Anyone with aftermarket wheels and lowered experiencing any tire rubbing. I have 16x8 "0" offset Compo's from the JK group buy with 245/45/16s.

With the ST springs I'm getting some (minor) rubbing on the edge of the tires. Could it be the Tokico's are old (5yrs) and not dampening enough??
It seems the tires are rubbing over big bumps maybe??

Or should I get new (front) STs or switch to Eibachs, Dobinsons or go back to original ride height??

And do Dobinsons lower the MK2 only 1"??

Any input would be appreciated!!

I'd get some stiffer shocks/struts. I get rubbing too, but only in EXTREME corning or sharp elevation chages mid corner or bumps mid corner.

I only have experience with Rear Dobinson springs. The lowering ones DROP that sumabitch! Lower than ST's for sure as I had those on first. The stock height springs, however, are indeed stock height. If you went with Dobinson springs, you'd need much stiffer shocks anyway because the HP's are not up to snuff to handle the 232# Dobi's.

HTH

Arch,

Are they rubbing on the outside of the tire? I am assuming so based on the wheels specs you gave.

I can't keep up... are these recently mounted? Or have these been on for a while and this problem only recently shown up?

Regards,

Jimi

Gotta assume you are talking about the outside edges of the front tires. The rears have way too much room for problems.

Have you checked the offset of the wheels ? Make sure they are actually zero offset.

Is it rubbing on the plastic wheelwell liner or the metal lip of the fender ?

If needed, maybe consider having the inside mounting face of the wheel machined down 5mm or so, but get the opinion of someone familiar with the wheel design (I'm not, but have heard of other wheel brands doing this).

Don L.

I'm not suprised to hear this in the least. I've seen a few sets of 16x8 0 offset comps with 245s on mk2s now, and they all look like the front tires stick out too much. Personally I wouldn't go lower then a +10 with an 8 inch wheel if you plan to run 245s on the front. The fact of the matter is the mk2 isn't designed to accomadate non staggered offset wheels.

Arch, you probably won't like the idea, but switiching to 225s in the front would solve your problem. Stiffer springs/shocks are just a band aid fix for a wheel that doesn't fit. Unfortuantly a 225/50-16 is taller then a 245/45-16, but I think you can get 225/45-16s, they're just not as cheap and plenitiful (225/50s have an encredible selection).

Arch - I'm running 16x8 "0" offset Centerlines w/ 245x45 BFG KDW's and do not have any tire rubbing issues, but am on stock springs with Tokico HPs. I do have that SUV look, which I was going to partially remedy with ST springs from JC Whitney..My HP struts were so gas charged that I swear it lifted the car UP and 2 yrs later - the car still seems 'lifted'. Maybe some new HPs will help... Jay B

Jimi, yes rubbing on the outside of the front tires. Just recently mounted got lost in the garage :wink:

The rubbing is fairly minor but its there.


Arch,

Are they rubbing on the outside of the tire? I am assuming so based on the wheels specs you gave.

I can't keep up... are these recently mounted? Or have these been on for a while and this problem only recently shown up?

Regards,

Jimi

Don, rubbing on the metal lip of the fender. Haven't checked but I believe the wheels are "0" offset since no one else has had issues with the specs from the buy Jim K had set up. Just took me awhile to get the wheels on.

Gotta assume you are talking about the outside edges of the front tires. The rears have way too much room for problems.

Have you checked the offset of the wheels ? Make sure they are actually zero offset.

Is it rubbing on the plastic wheelwell liner or the metal lip of the fender ?

If needed, maybe consider having the inside mounting face of the wheel machined down 5mm or so, but get the opinion of someone familiar with the wheel design (I'm not, but have heard of other wheel brands doing this).

Don L.

I have never liked the look of the front track being wider than the rear. Would like to get spacers for the rear to push the wheels out another 1".

