How Much Weight Before Tires Scrape?

[105]

How much weight have you guys had in your car before the rear tires scrape the well? What is the max passenger weight limit?

[pdq]

If your rear tires are scraping the wheel well, you probably have sagging OEM springs.

[PhatRoyale]

All that information is in your owners manual.

[105]

My rear springs are probably starting to sag but the purpose of this thread is to figure out when peoples tires start to scrape when the springs are still in good shape. I know if I have about 700 lbs equally distributed my rear tires are gonna scrape a little.

I don't have an owners manual.

[chrisgerman1983]

My rear springs were sagging quite bad so i put twist in spacers in the coil. I did a test after to see how it would handle the weight with the soft springs. I used granite countertop samples, being that i have unlimited access to them at work. Each 300 pounds in the trunk made one inch of compression. I did not try them in the rear seat but as you move the weight forward i would assume you would get less compression as the weight transfers to the front of the vehicle

[105]

Twist in spacers? Where did you get these? Part number possibly?

[105]

Are these it?

This type goes in between coils. I'm guessing you got this type?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MRG-1287/

This type goes above or below coils.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MRG-1285/

[105]

Here is a truck thread that shows an illistration of how they work. Thanks for the tip chrisgerman. This seems to be a great simple solution for a stupid problem. I'll report back results once used.

http://www.rangerpowersports.com/for...ml#post2437321

[fishexpo101]

Pretty hard to say without knowing the exact condition of the car, tires/wheels, and suspension.

Is the tire/wheel scraping or is the suspension bottoming out on you? What size wheels/tires are you currently running? OEM springs or aftermarket?

When brand new - I could load the car down with almost 250lbs of equipment in the trunk and four adults in the car (185-225lbs each) before it settled on-top the bump stops. OEM 185/65R14 tire on the 14"x5.5" steel wheel. When I ran my PLUS+2 wheels and tires, same suspension (205/45R16 on 16"x7" wheel, 38mm offset) - I could cause the tire to make contact with the fender and mudflap with just the ~250lbs of equipment and two adults in the car - never had a chance to touch the stops.

When I swapped the OEM springs for the TRD springs. My static ride height was dropped about an 1"-1.25" all around, but I could carry one more passenger before it make contact, due to the higher spring rate of the TRD spring. Now that I'm running a 195/60R14 tire on a 14"x6" alloy on the TRD springs - I've carried a 7' bar box pool table on the roof, towed about 150lbs in the trunk, a 500lb trailer with two adults and one child in the car without making any contact - though I wouldn't recommend that for any serious distance - mine covered 15 miles but really took a lot out of the car.

[105]

Originally Posted by fishexpo101

Is the tire/wheel scraping or is the suspension bottoming out on you? What size wheels/tires are you currently running? OEM springs or aftermarket?

This particular day the tire was just scraping a little on one side in the rear when turning. I had a 200+ lbs passenger on one side of rear along with another 150 lb passenger next to them. In front I had two 175 lb'ers. Also about 20 extra pounds of crap in trunk.
Im running stock springs and 185/65r14 tires. 135k miles.

[fishexpo101]

Yeah, that sure sounds like the springs are starting to sag on you. Toyota sedans are known to be pretty softly sprung - old Toyota buddy of mine mentioned that if you get more than 100K miles from the suspension, you're doing pretty well.

Of course, like they say, your mileage may vary. Some people blow out their struts/damage springs in under 60K miles or have them run well over 200K miles. Bottom line is that the springs do have a finite lifetime on them - just depends on the driving conditions the car's seen.

You can double check by measuring the static ride height from the ground to the bottom of the car (right next to the body seam on the bottom is a good place). Check each corner and compare the numbers. If one corner is dipped down considerably more than the others, that could point to a damaged spring in that corner. If the numbers are pretty consistent, then it is just a case of worn springs.

[105]

I forgot to mention that I had all four shocks replaced with KYB GR-2's. I really screwed up in not having at least the rear springs replaced at the time. Now I'm just thinking I don't want to spend anymore time or money than I have to on a problem that I hardly ever notice since this is just my daily commuter. I really hope these spring spacers do the trick. I will take some measurements first though.

[chrisgerman1983]

These were the spacers i used, They didn't have the rubber ones at the time i needed them. I had to grind off the tips of them so the wouldn't hit the strut at the top. I also zip tied them in so they wouldn't fall out when the car is jacked up, They are still tight even with the car in the air though

http://www.jegs.com/i/Mr.+Gasket/720/1283/10002/-1

[105]

The left side, front and back is about .5" lower than right. Also I noticed that the tire is actually rubbing the plastic gas filler hose cover and it wore a hole in it. Anyway I found spring boosters like the Mr Gasket type at Oriellys for $6 each, brand name Superior. Installed in 10 min. You can insert them into the middle of the spring or at the base. I installed into the middle which does not change ride height, only adds stiffness. We'll see how they do.

[baileymyk]

I had a 1986 Toyota MR2. I found out that the rear springs fit in the rear of the prizm. The MR2 springs are thicker and stiffer, though shorter by a little bit. I installed those springs in the rear of the prizm with two coil spring spacers and it sits about 1/2" higher than the front of the car. When I stand on the trailer hitch it just goes down about 1/2". (130lbs) That was with 13 bowling pins in the trunk too haha.