Coilovers and rear control arms

Background,

Three or four years ago I installed a set of Progress lowering springs on my 2009 2.5i. The overall drop on the car was 1.5"-1.75". They've done well for the highschool and early college years. Two summers ago I started to run summer and winter sets of wheels and tires. The summer set are Tenzo Type R 17x7's with a +42 offset. There are roughly 40,000 miles on the springs and 20,000 miles on the summer set up.

Currently,

Did some routine maintenance recently, changed the oil and rotated the tires, and noticed this.



This is the drivers side rear tire, and it is heavily worn on the inside. After seeing this I inspected the passengers side rear tire and found that it's scalloped on the inside, however it's in better shape. Normally scallops come about from doing burnouts and such, which isn't really possible in a 2.5i 4eat. Looks like this wear is from the camber being bad in the back because of the lowering springs I installed back in the day.

I'm in the market now for a set of coilovers, because I'm pretty sure the struts are going out, and rear lower control arms to remedy the camber situation.

I've been doing a little research and looking around for parts. For what I'm trying to do I've found two options thus far for coilovers. A set of D2's or BC Racing.

Has anyone had any experience with either, or both?

Also I've only found two options for adjustable rear lower control arms, Megan Racing or GTSPEC.

Endgame,

My goal is to have a ride that is a little stiffer then what I achieved with the lowering springs and a little higher to cope with speed humps. Also I want to adjust the front and rear camber so that I don't rub through a set of summer tires every 20,000-30,000 miles.

Is there anything I've missed, neglected, or alternative ways to achieve the goal?

-Nate

 

I have an 08 2.5i. I recently put on Koni yellow inserts and RCE black springs (3/4" drop all around). Complete night and day difference from our stock setup. If you aren't dead set on coilovers, you might just want to look into strut inserts.

 

Unless your planning on auto x or anything other then DD I'd stick with new struts/springs rather then coil overs. As Fancy mentioned above he used Koni yellows with RCE black springs and I used Koni Yellows with Swift sport springs and it seems we're both thoroughly satisfied. Added benefit is that Koni yellows are adjustable (stiffer,softer) so you can tailor the ride comfortable. THEN, all you so is take it to get a good alignment and this should solve your issues. Lower control arms shouldn't be necessary with setups noted above. Good luck!

 

Camber doesn't wear tires unles its very excessive. You'd need 2+ degrees in the negative to even begin to notice wear. What you have there is toes out wear, in association with worn out struts. You need an alignment.

There is more then enough adjustment with the factory front cam bolts to account for lowering springs. I don't remember off the top of my head if there is an off the shelf camber solution for the multi link rear suspension, but there should be. Either way, I doubt any lowering spring could put you low enough to need adjustment.

With that kind of wheel fitment, and it being a daily, I must agree with the other 2 posters, get a quality set of dampers, keep rocking your springs, and get a good alignment from someone who knows modified cars.

I've run nearly 3 degrees negative on similar suspension design, and had perfect tire wear over 10,000 miles on Falken RT-615s.

 

Also looks like you may be running your air pressure a bit low.

 

get an alignment after you install struts/springs/coilovers

 

What he said, any suspension change should follow an alignment.

 

Thanks for the input everyone!

I failed to mention that the tire loses pressure, about 10psi every third week. This has been an ongoing problem for some time, I keep my eye on it and add air when necessary. Also it was recently aligned by Subaru in May.

I like the idea of changing the struts, and keeping the current springs. I don't intend to run it in an auto x, however it does get manhandled on Montana's dirt roads. This is partially the reason I'm looking for something that is height adjustable. When the lowering springs were installed I lived in Minnesota where everything is mostly paved, now the car spends most of its time out in the wild west where things aren't as smooth.

With all that being said, keep the good ideas flowing! I'm off to look at some new tires today, and an alignment will definitely be done after installation.

-Nate