I'm not suprised to hear this in the least. I've seen a few sets of 16x8 0 offset comps with 245s on mk2s now, and they all look like the front tires stick out too much. Personally I wouldn't go lower then a +10 with an 8 inch wheel if you plan to run 245s on the front. The fact of the matter is the mk2 isn't designed to accomadate non staggered offset wheels.

Arch, you probably won't like the idea, but switiching to 225s in the front would solve your problem. Stiffer springs/shocks are just a band aid fix for a wheel that doesn't fit. Unfortuantly a 225/50-16 is taller then a 245/45-16, but I think you can get 225/45-16s, they're just not as cheap and plenitiful (225/50s have an encredible selection).

I'm not suprised to hear this in the least. I've seen a few sets of 16x8 0 offset comps with 245s on mk2s now, and they all look like the front tires stick out too much. Personally I wouldn't go lower then a +10 with an 8 inch wheel if you plan to run 245s on the front. The fact of the matter is the mk2 isn't designed to accomadate non staggered offset wheels.

Arch, you probably won't like the idea, but switiching to 225s in the front would solve your problem. Stiffer springs/shocks are just a band aid fix for a wheel that doesn't fit. Unfortuantly a 225/50-16 is taller then a 245/45-16, but I think you can get 225/45-16s, they're just not as cheap and plenitiful (225/50s have an encredible selection).

Ferrari designed the 550 with a wider front track in order to get better handling from a front engined car.

245/45 is too wide for the front of a MA6x and yes 225/50 is slightly larger in diameter than 245/45.

I've used 225/50 front and 245/45 rear, the car felt really nuetral. I swithched to 225/45 front and 245/45 rear, you could feel the car understeer.

I wonder how 225/50 front and 255/45 rears would feel? Probably closer to nuetral.

I use a 235/40 on a 8.5" wheel in the front with no rubbing, but the car is at stock height. I have done some really hard sharp cornering and no rubbing in the least. The wheel is actually slightly wider than the tyre. Your Comp. wheel should have 4.5" front and back spacing. My 8.5" is 4.5" front spacing and 5" back spacing.

I think this is the most extreme setup you can use with 17" wheels. A 9.0" wide rim may fit on the front if the diameter is 19" or greater.

I will eventualy post max front wheel widths for 14" to 19" diameter wheels once I get a chance. Max for the rear should be 9.5" no matter what the diameter is, but don't stick a tyre that is too wide on it.

I have never liked the look of the front track being wider than the rear. Would like to get spacers for the rear to push the wheels out another 1".

Interesting to note is rear wheel/tyre can be pushed out 1" further than the front. This is how it will look.

The money shot
http://www.ilkt.com/celicasupra/moneyshot.jpg

Ouch, i think 245 is too big in the front for that size wheel. I have 225's with the same size wheel and have a little rubbing on he fender liner where it meets the flare when the suspension compresses, but thats mainly the POS Tokico HP's. Theres no rubbing under normal driving conditions.

I have never liked the look of the front track being wider than the rear. Would like to get spacers for the rear to push the wheels out another 1".

Interesting to note is rear wheel/tyre can be pushed out 1" further than the front. This is how it will look.

The money shot
http://www.ilkt.com/celicasupra/moneyshot.jpg

is that 1 inch total or per side ??

Dave

is that 1 inch total or per side ??

Dave

One inch per side. I'm running 4.5" front spacing for the front wheel and 5.5" front spacing in the rear.

I've ran 245/45/16 S03s and 0 offset and never had any rub issues whatsover. With the spacers I have now they are -9.5mm offset and the still don't hit the arch on the top. They will hit the front part off the arch barely when you turn the wheels at a certain part with the suspensions compressed at a certain spot, in other words it not very often. I would check the tire measurement for the ones you have against the Bridgestone SO3, certain tires are definetly bigger and/or more square than others.

Hey Arch, maybe it's time to get camber plates and lean that tire top inward about 1.5 degrees. Really helps :)

Don L.

