so i have recently lowered my xB with s. techs. i am running 215/45/17 tires and although i had a little rubbing before now it is even worse.

my question is how can i tell if my front struts are bad or going bad? my real concern is that it is only rubbing on the driver side and when i was looking at it i notcied that the driver side sits about a half inch lower than the passenger side.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

you can tell if your strut is bad by pushing on the corner of the car to compress that side, if it doesn't pop right back up, you have a bad strut.

you could have blown a strut, or your springs could have just settled. s-techs really aren't a good choice, expecially if you don't put on higher pressure shocks and struts, it can easily blow the stock shocks.

anyway, the driver side settles faster than the passenger side because there is more weight on that side, mainly, the driver, and additional components like the transmission are biased towards that side.

lots of people park the high side on a curb to help compress that side and help it settled faster.

and on another note, you should have gone with h-techs. s-techs are just for that super low look, it actually has negative effects on ride and handling.

 

i am not sure where you get your info from...especially since it appears as you do not even own an Xb. i have the stock struts and the monroe shocks in the rear with s-tech's and my ride is way smoother and it has a much better ride than with the stock springs and the stock shocks. there are other springs out there with a lower stance than the s-tech's. i don't think the s-tech's are "super low" but yes they do take up the majority of the wheel well gap, and i am sure these springs would be a lot better with a rear sway bar. they are not stiff by any means, but springs are not meant for the total handling package with just putting new ones on....

i want to know what these "negitive effects on ride and handling" are.....

another thing...why should he have gone with h-tech's instead? have you had both models on an Xb before? i say again, it doesn't appear that you have or ever had an Xb from your info.

 

I have to agree with bmx. I have rolled with the Tein s springs on stock shocks and struts for more than 2 years with no problems. I really like the Tein s and would recommend them to anyone who wants to drop their box.
As far as the slight lean, my car does it as well. I believe it to be a characteristic of the xb.

 

well, my strut performs like it is supposed to. i will try the curb thing and see what happens, but if your (1epoxybox) does it as well then i am not so worried. i guess i will down size my tires and see if that helps. thanks for the comments.

 

Maybe i can shed some light on this issue .. and possibly dispell some myths posted above.

Stock suspension sucks. That is fact. I went from that to the Tein H Techs cause i wanted a better ride, and got it. I then went with the Progress Springs cause they offered a lower stance which i liked after seeing my GFs on GoldLines. I didnt go with the GoldLines cause the ride was wayyy to choppy. Ever since i brought the car home i have had a 215/45R17 tire on it. There was no ribbing issues with the stock suspension. There was still no rubbing issues with the Teins. It wasnt until i installed the Progress Springs that i had rubbing issues on the front end. And its only on the drivers side. If you notice or take a look the car actually sits ( or favors ) the drivers side of the axles. Granted, there isnt a solid axle on the front, but the tire will sit closer to the outside on the drivers side. Same goes for the rear. You can really see it if you have a set of OTG shims in the rear. I can stand 6 or so ft. behind my car and if you squat down and look you can see that there is about 3MM more rubber sticking out past the back end of the side skirt. Why this is, no one knows. I know it was posted here about 3 or 4 years ago, cause someone noticed back then, yet no one had an answer as to why.

Now, to fix your problem. Take a look at the top of the strut tower. The plate that has the 3 bolts that hold the strut in place inside the engine bay. If you look at it from the front there should be no gap between the bottom plate and the small circular plate in the center. If there is, then you have blown the " top hat " of the strut. This will actually make the strut sit slightly lower, and make noise when you hit a bump. They can be replaced, and usually run about $70.

The other thing you may want to look into .. is the bump stop on that side. It may have been cut too short or may have been left out entirely.

On a car that is driven on a daily basis, there is no more spring drop of settling after a day or 2. Also, this BS about the drivers side settling faster then the passenger side cause of the driver .... common. MAYBE if your Elephant Man. LOL If you think about it, you car sits what .... 20 hours a day and the other 4 ( pushing it ) your in the car in the drivers seat adding an extra 200 pounds. Do you really think that would cause the springs to settle faster on one side ... on an car that wieghs almost a ton to begin with? Seriously, where to you guys get this stuff?

Check to see if you have any oil leaking from the strut. If you do, then its shot. I have lots and lots of miles on my box and still have the stock struts and shocks with no problems. But i do have minimal rubbing on the front end.

 

well, i did notice before that the "top hat" as you called it was blown and i replaced it but that did not do the trick. there is no oil leaking or anything from the strut and i have the original bump stops on the car. it seems like you have a vast knowledge of these things so maybe that will help. thanks very much, i have learned much already.