Lowering EF hatch on 17"s.... Help!
 

Back in 1998, I lowered my 1990 Civic EF Si on 17" Enkie's(42mm offset with 205/40zr17 tires) and it damn near pancaked the car.
I purchased the same year(90), same model(ef Si) a couple months ago. I just purchased a new set of Enkie's, in 17"s(again, 42mm offset with 205/40zr17"s) and now I have clearance issues(front and rear). The rear quarters touch ever so slightly on the tires over speed humps(maybe some minor grinding or removing the pinch moulding on the inside edge might solve this) and the fronts look like they will bend the front fenders on compression when I lower it. The car is currently on stock suspension.

Any suggestions as to make this work again? Are there adjustments that can be made to remedy this problem? I remember there being little to no wear on the last car I did this to. The current car has no pulling issues or tire wear problems at all...

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated except telling me to scrap the new 17"s I just installed. I know this has worked in the past and can't see why I can't do it again. Something must be off(besides me), somewhere.

Thanks in advance,

Tim

fender rolling

15's would look so much better

Is that my only option? The previous EF Si didn't need it though... I lowered it and didn't do any fender rolling.

I have my 14" HX's still. They will be the daily driver wheels if I need it to be. Currently I have paid-for fuel and work truck I drive. The EF is strickly a weekend option.

Any suggestions?

well fender rolling.. and u might not have had the inner fenders on ur last one.. i had this isue with my ek hatch. one of them it was fine and the other one rubbed.. plus it depends on the tire.. possibly thi sone is a bit bigger?.... take out the inner fender should fix it. but rolling your fenders would make it look nice on the17's ..i am not t much into big wheels any more. i have 18's on my is300 i am trying to sell and they rub when i turn.lol... so i mean check ur tire size and inner fender

raise it up a little bit

I really loved my 205/40/17 until I decided to lower my car I went too low and hit the pinch molding raised it up a bit until I barely rubbed the side of my fenders while turning. I decided to go with meshies and was able to drop it another inch without problems.

i rolled 17's on my 88 no problem

i had 17s on my 88 hatch and it was lowered and i didnt have a problem with it either no rubbing nothing but maybe he is right the inner fender is whats making the noise

maybe dropping it will give you the camber you need to make it tuck? if youre on stock suspension you shouldn't have any camber which would make it a tight fit... that or im retarded.

bingo boyo

one thing is let the camber be out of spec. if the camber is out so that the tire leans in it will give a slight bit a clearnance. This is bad though because you will wear tires out fast and possible still hit when cornering hard. Your best bet is to remove the fender liners like hardmugen said and possibly roll the fenders a little. You could also not go quite as low either. Lower isn't always better. Good luck.