Not the person you asked but anyway.

ET isn't a problem per se, I'm running 38 on 17x7.5 and have never heard or seen wheel touching the wells on mine.

I also think springs (not coilover kits) are not cross compatible between gd and gk because on gk the rear rides on bump stops all the time.

This might not be a noticeable problem if you only ride on smooth to slightly less smooth roads or on the circuit for some fun but if you often ride on rougher roads and have people sitting in the back, it gets old very soon.

 

ET, combined with tire width absolutely is the problem. No amount of spring rate adjustment on lowering springs will correct or prevent fender rubbing with too much off-set/ too wide tires.

Regardless of what the springs are "designed" for, lowering the car will cause the shocks and struts to compress the bump stops (jounce springs). The jounce bumpers are not only bump stops to reduce harsh bottoming, they are supplemental springs. They add a progressive rate to the springs, and if the aftermarket mfr incorporated the jounce into their spring rate, cutting them could reduce the rate too much and make them sag more than designed, as well as cause bottoming too easily.
I cut my bumpers on the front, but after I replaced the OE shocks with Konis, I wish I didn't cut them. I didn't cut the rear bumpers because they snap into the plastic shield and tower pad, and the Konis are shorter which reduces the jounce compression:


Don't blindly cut the bumpers; check with the mfr of the aftermarket springs and see if they recommend cutting them or not.

My car rides freaking awesome. I know Swift makes a great product; I prefer a bit lower ride height than they offer. H and R makes great springs too and they match the Koni damping rate well. I love my set-up and I am very happy with my suspension, even though it's not "designed" for my car:



If I would have waited for Koni, H&R, Tein, etc to make specific suspension components, I'd still be waiting instead of enjoying the changes that I've already made. The parts I'm using are not for everyone. In fact, some might not like it at all and I'm not recommending anyone modify their car like I did. I can tell you I am very happy I did and I enjoy my car much more since the change:

 

I'm not attacking your choices here, to each his own, just clarifying why it isn't recommended to cross-install springs just because you can and that ET isn't really an issue here (but it can be). Nice ride BTW.

I'm also perfectly clear what bump stops do on this car and how they supplement the spring. Key word, supplement. It shouldn't take over spring.
If you didn't cut your front bump stop in front it would ride on it so spring wouldn't really do much work. Mine did and it's shorter drop than yours. Looking at the photo it seems you still do ride on them.

I'm actually very interested in one detail about your setup since I first saw it, because the rear strut cylinder is shorter.

Could I bother you to do one thing when and if possible:
Measure the distance from the center of the rear wheel to the edge of the fender then disconnect the struts and measure again.

 

Mine rubbed with way less off-set than that. Maybe my springs are softer. They still ride much stiffer than OE.

Those would have to be really stiff to not hit.

You car looks great, btw. I like it.

 

It's all good; I don't feel attacked. I just seems like there's a misunderstanding that spring rate and ride height will somehow fix too much off-set/ too wide tires.

If I can get a chance this weekend I'll give it a go. I'm interested to see if the sag increases as well

 

Great, thanks! Do put some wood pieces under each strut eye so you don't damage them when lowering the car from lift/lifts, they'll be extended.

 

Again, I'm having 205/40x17 7.5in wide on TEIN high.techs, no rubbing whatsoever and I'm driving in CN where roads are like a wheel of fortune, one is great with random deep potholes and another is cracked concrete all around.
Though I do have different problem and will be doing a write up soon for others to be aware.

 

So what is it then? The drop on those is 1.2", I think? You have stock dampers? Your telling me the springs alone are preventing wheel rub and it's the extra lowered .4" height that's the issue, not the off-set?Your tires about 1/2" shorter in diameter. This gives you about 1/4" more clearance in upward travel, but 1/4 less ground clearance. Speedo is off a bit. Gearing is easier. I'm not sure the trade-off is there. I'd rather add neg camber.

