealing with the tire rubbing a hole in the fuel filler for a while. TCKline setup with 255/40 R17 tires and it rubs the fuel filler.
Never heard to these packers before - so thank you!

-Joe

Are you running the single or double TCs? Also, what upper shock mount?

If you are running something that is equal to the stock upper shock mount and it is still rubbing, another option is to wrap a thin piece of aluminum on the fuel filler neck and hold it on there with a couple of hose clamps. I spoke to TC and he said all of his e series cars have this issue under really heavy load, so he mounts the thin piece of aluminum to protect the fuel filler.

[joeo]

Running double adjustable struts, and the stock mounts. Yup - been basically hacking it one way or another (tape, aluminum, JB weld!); would like a better solution!

[houtan]

Originally Posted by joeo

Running double adjustable struts, and the stock mounts. Yup - been basically hacking it one way or another (tape, aluminum, JB weld!); would like a better solution!

haha. The stock mount is really squishy. You may want to change those out first. That's what I opted to do at least, and it seems to have fixed the issue.

This is what I installed: https://www.akgmotorsport.com/produc...a-e8x-and-e9x/

If you just want to go straight to the packers, let me know, I have some I can sell you!

[joeo]

Turner has a rear upper mount:
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-5...-shock-mounts/

http://bd8ba3c866c8cbc330ab-7b26c6f3...llation_R1.pdf

-joe

[houtan]

Originally Posted by joeo

Turner has a rear upper mount:
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-5...-shock-mounts/

http://bd8ba3c866c8cbc330ab-7b26c6f3...llation_R1.pdf

-joe

I saw those. They look awesome. I ended up going the cheaper route and crossing my fingers it would work. Haha.

Are you going to try them? If so please post back your impressions?!

[joeo]

Sure thing. So the thought is that the stock mount flexes left/right enough that the wheel hits the filler?

-Joe

[houtan]

Either that or the shorter DA shock combined with stock bushing, maybe the stock bushing compress enough to allow the top of the tire to hit the fuel filler neck. Or maybe it’s both vertical and horizontal movement.

But when I jacked up my tire to look, it was pretty clear it was vertical movement because without any additional side to side movement, the tires would hit the fuel filler if it could go high enough.

[dtla1]

Damn, I'll need to take a look to see if anything's been rubbing there. I've been running the TC Kline DA with the Monroe upper mounts and haven't heard anything noises, but I better take a look anyways.

[houtan]

It would be a really good idea to take a look the next time you have a chance. I honestly have never heard any rubbing on my passenger rear tire and was shocked when I saw it was wearing away the fuel filler neck.

[dtla1]

Originally Posted by houtan

It would be a really good idea to take a look the next time you have a chance. I honestly have never heard any rubbing on my passenger rear tire and was shocked when I saw it was wearing away the fuel filler neck.

Yeah I'll take a look this weekend. I should probably stick my wider Arc-8s with 265 in there too to check clearance as well. Worst part is having to do this in my apartment parking garage now where they say I'm not allowed to work on my car. I'll just describe to them how it's a life or death situation and if I don't check there's a possibility that the whole complex will blow from the potentially leaking fuel.

Or do you think that might scare them too much?

[houtan]

Haha. Up to you, but to just take a look will take you five minutes. Just need to jack up the right rear.

[houtan]

just a quick update. It turns out that replacing the dinan upper rear shock mount with the AKG blacks did not fix my issue. It seemed to at first, but with a few hundred more miles the tire managed to rub the fuel filler neck again. I will incrementally add the "packers" mentioned earlier in this thread to try and reduce the shock travel a little more.

I also noticed that my m3 wishbone is barely coming in contact with the chassis (started a separate thread for this). Hopefully the packers fix both issues.

[ShocknAwe]

Just curious man. How much rear camber do you have? Not saying my setup isn't rubbing too, but with 275/35 mps4s on 9.5et58 ec7's it looked like I had several mm clearance under full compression.

[houtan]

Just pulled up my last alignment. It looks like camber is within factory spec. It seems all I need to do is reduce travel. Maybe the TC shocks are slightly shorter than other brands?

I was able to remove my dust boot and to my surprise, the TC da shocks come with one packer installed. It is sitting below the bump stop but i was planning to put them above the bump stop. Anyone know if there is a more desirable location or does it not matter?

Update: never mind about which side the packer should go, it has to be below the bump stop. Above the bump stop at the very top the shaft is a little larger and the packer doesn’t clear the big part of the shaft. Also, I learned that the packers I purchased a while ago are too small so I have to by another set. Grrrrr.

[ShocknAwe]

Must be shorter. Nothing anomalous with your alignment. Yeah the packers have to go below the bump. Will reduce your travel before bottoming out though which could suck. Do you have another damper you can try? I'd be curious if stock length 1M/M3 dampers will allow you to rub.

[houtan]

Not sure why the first two pictures are horizontal because they are vertical when I upload them. hmmm.

I would be curious as well. Unfortunately, the only other shocks I have are the stock e82 parts, which wont work with my LCA. I know when I ran the Bilstein b8s with the dinan upper mounts, I did not have this issue with the fuel filler neck. So yeah, the TC koni must be a good amount shorter. I am hoping one or two packers will do the trick and not impact performance or my comfy ride.

[houtan]

Just a small update. TC Kline told me he makes a small aluminum protector and attaches it via a couple of hose clamps. So I went to homedepot, picked up a few racing parts, and went to work haha.

This is what I ended up with. It is not pretty, but my fingers are crossed it works and I am hoping it stays in place. Tightening the hose clamps were a little tricky because I didn't want to crack the fuel filler neck. I ended up rotating the hose clamps a little more to the back compared to the picture below because they were interfering with the liner. And yes, that is duct tape underneath the plate; I just felt like I needed something to protect the plastic filler, probably unnecessary.

The koni packers should be in today and I am hoping to have everything back together by this weekend. If the packers work at reducing the travel, I don't think the tire will be hitting the filler neck anymore, but I made the plate just in case it does.

I also found an old picture showing how much suspension travel was available running the Bilstein b8's, and compared to the koni DAs, the difference is big. But the TC DAs, in my case at least, have too much travel. I am hoping the koni packers can get me somewhere in between and reducing the travel doesn't ruin how the car drives/handles.

Sorry, no idea why my pictures do not load up the same as they are on my computer. I am guessing the picture is saving the orientation based on how I am holding my iPhone, and it doesn't care that I have rotated the picture on the computer.

[ShocknAwe]

whew. can really see where you were running into the issues. I'll have to inspect my fender liner more closely when I get my car back.

Any luck with the bump stop spacers and shock travel?

A little super low-medium density closed cell foam like used in shoes would probably do well between the filler tube and the aluminum sheet. I will probably use 3mm sheet if I need to do this.

[houtan]

Finally got everything back together.

Here are the packers I used, which are 17mm ID and the same as the one that came with the shock. https://performanceshock.com/index.p...oducts_id=1127

They are an 1/8" thick, so I started with adding three more to each side. I am guessing that leaves me with around 3/4 of suspension travel. Going to drive around like this for a few thousand miles. If there is no contact, I may remove one.

I agree, something like the foam would have been more ideal than duct tape, but that is all I had at the time.