new wheels, suspension probs!!

[msc125]

hi

i just bought some gold/silver 17" ms01\'s (very sexy ) and i\'m having problems with rubbing of the inner arches.

my previous wheels were stock, and occasionally rubbed on the inside of the arches, but i was told it was nothing to worry about. the new wheels have lower profile tyres, so the overall diameter of wheel/ tyre is the same as before. however due to the increased width, the new tyres are rubbing a lot more, and have actually rolled out the arch on the right front!!

now, i don\'t know anything about suspension so here are my questions to all you folks in the know!:

can i get spacer adaptors that i can add above the springs to increase the ride height? (due to thin wallet after the wheels, i don\'t want to get a whole new suspension setup)

if i have to get a new suspension setup, are the adjustable ones a lot more expensive than normal uprated suspension?

how much is stock suspension 2nd-hand?

i think the previous owner may have only lowered the front suspension as the rear seems stock. is this a big no-no? (w.r.t the overall balance)

i haven\'t got my digital camera at the moment, so i\'m borrowing a friends tomorrow to take pics of new wheels and damaged arch. i\'ll also have a good look at the suspension to see what make it is.

cheers

[Spotlamp]

Without too much info it\'s hard to say, but sounds as though you\'ve either got lowered springs on stock shocks, or you\'ve got adjustable suspension.  I\'ve not heard of any car rubbing with stock wheels and suspension.

If it\'s lowered springs on stock shocks I doubt you could do much about it, other than replace the springs.  I don\'t think it\'s this though as lowered springs would have to be fairly low to cause the rub.  Either way though, new springs all round is going to be around the £200-£300 mark absolute tops.

If it\'s aftermarket shocks then chances are you can adjust the height, any idea if they are?  Might be worth taking a wheel off and seeing if there are any stickers, or indeed what colour they are may help.

HTH
H

[msc125]

cheers for the reply spotlamp,

i\'ve taken the ms01s off and put the old wheels back on. i checked the shocks and springs, and it seems as though i am running lowered springs on stock shocks. just to confirm that i\'m right:

i cleaned up the shocks and springs with a bit (well, a lot!!) of wd40 and this is what it said on the front left shock:

MAZDA SHOWA JAPAN 960906

they\'re black, and i read somewhere that showa made standard shocks for mazda

the springs were black and had PRECEDEO JAPAN written on them in gold. did a google search on them, and they seem to increase the spring rate by 10- 20%, with a 1.5- 2inch drop

so it looks like new springs is the way to go? any recommendations for the fd?

[Spotlamp]

Wow, they\'re fairly low springs then!

Guess the only thing to do for new springs is phone around the normal rx7 specialists that get mentioned on MRC...

ReWorx
Shy Auto
WGT
Whifbitz
RX Motors
Jimmy\'s (most likely to have 2nd hand stock springs)

(sorry if I\'ve missed anyone off - not intentional)

HTH
H