[arob]

So, after figuring out how to properly balance Fuchs, Fairfax 944 invited me back to his garage to attempt to re-balance the Fuchs. 3 of the 4 balanced out perfectly, but one wheel just wouldn't cooperate. We ended up putting quite a few weights on there to get it to ~.50 on the outside of the wheel, without putting weights all the way around. We couldn't see any physical bends in the wheel, so perhaps the tire? Thoughts on this?



On topic: Turning onto Fairfax 944's street, there is a slight drop off from the main road. I may have taken it a little too quick, and ended up with this (driver's side front).





Upon further inspection, we find this:





From my understanding, "basic" Euro ride height is (from ground to fender) 25.5" front, 25.0" rear. My driver's side front is ~25.25, passenger side front is 25.50". My question is whether or not I need to roll fenders, or adjust ride height. If rolling and/or adjusting ride height is required, is there anyone who is willing to help?

Thanks in advance.

[Lupin..the..3rd]

Originally Posted by arob

From my understanding, "basic" Euro ride height is (from ground to fender) 25.5" front, 25.0" rear. My driver's side front is ~25.25, passenger side front is 25.50". My question is whether or not I need to roll fenders, or adjust ride height. If rolling and/or adjusting ride height is required, is there anyone who is willing to help?

Measurements are with, or without driver?

[arob]

Originally Posted by Lupin..the..3rd

Measurements are with, or without driver?

Without.

[michael lang]

That should be a relatively easy problem to fix. If you want to get the fenders lips rolled, piece of cake. Tip:heat is your friend. As far as the wheel balance is concerned, did you try rotating the tire on the rim an rebalancing? You weren't specific in your description. Many times a tire can be rotated on the rim to get a better balance. Best of luck!

[kaefer]

I also suggest rotating the tire on the wheel to get a better balance. Perhaps try to dismount the tire, rotate 180 degrees, then mount and balance. Or just find a Hunter GSP9700 balancer and have the wheel/tire road force balanced!

The fender should be easy. I would just roll a baseball bat between the tire and fender to fold back the lip, perhaps also pulling out a little bit as well. You can use heat to try and save the paint. If you're trying to save the paint you may want to have someone with lots of fender rolling experience help you. If you're not worried about the paint (plan to use some touch up paint) you can probably roll the fenders yourself easily with a baseball bat.

Good luck!

[arob]

Originally Posted by kaefer

I also suggest rotating the tire on the wheel to get a better balance. Perhaps try to dismount the tire, rotate 180 degrees, then mount and balance. Or just find a Hunter GSP9700 balancer and have the wheel/tire road force balanced!

The fender should be easy. I would just roll a baseball bat between the tire and fender to fold back the lip, perhaps also pulling out a little bit as well. You can use heat to try and save the paint. If you're trying to save the paint you may want to have someone with lots of fender rolling experience help you. If you're not worried about the paint (plan to use some touch up paint) you can probably roll the fenders yourself easily with a baseball bat.

Good luck!

Perhaps I'll try to rotate the tire on the wheel first to see if it balances any better, and as far as DIY fender rolling, I have zero experience, so I'm not even going to try to do this one myself. With my luck, I'd screw it up really bad.

Thanks for the input everyone!

[Fairfax 944]

Rob, there was definitely a lot of wobble in that tire when it was on the machine. The wheel did not look too bent, if it all. Also, based on the adhesive left on the wheel from the old weights, the previous people that balanced that wheel had the same issue.

Since we got 3 of the 4 of them balanced without issue, I'd just take it to some place with a Hunter Road Force Balancer and pay $20 or $25 bucks. My machine cannot compare to a $8K+ balancing machine. I have no problem continuing to work on it, but I don't think we're going to any better because of all of the wobble we saw in the tire.

[Jase007]

Rob:

From my understanding, "basic" Euro ride height is (from ground to fender) 25.5" front, 25.0" rear. My driver's side front is ~25.25, passenger side front is 25.50".

A better and really not to difficult measurement of ride height [euro or otherwise] is to measure the difference in mm from the wheel center to ground and from the center of the front torsion bar cover to ground [same for rear].

See this thread and attached excel spreadsheet [with nifty calculator for inches to mm ]

LOTS of the drovers on this board are below "euro" height and fender measurements are ALL OVER THE PLACE b/c these cars are 20+ years old and things [fenders, pan, strut towers, etc...] have been tweaked.

Also, consider the measurements people mention and the suspension upgrades they have done. Stiffer torsion bars and springs allow for lower height as suspension will compress less. Again, many here have BTDT and can chime in on what they are running and whether they are catching fender lips.

Good luck.

*corner weighting [drover weight in car, 1/2 tank of gas] and alignment will change these numbers [four corners] from being "level" [unweighted, not corner balanced].

[arob]

Originally Posted by Fairfax 944

Rob, there was definitely a lot of wobble in that tire when it was on the machine. The wheel did not look too bent, if it all. Also, based on the adhesive left on the wheel from the old weights, the previous people that balanced that wheel had the same issue.

Since we got 3 of the 4 of them balanced without issue, I'd just take it to some place with a Hunter Road Force Balancer and pay $20 or $25 bucks. My machine cannot compare to a $8K+ balancing machine. I have no problem continuing to work on it, but I don't think we're going to any better because of all of the wobble we saw in the tire.

Thanks for all of the help on this, Jim. I'm taking it to ASG on Monday to have them look at it.