Blown strut?
 

I was changing back to my street wheels today (friday, lazy, yeah. . .) and noticed that the little strip lining my rear passenger fender lip had been rubbed to hell. See pic attached. It's possible that it happened while going over one of the many bumps out here (tons of road construction) with my damping set a little lower, but I hadn't noticed it before, so I'm pretty sure this happened at Stead on Sunday. The thing is, I had my rear struts set to full stiff.

Now, I was under the impression that when you have a coilover strut go bad, it'll dump oil all over and make a ton of noise. I haven't seen this happen yet, and the car felt like it was damped properly in the rear. The tire doesn't seem to have taken any wear, which leads me to believe it was only rubbing lightly.

So what do you think? Blown strut, or should I just not have Mike K ride with me on a course with that many left turns? :P

Note for Cory and Dean, since you'll know what I'm referring to: this is the side that is sitting 0.25" higher than the other.

Looks like it just got pulled off due to some tire rub.

Put it back on, and it will likely last until the next autocross.

Or just pull it off for more clearance.

I pulled it off myself to take the pic. You can see the metal clips on the inside where the rubber was worn away. My concern is that with the strut set at full stiff, and the other three corners not rubbing, that corner still compressed far enough for that to happen. Or is that common? :?:

Between that and all the bumps I've been having to go over lately, I'm a bit worried.

Can you describe for me what happens when a strut craps out? I just wanna be sure.

Dunno if it's different for coilovers, but blown struts make a poping noise that can be easily heard while driving. And of course the leaking oil.

Blown strut is unlikely without wetness.

Jump up and down on each door sil and see if they feel different.

Worst case, tear the rear struts off, take off the springs, and time the compression/rebound with a given weight/force on it. Comapre side to side.

Well, taking them apart is a little more than I handle right now, but I hadn't thought of jumping on the door sills. They seem to be even, so I must be ok.

Thanks, guys. :)

Your strut is not blown. Rubbing is a function of wheel geometry and strut geometry... period. Spring stiffness/length and damping do NOT affect wether or not you will rub UNLESS they prevent the car from fully compressing the strut to the bumpstops under all but the most ridiculous loads. If you want to test your "rubbing geometry" drop the lower spring perch as far as you can to get the strut to 100% compress when you jack it up (or as low as it needs to anyway). If you have can't see/feel anywhere there is contact, you will have no rubbing, and vice versa. I would recommend doing this with your autocross tires on, as they are wider and probably responsible for the rubbing, rather than your Falkens.

If you add a touch of camber and pull off those strips (the metal clips will tear up our tires, trust me on this) nothing bad will happen. The bare metal edge of the fender will get pushed away from the tire, it won't cut the sidewalls, unlike the staple thingies which will shift in the rubber and gouge.

I'll pull the strips off for autox, but I've already got the rear camber set at -2.0. . . I'm not sure I want any more than that.

What the hell are the these linings for, anyway?

To keep the paint from bubbling or cracking or allowing rust to start at the edge of the sheet metal. Also, I may have the 'tool' in my possession in the near future and I will let everyone up here know when/if that happens. Slightly folding your rear fender lips might allow you to keep the strips on fulltime.

Yeah, you may have to introduce me to the tool.

Don't, it's a sex trap.

Yes, the double entendre was purposeful. :P