I have 245/45/16's on the front, 0 offset. I do think that +10 is perfect in an 8" wide wheel in front. The 0 offset sticks out slightly. I get a little bit of rubbing on the back of the fender liner on one side when I turn left, but that is it, it is very minor. When I ordered my wheels, I did not want staggered fitments, so I went 0 offset all the way around. In retrospect, I would probably go +5 if I had it to do over again.

Hey Don, if you get a chance on Monday stop by the fire station and check out the wheels. Either early morning before 10am or after 5pm


Hey Arch, maybe it's time to get camber plates and lean that tire top inward about 1.5 degrees. Really helps :)

Don L.

Hi Arch, I get off work in Fremont at 6pm monday, are you very busy at the Station after that time ? The Compos are beautiful wheels, I've seen Chris Eng's car (stock susp). Even with the lowering springs, I would think you should be ok, but we could measure the wheels. Let me know if you can meet up. I could bring some tools too.

Don L.

I've ran 245/45/16 S03s and 0 offset and never had any rub issues whatsover. With the spacers I have now they are -9.5mm offset and the still don't hit the arch on the top. They will hit the front part off the arch barely when you turn the wheels at a certain part with the suspensions compressed at a certain spot, in other words it not very often. I would check the tire measurement for the ones you have against the Bridgestone SO3, certain tires are definetly bigger and/or more square than others.

whats the setup in your sig pic there? The 16x8 0s with 245s I've seen stick out alot further then in that pic. Also what springs do you have and what width of wheel are you talking about?

245s on the front of a mk2 is fine if you have the right offset for it. Right now I have 245/50-15s on a 15x8 +12 wheel with ST springs and I have 0 rubbing under any kind of driving and the car handles great (though these wheels are supposed to be my race wheels for the rear). Keep in mind a 245/45-16 is significantly skinnier then many 245s. My 245s bulge alot more then I'd like but the 245/45-16s I've seen sit pretty decently on 8 inch wheels.

They are 16x8 0 offset (I've confirmed it from measurements as well)Epsilons with 245/45/16 Bridgestone s03s all around. Can't remember if that photo was stock spring or Eibach. Pretty sure I had the Eibachs on by then, but there was only about 1/8" of drop over the sagging stockers anyways. The outside of the tires was more or less perfectly inline with outside of the flare. With a 3/8" spacer now they do sit slightly outside now. Not much choice really until I get some other wheels that can clear the brakes.

I think I just realized what it is. The car is parked on a drive way and its sloped forward isn't it? You have tons of gap in the rear, but almost none in the front. I'm guessing they would have stuck out much further then if the car was level.

Here's a couple more images as well;

http://www.pbase.com/image/30656454

http://www.pbase.com/image/30656459

The car is level but on the driveway in that photo. I think the gap look bad there because the wheels in further than the front. With the Eibachs the car does sit level on mine.

yeah it looks right in the pics not on the driveway. But the angles weren't the best to illustrate how the 0 offset looks a little odd on the front. Oh well, maybe the tires are little skinnier then the ones I've seen too

Don after 6pm is AOK!!

Yes, they are close. One needs to have a strong strut compression to make it happen.

I experienced this once when I had factory shocks.
Very low dip in the road.

I believe the offset was 4 or 6mm. Chris Eng or Phil Dupler could confirm.

Ok Arch ! See you then. I know its a work place so no problem if you can't spend too much time.

Don

Compomotive's version of a 0mm offset is actually approx a -3mm / -4mm offset. Thus the reason why they stick out a little bit. Phil Dupler did measure his & this is what he came up with.

Guess this is something that should have been announced earlier last year when I discovered this... Bob Sully said that when he ordered his 2nd set of Compomotives (for the Red car), he went with their +5mm offset all around. The wheels sit in much better & they don't stick out as far.

But yeah... The Epsilons on Aaron's 85 are a 0mm offset & they look correct.

Chris is right, I figured they were about -3. I haven't noticed any issues on mine but then again, the Yokohamas aren't as "square" tread as some other tires.

Phil D.

That was great to see ya again Arch ! Beautiful wheels, just clean up that paint and good to go !