I forgot to mention before: I did measure the height of the car with the stock rear dampers, and then after I added the Koni's. There was to change at all. Same height. I noticed more body roll and better ride quality with less bounciness with the Konis. It was noticeable right away.

 

It's around an inch and first doughnut is cut off, now there is a small gap, say 3~5 mm, between the bump and the cylinder.
Yes, stock struts but I'd like ones like yours sonner than later I saw you tucked your wheels for 1.7 deg and now I'm just waiting for camber bolts to follow your suggestion.

We all have different setups so what I'm saying is that on mine there's no rubbing with ET 38. Obviously we're talking here about aftermarket springs so going lower will rub eventually but his drop doesn't look so extreme and that's why I asked him what he did with the bumps. Yours looks slammed, which makes me think you're still on bumps and that's what (probably) gives you bouncy feedback.

I'm puzzled about your rears though. Bumps on mine actually maintain the height which I extremely dislike.

 

Don't want to call you out and sorry for that but it bothers me when you're editing, I'd like to give you proper answers to extent of my limited knowledge to all of your questions. We're overlapping a lot being online in the same time. Maybe you could add new questions to the next post?

The tire size is a bit of a puzzle for me because most of the rest of the world gets 185/60x15 so 205/40x17 is within 1.3% or so difference in diameter. Mugen also has their units on same size so I went with that. I wanted more sidewall on 17 but figured better to err on the side of mugen

 

Sorry about the editing I need to get on my PC. Cell is a pain

 

205/50/16 vs 205/40/17.

All good if it works for you. I had rubbing w/ stock alignment.

Glad your set-up works for you.

 

I was puzzled as well, but by the fronts. The spring perch visually looks higher, effectively increasing the preload if it were the case. I anticipated a slightly higher front height after the Koni swap, but my measurements remained the same as OE

 

The only thing I can think why you're not hitting is the smaller diameter tires. That 1/4" or so reduction in radius is enough to prevent contact at full compression?

There's plenty of examples of 205/50/16 +40et hitting with stock suspension so any lowering and increase in et will rub if overall diameter and tread width remain constant

 

You guys are missing an important factor in your little exchange here:

What kind of tires are you guys running? Not all 205's are 205mm. I suspect your tires jhn are more performance oriented tires (I guess since you have a number plate), and as such, might actually be MORE than 205mm... and CN_Fit's tires may actually be less than 205mm

How the tire fits on the rim is important too... how the sidewall forms on the bead. Some tires sit differently than others. My 205/55/15 Kumho Ecsta 4x rub more than my same size S.Drives did on my GE because they balloon more.

I didn't notice if either of you posted what tires you were running, maybe I missed it. When you start getting getting really close to the rub/norub line small differences like tire construction can push you over.

 

Mine rubbed w/ the OE 185/55/16, +42

Now if they're rolling/ pulling/ tucking the fenders and liners that would do it. But I'm not going to do that. At 1.5" drop my car's not really slammed so aside from the smaller overall diameter of 205/40/17 on 7.5" +38 or more, I'm not sure why the Swift springs are the deciding factor that allows their cars more off-set w/ no rubbing. I'm missing something in my understanding because my experience would expect that it does.

 

How did you take out the collars on the rear shock shaft? On the ge it was so tough I just left it and did not cut the bump stop.

 

Rear bumps shouldn't be cut on gk5, but to answer your question: with strut bottom supported on the floor jerk the top assy and it'll release. The small sleeve is just stuck on conical part of the strut stem.

 

On the GE the sleeve is dimpled and it has to be drilled to get it off; on the GK, it just slides on and off. It's super easy. I expected this to be a brutal pain when I got there, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Honda corrected this. I really have no idea why they would crimp that sleeve onto the shock shaft in the first place. I even reused it on the Koni shocks.

No more drilling out the sleeve!

 

I'm running 15x7 +38 kosei k1s with 205/50/15s, the fronts stick out a bit but my suspension isn't low enough to where it would be rubbing. I wish they were to fit as good as they did on my GD3, but different car different fitment.