PushinTheLimit

So I pulled the front wheels off my vette after my last event at Nashville SS and noticed that the right front a-arm has been rubbed pretty hard and gashed it about halfway on it. It looks like it would be close to where the wheel would be, but I really haven't seen too much on the inside lip of my CCW Classics to indicate that its been hitting them. I suspect it is though.

What I found was odd, its only the right front that is doing this. The left front a-arm looks good. And it has been doing it well before my last event because I noticed it back a couple months ago. Threw a little paint on it to see if its still doing it and all the paint has been worn off and the cut looks even deeper now.

What could be the cause? I've got T1 bushings in it now and was thinking about replacing them over the winter anyways if that's the problem. I may even need to replace the entire a-arm itself. Anyone ever had this problem before?

dgoetz

What size are your rims and tires? I run CCW Classic's 18"X11.5" frt rims with 315"s on a 04 ZO6 and the most aggressive back-set they recommend. They told me I would hit my A-Arms if I go to full lock on my steering and i do. I can hear it touch because my rims are so wide that they hit first, but if you are running a rim that is not as big as you can run on the tire then the tire will hit first and maybe you wont hear it. If it is only one then you could put a 1/16 or 1/8 spacer on that side. Or just don't turn to full lock, i have not heard from anyone how to adj the steering stops it correct this.

froggy47

Measure the back space on both rims.

travisnd

Check the backspacing and look at the pad height on the centers. Once upon a time I got a new set of centers from CCW and they sent me centers from their "big street" package. That setup has different off-sets front/rear vs. the set of custom 18x9.5 and 18x11s that i had that had the came pad height centers. Not knowing any better I put them back together w/o checking and had them wrong. I finally noticed that the wheel stuck out more on one side in the front and more on one side in the rear. I pulled the wheels and checked and figured it out.

PushinTheLimit

Its rubbed the lower control arm so hard that its cut a decent groove into it. I keep my front together and will flip them side to side after a race so I would've thought if it was the rim itself... it would've rubbed as hard on the left side too. I'll check the backspacing and see what I got. But they are T1 CCW's 17x10 fronts and 17x11 rears. I run an 1/8" spacer on one set of fronts and a 1/4" on the other to clear my Wilwood SL6 calipers.

Should I look into replacing the control arm? Just wondering if that kind of groove would weaken it.

redtopz

It's the wheel. I have the same problem and I've cut some deep grooves in my lower control arm. Let me guess, you first noticed it after correcting for your rear end sliding out to the right. That's what happened to me at Laguna Seca. I was correcting for a spin coming out of the corkscrew and cranked my steering wheel to the right. Then you get some compression/rebound in the suspension and your inner wheel rubs the control arm. I'm still running that control arm fwiw.

geerookie

A picture might help.
Is it rubbing the front or back of the control arm? I assume front.
Yes any groove will weaken the control arm to some degree. Is it enough to matter? That depends on your tolerance for risk
Need a picture. Also remember, the lower control arm does almost all of the work in the front suspension.

varkwso

I have seen interference with Kodiak and CCW T1 wheels - especially if you mix them up!