[nitroamos]

hello. there is a problem i've been having with my corolla, and was wondering if anyone had any ideas what might be the problem.

so the car that i bought in june (98 corolla CE) had/has and interesting problem -- the rear tires would scrape the car. this would only happen when there were passengers in the rear seat, and but especially on the highways. i think the tires were hitting the metal lip on the sidewall in the wheel well.

i took it to the shop, and the mechanic told me that i should change the struts (the new ones are kyb gr-2 struts). 1000$ later, i took my friends for a ride, and it was scraping even worse. for example, whenever i would turn a corner driving on town streats. so i called the mechanic back, and he said that if the problem was persisting, then my tires were probably too big. they were 205/40/17, so i switched to 195/?/14, but they still scraped, but only on the highways. so i brought them back and i now have 185/?/14 tires, and have not taken passengers on the highway yet.

the mechanic told me that adjusting the suspension might make a difference, but that would be expensive...

just for reference, all of the tires listed above should work on 98 corollas.

any ideas or suggestions? has anybody else had this problem? i suspect that a previous owner may have raced it, possibly abused it... but the mechanic says it all looks good...

 

[dlichterman]

as far as i know, 175/65r14 and 185/65r14 are the sizes recomended from toyota

ill look at my manual later

 

[nitroamos]

you're correct, i checked that myself. but according to http://www.discounttire.com/ any of the above sizes are allowed... and *should* work -- but i don't know how the "should" is determined...

 

[deaconfrost2]

same problem here on my 98 chevy prizm i gor 215/40 17" it rubb but not that much except if i have 3 people inside the car i saw a DIY to prevent this http://vamp.darkravers.net/Domain.cfm/
its under suspension section on DIY rolling fenders but i havent tried it yet

 

[sonyminidiscman]

its should not be your tires... if you have big rims but low profile, the total tire diameter should stay the same....or very close.....

To check..... got to miata.net

and find the tire size calculator.

 

[nitroamos]

deaconfrost2 -- the link you provide doesn't work.

also, i don't think it's the diameter that is the trouble, but the width.

 

[2wickedtoyz]

here ya go

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

[Corollin]

Yes on all 98-02 corollas the back rubs. Either cut the rear fender or roll it.

$1000 for GR2's, I paid $280 Canadian but installed them myself.

At least you have a better suspension now. The 14" oem tire on the oem rims should never be able to rub.

 

[deaconfrost2]

vamp.darkravers.net

 

[TdotTercel]

i had rubbing in the rear when i switched from stock to wider tires.
I "rolled" the inner fenders and badabing badaboom, no more rubbing.

FYI: rolling involved a hammer and alot of banging :lol:
my neighbours must love me :hammer:


hey Corollin
where did you get KYB's that cheap????????

 

[nitroamos]

just so i know exactly what you're talking about... "rolling" means taking that lip of metal above the wheel and bending it inwards, higher into the wheel well?

are there concerned about ruining the paint job and rust?

 

[TdotTercel]

yes, yes and yes

just so i know exactly what you're talking about... "rolling" means taking that lip of metal above the wheel and bending it inwards, higher into the wheel well?

are there concerned about ruining the paint job and rust?

you can also just remove it instead of rolling it up.

When i rolled mine, the lip ended up pointing straight up, pressed up against the inner fender.

As far as paint, you can warm the section you are working on to keep the paint as flexible as possible, and put a strip of masking tape on the outside of the fender, also helps keep it intact.

Just go slow and be careful, it's not that hard, just a little scary wacking away at yer ride with a hammer

Other people have used baseball bats to literally roll across the inner part, pushing against the tire. But i have never done, so i can't say on that.

good luck :thumbup:

 

[nko51]

I also had the same problem when I put 205/40/17, on my 2001 corolla LE. I finally took it to a body shop and had them knurl the inside lip of each fender as much as they could. It helped a great deal, but with a full back seat and a quick enough dip in the road you will still hear them scrap ever so slightly.

 

[Pineapple]

Get stiffer springs is another solution.

 

[Cabanon]

my friend ha the same problem with 205/40/zr17 he just removed the lip with a buffer. pretty easy