you guys worry about it too much, man.

I agree with Ken, sometimes we make mistakes on our choices and it causes problems (including myself). I like Ken's car, too, but mine looks better J/K

Can you elaborate on "Kosei's don't click." what do you mean by 'click?'

Can you describe this 'horrid noise' you were hearing from the SSR's?
Did you actually remove the tires and spun them and heard the noise?
If not, how do you know that it wasn't coming from the tires?
What was exactly wrong with your wheel that caused this horrible
noise?

berky- but sounds like you fixed your problem this time by choosing
the right set this time. you won't get any rubbing on my setup.


your car looks better only when im driving it.

Well the funny thing is dude backed out but i said what the heck, might as well I will have two sets of nice rims now, ohhh BTW, a set of S-lites too.

what is the deal with SSR banckrupted???WTF?

berky- that was like a year ago. tanabe bought their assets though. hopefully we'll start seeing some new wheels soon either from SSR or Tanabe using SSF technology.

When turning, the car made loud, repetitive tapping sounds, a bit like a ratchet. The sound was never heard in a straight line, and only came from the front wheels.

At my first autocross, the announcers were calling my car the "popcorn popper" because it was so loud. The sound persisted over 15K worth of miles, and the dealership assured me the sound was coming from the control-arm ball-joint, which would have indicated the brakes (the rotor-hat bolts sit about 3~4mm away from the ball-joint, and one could believe that, under sheer load, they could contact the ball-joint, but there was no scoring or wear-indication). I believed them until I mounted the Kosei wheels.

I ran the Avon M500's everywhere from 30psi all the way up to 48psi with no change.

so was the tire rubbing the fender liner when you turned or rubbing your
struts? 1pc wheels don't make tapping noises all on its own.
why did you drive 15k miles with the popping noise?
where does the wheel bearing issue come into play?

how come i don't get any rubbing or popping noise while using
a wider wheel (7.5") and same +42mm offset? and bold
shouldered tires like the GSD3's in 205/50/16?

im just curious why the root cause was not further investigated.

no critism, but it looks like there is a mathematical error on Ahamos' set up, almost an invitation for trouble:impatient

No tire contact at all (in the front -- I had the usual rubbing in the rears on hard bumps)
It wasn't the wheels making the sound; the wheels were causing the sound.
It only seemed to happen when I was driving hard, which wasn't terribly often.
The sound was unquestionably rotational, and we verified that the brakes, driveshafts, and tires were not contacting anything. We verified there wasn't too much play in the driveshafts, and even tried removing the washers in the rotor-hat bolts to move the bolt-heads farther from the ball-joint. The only rotating thing left was the actual hub, which includes the bearings.

We had also just successfully diagnosed a similar sound (although with an accompanying grind) as being another owner's wheel bearings.

Now, with wheels that sit a bit farther in-board, the sound is gone, causing me to believe that the hub was put under stress. When the hub is stressed, it passes the savings on to the bearings.
Can't tell you, other than to say a +42mm offset is not the same on a 7.5" wheel a it is on a 7" wheel. Mathematically, they're different. Perhaps the problem I encountered was where the mass was centered; having a lower offset causes the mass to sit farther outboard, which pushes harder on the bearings at the top of the hub. You might find your mass rests in the same plane as stock wheels with your setup.

BTW, my tire size was 215/50R16.
I almost choked on this line. Um, I spent months trying to figure this out. The dealer hooked the car up to all their fancy equipment, and simply disclaimed it as the brakes. I disassembled and tweaked the brakes repeatedly, defying all of ToddTCE's advice, and attempted to recreate the problem in an environment where assessment could occur. Unfortunately, the tapping would only occur when weight was on the wheels, and the car had to be in motion. I posted requests for assistance on NAM, had lengthy discussions with mechanics and generally smart people, and eventually gave up. It was luck, pure and simple, that I happened to order new wheels and discover the source of the noise.

It's also worth noting that I couldn't simply put my stock wheels back on without also removing the Wilwoods (in other words, I couldn't very well isolate only one variable). I did borrow a friend's set of SSR GT-7's one day so that I could try out his Kumho tires, and wasn't listening for the tapping that day. I'm guessing it was gone, though.

ahamos - so did you try your SSR's after you replaced your wheel bearing?

i believe there are *many* people using your size (16x7) for auto-x...do
they get the same popping noise? probably not.

Could we say your wheel bearing was perhaps a defect?

My 16x7.5" will put more stress than your 16x7" at the "top of the hub"
as there is 0.25" more metal sticking outward than your 7" wheel.
offset is measured at the centerline (plane) +/- the distance to the
back of the disc. the only difference your wheel has than mine is that
you have a narrower rim width.

Yours = 16x7 +42mm offset
Mine = 16x7.5 +42mm offset

sure there is more metal on the inner side of the wheel closer to the car
too, but we're talking about this popping noise only happening when you
probably turn aggressively (at an autocross event)...meaning, the vehicle
load is more on the outside lip of the wheel.

My wheels are nowhere near the plane of the stock wheels/tires. the
wheels/tires are flush to the fender barely clearing it. hit my info link
to see what i mean.

to me, it just sounds like your wheel bearing was either a defect or
near the outer spec tolerance when manufacturered.

And I agree, in essence, but the hub was never replaced. The dealership wouldn't do it unless they could prove it wasn't my brakes. I'm still on the original bearings, and no more noise.

So, yes, I believe it was absolutely the bearings, but that the wheels caused the stress that aggravated the condition. Evidently I never cooked 'em bad enough to really distort them or break down the bearing-grease, though.

It's a mystery.

yeh, well, im glad your Kosei's are workin for ya.