Tires rubbing on hard corners

[onlytrueromeo]

Lowered my car, got an alignment (though there is still some negative camber, I have to turn the mounts around) and my tires, both front and back seem to be rubbing a bit. I am running 15x7 American racing rims, http://www.sfxperformance.com/parts/ARA157-5749.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and it has a +34 offset. (34 offset I think I can't find alot of info about the rims- I got them off ebay cheap because my RS had steelies) This worked fine on my RS which is not lowered. I'm running 205 45's I believe I'll have to check to make sure. Would a 5mm spacer fix this without much negative impact? I should check to see where everything's rubbing but I believe its the struts themselves. I did not hack away the bases when I installed my GC's like some people do with their ZX2's.

It also seems like something might be rubbing up front when I crank to the far extremes. Like I said I did get an alignment, but it's not perfect yet. Ahh small little town's with people who don't get much people with lowered cars. Everyone up here has lift kits.

[onlytrueromeo]

Bump, if the offset I believe the wheel has is true, why is it rubbing? It seems like 5mm spacers are more of a pain to put in than 25 mm spacers, because I'd have to take out my existing studs and replace them with longer ones, although the 25mm ones will certainly weigh more, they have new studs already attached. I think I need spacers for both front and back, otherwise I could raise the car back up a bit but I really like where it is now Oh and I lied, my tires are 195/60 R15

Opinions?

[thebonestockkid]

Keeping in mind, I'm definitely no suspension guru... your tires might be a little too big for how low the car is. More so if your spring rates are on the soft side. I know when I had my MX-3 winters with 60's on they would rub occasionally (Intrax springs). When I had my summer 195/50/15s on I never had any problems.

[onlytrueromeo]

I'm running 300F and 200R for spring rates, so they aren't too soft. I know the tires are on the larger side...I guess if I want to keep the car this low, I'll have to get spacers? How much will 25mm spacers affect my turning radius and whatnot?

[thebonestockkid]

Why not just ditch the 4x4 tires and get some lower profile ones? I've never been a fan of spacers, I've heard too many stories of them falling off and causing wheel bearing damage. If you have to use them, use at least blue loctite on those threads. Whether or not they solve your problem is another story, but switching to a smaller tire will almost certainly do the trick. I'd wait for the suspension pro's to chime in though before making any decisions.

[eyezpinned]

how much did you lower your car? i'm running the exact same wheel setup 195/60/15s on gt3s and was going to buy some h&rs (1.3/1.5 drop). the tires are immaculate falkens, so i wouldnt be looking to change the tire size until i put some wear on these babys.

[onlytrueromeo]

car is lowered 1/2 way on the gc's

[eyezpinned]

if gcs have a 2.5 inch range (half 1.25) and escort struts drop you .5 you're probably dropped 1.75 inches. i wanna drop my car 1.5 just hope i dont have to change tires... how bad are you rubbing? not shredding sidewall i hope

[onlytrueromeo]

Normal driving I don't notice anything - but I don't want to just drive normal. I believe I heard rubbing when taking ridiculous 50mph+ corners, so when the back wheels begin to move, and when I cut the wheels all the way to one side as well.

[Whisper]

Are you sure it's rubbing, and not vibration from axle bind? That low of a drop probably compresses the axles quite a bit. Take the wheels off and check your struts for any tire marks. Also check your fender lips for tire marks, maybe the tire is sticking too far out, which is more likely with that offset, especially if you aren't rubbing in a straight line. But 205 shouldn't really cause any issues.

What's this "rubbing" feel like?

[onlytrueromeo]

I've checked everything over again and havn't driven the car much lately. I didn't see any physical signs of rubbing on the tires. I raised my GC's slightly, but I still don't think theyre too low. I still have some wheel gap (about an inch) on each tire. I'm running 195's not 205s (my mistake) I originally had them for my RS. One thing I do notice though, is that the strut bases might be hitting the tires when I go over large enough bumps. I didn't cut them off when I installed them, because I wanted to keep them stock, in case I had any problems. I also notice that in the backs especially, I have very little strut/spring movement because of how short the springs are, and I believe I've hut the bumpstops I put in there a couple times on some extremely rough roads around here. I havn't driven it since I've raised it, but I will try to check on this. If I remove the bumpstop, that's an extra 1.5 inches of travel, and when you consider there's only about 3.5-4" of travel right now, that's alot. I'll take some pictures when I have time / when it stops raining. This isn't priority for me, as I have a number of issues to work that that will be affecting the car come colder weather that need to be addressed first.

[Whisper]

I don't think strut bases move in relation to the wheel, they move with the wheel, so bumps shouldn't matter. unless you're talking about something else.

Your tires are narrow enough that they shouldn't rub.

One thing to test is raise your car to near-stock height and see if the problem still occurs, and if it does, is it just as drastic.