Strut rub, Now I'm very put out...

[2edybrd]

Went to put the summer rims on the other week (ROH Drift R's 8 x 18 w/ Yokohama 245/45 AVS ES) and found massive wear on the inside edge of both front tires, which was fine as I had worn through the rears that summer. These Yokohamas are great tires, but they wear VERY quickly.

I thought about going to a 235 series tire to just not have to worry about the strut rub issues, so I bought a set of Kumho Ecsta Supras, 235 front and 265 rear.

I've had these tires on for about two months. Last night, I backed into my parking space and left the wheel turned all the way to the right. As I walk away from the car I take a quick glance back (Just can't help it)

Guess what I saw.....................


So now I'm feeling a bit irked. But then I realized something. I had the stock rims and winter tires on for almost six months and had absolutely no rubbing at all.

So now, I know the problem isn't really strut rubbing, it's the wheel offset. I also know it's not the alignment as I had that done just before winter and had the shop set my camber as close to zero as possible.

Which in a way is a good thing, because a set of wheel adapters from Skulte will fix that. But it's also a bad thing as here goes another 200 bucks that I've been trying to save for a set of heads. OY!!! I hope this solves the problem, other wise I'll have to sell the rims and use the stockers.

[sccaGTO]

That sounds odd. The Drift R 8" wheels have an offset of +41mm. That pushes the wheel away from the strut. So you shouldn't have rubbing. If you had the alignment done, you shouldn't have inner tread wear as bad as it sounds. Can you post any pics?

[wrp]

Went to put the summer rims on the other week (ROH Drift R's 8 x 18 w/ Yokohama 245/45 AVS ES) and found massive wear on the inside edge of both front tires, which was fine as I had worn through the rears that summer. These Yokohamas are great tires, but they wear VERY quickly.

I thought about going to a 235 series tire to just not have to worry about the strut rub issues, so I bought a set of Kumho Ecsta Supras, 235 front and 265 rear.

I've had these tires on for about two months. Last night, I backed into my parking space and left the wheel turned all the way to the right. As I walk away from the car I take a quick glance back (Just can't help it)

Guess what I saw.....................


So now I'm feeling a bit irked. But then I realized something. I had the stock rims and winter tires on for almost six months and had absolutely no rubbing at all.

So now, I know the problem isn't really strut rubbing, it's the wheel offset. I also know it's not the alignment as I had that done just before winter and had the shop set my camber as close to zero as possible.

Which in a way is a good thing, because a set of wheel adapters from Skulte will fix that. But it's also a bad thing as here goes another 200 bucks that I've been trying to save for a set of heads. OY!!! I hope this solves the problem, other wise I'll have to sell the rims and use the stockers.
Strange as it may seem I put 18 inch rims on with 245 wide tires and got rubbing where I had not experienced it before, even with the stock 17" rims. I fought this so long and hard they threatened to throw me off the board for bitching. I could not understand how the 48 mm offset rims had not worn and the 40 mm offset rims had. A pseudo expert kept telling me it was impossible for the 40 mm offset tires to rub until I showed him a picture, and 5 out of 8 pontiac dealers said the car was in spec on the alignment. I finally found a third party alignment guy and showed him the Mike@DMS post on the fix and he understood and fixed it immediately and I haven't had a problem in over a year. The camber had to be inside -0.4 before the rubbing stopped. I set it to -0.1 and have had no further trouble. Still, we've never had a plausible explanation as to why the strut rubbed, especially on the aftermarket which had the 40 mm offset. My theory centers on the tire guys pounding the wheel to break it free. I think somebody hit it hard enough that something gave. When the pro went over my front end he replaced the stretch bolts too, we didn't resuse anything that wasn't supposed to be used.

[2edybrd]

Sorry, no pictures. I noticed the inside edge of the tire was cleaner after parking, as strange as that sounds. I felt the tread and the grooves along the edge of the tire are worn low. I then took a penny and compared the outside depth to the inside depth. The inside is at the "Head of Lincoln" while the outside is well over the head.

I know, not very high tech, but it's effective.