problem with 1lfa 156 suspension

["Mark Verberkt" <mark.verberkt@domain.elided>]

Hi,

I have an alfa 156 2.0. Under reasonably normal load conditions (4 adults),
the rear tires sometimes touch the inner side of the mud guard (e.g. in case
of large holes in the road or during cornering). The car has non-standard
wheels (7.5Jx16, ET=25, tires 205/55). To figure out what the problem is, I
removed one rear spring
and moved the wheel up and down manually. It appears that the tires touch
the inner side of the mud guard when the shock absorber is (more or less)
completely compressed.
I cannot imagine that Alfa has dimensioned the suspension in such a way that
the wheels have no more room to travel when 4 adults are in the car. So, I
suspect either the rear spring, or the shock absorber (and not the wheels,
which are 1 cm more to the outside of the car, compared to original). The
rear spring seems to be standard (marked with red paint). The shock absorber
appears to contain gas, which is different from what I've seen so far. So, I
don't know whether the shock absorber is still OK (as I don't know how it
operates when it is OK).
Does anybody know this problem, or have any suggestions to solve it?

Thanks,

Mark.
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