Rubbing after an alignment w/ RCE Yellows?
 

So i got an alignment last week and i'm now for the first time noticing that a sudden hard turn left is generating what sounds like rubbing when driving on the stock wheels/tires. I never heard the sound previously when on my other wheels (17x8 235/40/17 +35). I was just prepping for a long road trip so that's why i'm back on the stock wheels. Suspension changes are only RCE Yellows on stock struts and Whiteline camber bolts up front. I'm not hearing the noise anywhere except what seems to be the driver front wheel. A sudden hard turn right isn't generating the same noise. :bonk:

http://i.imgur.com/HXPIiGX.jpg

Rear camber look wonky. Doesn't make much sense as to why they would have such a big difference from left to right. If car is rolling hard and you have that much negative camber on the right, that might be the source of the sound.

your SAI is 1 degree different left to right, this is odd, and your caster is off by a little left to right as well

something was not aligned properly.

Huh, so apparently the alignment guy did more harm then good. Still can't find the source of the rubbing sound. Took off all 4 wheels to inspect and no obvious wear points.

is this your first ever alignment on the FRS or have you done some before? Same shop? Do you have previous print outs?

First alignment. The alignment was done by a one man shop that only does alignments for around 10 years. He had a hunter alignment machine although i guess that doesn't do you any good if you don't know what you're doing.

The cars are like this off the factory floor.

Im at -1.8 LR, -2.8 RR

How about the SAI? Is that within spec?

I dont have a print out so i couldnt even begin to guess. :iono:

maybe your right side camber bolt was not tightened enough?
i have oem crash bolt and the torque spec on them were pretty high like 130 ft lb or something, i remember working the torque wrench wondering when it would click.
not sure of torque spec on whiteline, but i assume it should be high to keep it in place as well.

I'm going to throw the other wheels/tires on the car to see if the sound still exists. Otherwise i'm getting another alignment this friday.

Every lowered FRS/BRZ i have seen has this problem. Its always the right side that has more camber too.

That alignment doesn't actually look too bad. The rear camber looks weird, but he doesn't have much he can do with that, unless you bought parts specifically for him to install to correct the rear camber. Otherwise, you can only adjust toe back there.

While typing out a much longer reply, I did remember something, and am starting to think it might be something for you to look into. My first ever autocross with this particular car was a couple weeks ago, in the rain. So, one run, I brain farted and didn't turn off the traction and stability control. Result? Well, I didn't spin, and I was slower, and at just about every turn that required any bravery to speak of, lots of DSC/TC intervention. Noisy, grinding/rubbing/scrubbing noises as the brakes ruined my run. The bonus? It being a counter-clockwise course, the intervention was much more severe when turning left. My alignment isn't that far off from yours, but my car isn't lowered.

Outside of that, put the factory wheels back on, jack up that corner and turn the wheel to full lock and see what it *might* contact if it were to. Car being lowered, and the stock wheels/offset could combine to put the wheel/tire enough farther inboard to contact something. Then look for a shiny spot if it's metal, and scuffs/scrapes if it's plastic.

In any event, save your money on the alignment for right now, particularly if it drives straight. You'll be extra irritated if you go and spend money on a good alignment (his place, or anywhere else), and it doesnt fix it. Solutions are much more effective when they are used on the problems they are intended for. No amount of alignment change is going to make the stability control stop interfering, you have to press the button for that. If you want the rear camber corrected, get a set of offset bushings or new LCAs.

tl;dr - Find that spot where you find yourself needing to yank hard left, and go there. Make the noises happen. Then - Turn off the TC/DSC, repeat test. I think it's the nannies interfering, not the alignment. More likely that the springs were installed incorrectly at this point.

Thanks for the reply.

I always drive with all assists off so this shouldn't be the issue. I haven't tried the pedal dance yet.

I've taken off all four wheels multiple times now - haven't found anything yet. And i am on stock wheels / tires right now. I'm going to go back to my aftermarket wheels to see if i hear the rubbing noise as i never heard the sound before i went back to stock wheels. I just used some crayons to mark the inside of my front tires to see if it is actually rub that i've missed.

Will update again after switching to other wheel setup.

I bought the spc rear lower control arms and my rear alignment is even. You might consider doing the same.

That is outside the factory spec, you should take it to a dealer and have them replace parts.. that is if you are -2.8 on stock springs and not lowered.

I did not have anywhere near this much cross camber on the rear of mine, i was at -1LR -1.2RR at stock ride height.

im lowered without control arms. factory I was at -1, -1.8 or so.

Update: it appears to be the JDL overpipe that is rubbing on hard turns. Going to take it home to see if i can adjust it a little bit then update again.

those pipes, they always get ya

what an uneventful ending to an exciting wild goose chase

Alright confirmed it was definitely the JDL over pipe that was the source of the noise. Adjusted it as much as i can and eliminated 95% of the rub. The flanges now from the header to the overpipe now line up very poorly - i guess that doesn't surprised me as i've had bad luck with JDL parts in general. For the record it's a JDL UEL Header too - so there's no excuses on why their over pipe shouldn't be a perfect fit.

Below shows the clearance i get with the cross-member and the over pipe. Unfortunately after loosening both the front-pipe and header side of the overpipe there is simply no more room for adjustment.

http://i.imgur.com/q3kVdF3.jpg