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Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:25 pm
by bhiggins2
I am still getting acquainted with my recent 1967 Dino coupe purchase. I have the car on jack stands and when the front suspension is at full drop [like it would be if you were changing the tire] the coil spring is making contact with the tire side wall and I cannot rotate the tire. I checked with my Fiat 124 friends to see if they had ever encountered this problem, and they say no. Is this normal for the Dino coupe? I've never seen this before on any other vehicle I've owned. It is not an issue when the car is on the ground. What is wrong with my suspension? Photos attached.

Re: Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:29 pm
by Tobi
Don't care! This is normal.

Re: Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:52 pm
by bhiggins2
I guess I should have mentioned the car has 195 wide tires and not the stock 185 width. If the spring hitting the tire is normal, how do you change a tire on the front if you get a flat tire? Do you just crank down the lug bolts and compress the tire against the spring? I have not actually removed a wheel from the vehicle yet. I thought my front brakes were locked up at first as the pressure from the spring prevents hand turning of the wheel.

Re: Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 9:20 pm
by abarth4
At the very least you need to have the correct size tires on the car. You can't compare this to the 124 spider... I have both and as the British would say... "They're like chalk and cheese" ;)

Re: Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 9:54 pm
by Scalino
It’s the same on ours (2.4, so 205) and way clear on right hight. Like Tobi said; don’t worry about it!

Re: Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 10:50 pm
by Dinoswede
If you have a 2 Litre Fiat Dino and use the original 185xVR14 tyre, you should not have
any contact between tyre and coil spring, when car is lifted up. If so, something else
is wrong.

When Fiat introduced the 2,4 Dinos with 205/70VR14 tyres, a distance plate was added
at the front axle, to avoid this tyre - coil spring contact. It is often lost at surviving 2,4
Litre cars, but it can be seen at the Spare parts catalogue picture C1.30 (below)

Dinoswede

Anteckning 2020-07-28 234148.png

Re: Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:22 am
by bhiggins2
Thanks for the help! When I get new tires I'll go with the 185 70/14 and if there is still a clearance issue and it bothers me, I can look into a wheel spacer.

Re: Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2020 11:27 pm
by ThomasK
Even with spacer it’s normal that Tyre and spring have contact when lifted up. 2,4 Liter Coupé with 205/70.

Re: Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:02 pm
by Dinoswede
During the eighties´I owned a low-milaged, very original Dino 2,4 Coupé, and I never
experienced the front coil springs hitting the front tyres, when the car was lifted up
on jack stands. It ran on original 205/70/VR14 tyres.

In my humble opinion, FIAT would never sell a car with such a flaw, and at least here
in Sweden, the authorities´yearly car safety inspections would never allow it. And -
when thinking about it - why would FIAT add these spacer plates, if they not solved
the problem?

One possible explanation for this problem could be the use of shock absorbers with
"too long movement". When the car is lifted up, the upper A-arm moves down in a
bow, pressing the spring out. In the same movement, the top of the tyre moves
somewhat inwards(!) depending on the front end geometry. The movement is stopped
by the shock absorbers´ "maximal length". See picture below.

Dinoswede
IMG_4499.JPG

Re: Front coil spring making contact with tire

Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:26 pm
by Tobi
When fully extended, the spring coild doesn't stay concentric with the shock absorber. It buckles to the outside and touches the tire. Maybe this is not even a flaw or problem.