Wow, you guys at the firehouse sure move fast when that horn blows.

For the rest of you all, Arch and I discussed machining the inside face of the wheel center down, say 5mm. Or do you think it possible or better to try to machine down the hub that the wheel attaches to ? I'm leaning toward thinning down the wheel if Compo agrees, rather have lots of metal on the axle hub. Thoughts ? Wonder how hard to machine that wheel surface perfectly flat and true ?

Don L.

Don, Thanks again for stopping by!! I appreciate it :wink:

Take Care!!
Arch

Chris, Jim, Phil, are the CXNs 16x8 or 16x8.5?? I can't remember!!

Arch

16 x 8".

That would be about .20 inches.

I'm having one of my compomotives repaired (inner dent), so
I'll look at material thickness.

The hub mount is quite thick.

It could have some material removed, but not sure how much would
be reccomended by the mfg.

Then the issue is to find someone who could machine it.

Lathe machining would be a pain.

Surface maching would be easier setup, but probably take longer.

Cost? Don't know.

The hub mount is quite thick.

It could have some material removed, but not sure how much would
be reccomended by the mfg.

Then the issue is to find someone who could machine it.

Lathe machining would be a pain.

Surface maching would be easier setup, but probably take longer.

Cost? Don't know.

You probably can't take much off. There is a minimum thickness of material where the stud holes are. I bet it is close to the limit. If it was thick there you would need longer wheel studs before mounting the wheels.

But then again, I noticed Z31s have 21mm long studs while our cars are 25mm long. There may be room to do it 2mm-3mm.

I think a 225/45-16 is still your best bet.

Compard to my Riken's, the CXN's are thick at the stud holes.

3mm would be a conservative choice.

I don't know why I didn't find this thread earlier. Yeah, I'm actually running the 0-offset wheels on the red car. While I was maneuvering the car around inside the garage, my right-front tire, while on a piece of rug I had thrown down earlier but forgot about, clipped the edge of the flare and cracked the damn thing. I have the Tokicos all around with Eibach springs (all new), and the car does ride about an inch lower than stock. I have since had both front wheels moved back a few millimeters and shouldn't have that problem again - but clearance IS tight. The blue car is running the +5mm offset wheels and has no clearance problems (with the same suspension mods). The +5s look better, too.

I've been quoted about $150-200 to get the damn flare fixed and repainted (I'll actually pay a bit less, since I'll take the flare off myself). Aaaargh.

Bob

Just looked at my suspension receipts, 12 yrs old now!!

I guess I need to replace the Tokicos :shock: and order new ST front springs.

Still trying to decide on either machining down the front hubs on a lathe or have the Compo's redone @ +5mm??

Since you have the tire/wheel combo presently mounted, measure carefully the true offset of those wheels, and how much room you presently have between the inner sidewall and strut housing. Don't want to do anything that will cause rubbing on the inside susp parts. My guess is you have tons of clearance on the inside right now. Not sure what your offset is presently, but if you decide to machine the wheels to +5mm offset, and if you have -5mm now, thats a shift of 10mm inward (toward your susp parts). Lots of careful measuring !

Don L.

I am running 235/40/17 up front and 265/35/17 0n the rear with no problems. The front offset is +10 and rear is 0. There seems to be quite a lot of space still available around the arches and I was thinking of lowering mine but having read these posts I am thinking maybe this is not a good idea.

I would have liked to drop the car by around 1". Does anyone think I will get clearance problems?

you should be fine with a +10 offset and a 1 inch drop.

Currently I have 245/50-15s on the front on a 15x8 wheel with a +12 offset and a 1.3 inch drop and I have 0 rubbing issues and the tire visually sticks out as far as I'd ever want it to go. Also I'm at the max limits of how far in the tire can go, I literly have about 2 to 3mm of clearance between my tire and strut tube on the inside. 245/50-15s are actually a wider tire then a 245/45-16 btw, by about .3 inchs I belive