legacycentral bbs

I'm new to the forum, and I've read everything you all have posted and have not been able to answer this question. I just replaced my stock 14" steelies with a nice set of 16"ers and some 205/55/16's. Now everytime I go over a dip in the road or am taking a corner fast and the suspension absorbs the dip or bump in the road I hear a terrible scraping, scratchy noise. I know the tires are not rubbing, as there are no marks in the wheel wells or on the tires. It comes from all four corners, depending on the direction of the turn/curve, or bump. Could it be that the struts need replacing? it's the most logical, but you all might have a different perspective. The car is on the original struts and I've got 86K on it.

How heavy are the wheel and tires combinations? Couold be that they're bounding in the corners and the tops of the tire treads are rubbing your fenderwell liners. Might want to take one of the wheels off and check directly above to see if there are any wear marks.

If that's the case, might be time for some new shocks, and perhaps some aftermarket springs with increased spring rates.

Otherwise. . . my guess would still be that they really are rubbing on the inner walls of the tires.

Thanks for the tips...I'll check again a little more thorughly for the rubbing, however in preparation I have ordered KYB Gr2's for all four corners. Do you know if HR springs from TireRack.com are a higher spring rate. I have not found any info. regarding the rates. I have them on my wishlist, I'd like to get them to remove the gaping hole above the front wheels and for the perfromance.

Thanks again for the info!

What wheels are they?

In pretty much every case, H&Rs will have higher than stock spring rates.

They are Quantum S-10 wheels with Continental Extreme tires wrapped around them. They look great and the overall performance from them alone is great. Except upon closer inspection of the tires, they are rubbing, the stock springs and struts do not have enough umph to handle fun curves. Hopefully the HR Sport Springs will work well enough with the KYB's you all so strongly suggested and will improve the handling and allow me to keep the great looking tires. I'm willing to give it a go, my contact at the tire shop did suggest a tire not so wide, that is if the struts and springs don't fix the problem. I'll let you all know in a couple of days when the parts arrive how it all turns out.

Where are they rubbing?

They are rubbing on the outside edge of the tire, right where the fender wells would be when the car is leaning over the tire. Because the 205's are obviously wider than the stock tires, they rub. I am having the new struts installed with H&R Sport Springs tomorrow...that is if all goes well with the shipping and lift availability. Hope it alleviates the problem, if not then I'll have to go with thinner tires, probably some 195's. The look of the 205's are so aggressive it really makes the car look faster! I'd hate to get rid of them so soon.

I have 195's, but the offset makes the wheels stick out flush with the bodywork (rather than set inside) so it may be the same as wider tires with a closer to correct offset. I had the inside of the rear fenders rolled and it solved my rubbing problem. Never had an issue with the front.

Steve

I have some 16x7 rims with 215 series tires and they dont rub...

I have some 205 series tires on WRX rims and they didnt rub on the outside either.

Sounds like your wheels have the incorrect offset and your suspension is too soft. They wouldnt happen to be VW wheels would they?

edit: You bought the wrong wheels. They are meant for other vehicles

http://www.qtalloys.com/html/S10.htm
40mm offset is too low. You will probably have more wheel bearing problems. No wonder you have rubbing, the offset should be closer 50mm. Your handling may suffer from such a low offset.

They are heavy and high priced. The quantum s-08 16x7 are 24 pounds.

I can get Rota Slipstreams locally for 400 dollars new in box, and they only weigh 13 pounds. Same size as those S-10 but the correct offset.

If the s-10 are the same weight (as the s-08 ) you are increasing UNSPRUNG and ROTATIONAL weight by 44 pounds(over the rota)! Plus you spent at least 150$ more

BTW, I used to live in Fort Collins, went to Poudre!

ciper.....man....you're harsh.....you need to ease up on the guy....not everyone is a subie master

...I'm afraid of ciper.

Okay, I edited it.

I think you guys misundestand, I wasnt being mean, everything I said was true. Only one sentence was personal opinion (about the looks of the wheels).

You still just spent about 15 lines insulting his wheel choice.

Not everyone can be as knowledgable about subarus as you are.

You know EXACTLY what you're talking about, and have more experience with these cars than most, if not all the members. That makes it very intimidating when you either question the descisions we've made with our vehicles, or or flatout tell us our choice was not a very intelligent one.
$.02

I agree with the above. One thing, smilies can make a HELL of a lot of difference in determining the tone of a post.

Mk

LaureltheQueen: So I shouldnt say anything? Fine. I wont reply to this post any longer. What are we on this forum for if it isnt to critique each others problems/setup? I wont waste my time here if its a taboo to tell someone they made a mistake.

As far as internet relations go I think of all of you as friends. That means no bullshitting. Im not going to give an automatic thumbs up, rather Ill tell you exactly how I feel even if one of us is wrong, including myself. You may not realize it but being wrong is a good thing, its the only time you learn anything. If you are right all the time that means you already know everything.

If you only knew me in real life you'd understand. Ill tell me best friend straight to his face that he is making a bad choice. Ill call him an asshole and show him what I think is right. Usually in the end we are both right in some way, and end up better off than if I didnt say anything.

I understand where you're coming from, and I in now way meant to stop posting your opinion, it's just very intimidating for a new member(such as myself) trying to figure out how the board works, etc when evertime we post, you show us the folly in our actions. This is not meant as an attack, more of constructive criticism. And as MK750 said, smilies help alot!

Hey guys, it's all right. It's obvious he knows what he's talking about. It's my $$ anyway. I bought what I wanted, I'll deal with my decisions. I don't autocross, I don't street race(I've got a family, career, and I'm just having fun), I don't spend all my time working with cars or nor would I want to. Like he said, if mistakes were never made, no-one would ever learn anything. By the way, I appreciate the honesty, I'm not posting on this site to get compliments, or "way to go's". I'm here to learn more about my car.

You all mention offset, and it's assumed that we all understand what it is. I'm sure I will figure it out, but this is the first time I've ever dealt with it.

BTW I still think my wheels look better than the 14 inch steel wheels I had before! I don't regret my decision and if needed my guy at the shop will work with me on whatever I decide to do. That's worth my business and I think a very valuable asset.

Suspension:...like I said earlier, new springs, struts, should help.

I went to Poudre too! When did you graduate?...you did graduate didn't you? (Just kidding!).

I also wanted to say that I appreciate your attention to what I purchased. I really do, it means that you really do care about the Subie community. I also wanted to say that I did not pay anything near what was posted on the site you referred to. I never expected to get anything near the response I received from my post. I've been checking this forum quite often since I found it, and I hope that ciper does not intend to stop posting.

LaureltheQueen wrote: And as MK750 said, smilies help alot!

MK

DblA-Ron wrote:You all mention offset, and it's assumed that we all understand what it is. I'm sure I will figure it out, but this is the first time I've ever dealt with it.

The Tire Rack's web site has a good explanation of it:
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/offset.htm

Offset and hub centering bore are the two most-often-overlooked aspects of aftermarket wheel choice.