My New Rims and Tires

[Duffman]

Uhh, here's the common sense answer...

How much do you weigh, and did you have a passenger? There's more weight on the driver's side if it's just you, so of course it's going to just rub there.

[Solorange]

Uhh, here's the common sense answer...

How much do you weigh, and did you have a passenger? There's more weight on the driver's side if it's just you, so of course it's going to just rub there.

I weigh only 180lbs. And so far Ive had one passenger and I had no rubbing then.

i dont get why it would only rub with that one wheel and not the rest.... has to be something else...

Rubbing on just one side could be due to alot, down to slight manufacturing deviation on the wheels/tires,

Exactly... The reason why a car can rub only on one side is because no side is aligned identically to the other side on any car. its possible that it can but usually when the factory or shops do alignments they just set the camber, toe, and caster within factory specs. As long as its within factory spec, the car should ride fine and you wouldnt be able to tell since everything is so close. Now when I get new wheels with a different offset from what the car was designed and different tire widths, a slight difference can make the difference.

Now my rims are 7.5" wide with a 35mm offset. This makes my wheels sit flush with the fenders of my car. In the rear they sit inward just a bit right about at the tip of the inward fender. I just barely rub on the driver side so I dont even have to roll the whole inner lip on the fender. I probably roll the rear fenders this weekend.

As far as my alignment issue. I talked to a few other buddies who have gone with bigger rims and tires, and they told me when i feel the wheel pull either way its because of the wider tire. The steering ratio is designed for a tire width of 205 and not 225. You also have more surface area in contact with the road. So they said i would feel the imperfections in the road more. If anybody on solaraguy feels this too with their car and can back up this statement please do. It would give me a piece of mind knowing that this is common with our cars. WTF? Indigo Solara? anybody... Thanks

[Solorange]

Here are a couple of crappy pictures I took today using my work's digital camera. Its raining all day so the car is dirty. Ill get it cleaned up and take some better pictures once it clears up.

[solaraslev67]

i like it! nice choice!

[calreef18]

Looking good man, and as for pull, it is definitely noticeable and I"m running a 235tire with a +40 offset. However, if roads are visibly smooth there shouldn't be any sort of drifting pull occuring, only when roads are visibly crappy in smoothness.

[hskrsolara]

yeah, i also get the occasional drift in steering, mainly when there is a crease or groove in the road...the solara kinda tries to dive into those grooves, only with my 18's though, so no worries bro.

[JMSinMaryland]

With a 225/40 18 either a 18x8 with 40mm offset or 18x7.5 with a 45mm offset. I don't know if you're going to find 10mm spacers and if you do if it's safe. Jon.

[Solorange]

Yeah you know how some roads that are traveled on more than other have a slight yet smooth rut. When i go over those areas is when i get the pull. After going over all this I really don't think i have anything to worry about other than the fact that I need to roll the rear fender.

And Thank you for the comments!

[WTF??]

The pull that you are feeling going either direction I believe is normal since you have new tires. When i first put on my 17s (w/ new tires) and my 19s (w/ new tires), i felt the same pull on this certain stretch of freeway that I go on... the pull was due to the little grooves in the road on that fwy... after about a year now with the same tires on my 19s, the pull is barely even noticable whenever i drive on the same stretch... So I think youll be ok with the pull (i know... its weird!!! like it wants to dive right or left on its own)

Im sure youve also already gotten an alignment after you lowered ur ride so this should be okay... as far as only one side rubbing, i think its possible since ive heard ppl rubbing on one side before with different cars... though Im not sure of the actual reason...

Now that you have low pro tires on, the wheel gap seems pretty even... you have about a 1-2 finger gap? due to the fact that your tires are sitting flush to your fenders, with any weight in the rear, you will definitely have to roll your fenders... my offset is at 45 so they sit a little more inward... if it was like a 40, then i wouldve had to roll the fenders...


overall... looks pretty good bro.... how long have you had the suspension on for?
I guess it was worth it to hold back from buying all this other stuff you wanted and saved up for the rims/tires huh?

[Jon11582]

With a 225/40 18 either a 18x8 with 40mm offset or 18x7.5 with a 45mm offset. I don't know if you're going to find 10mm spacers and if you do if it's safe. Jon.

If its rubbing the fender, then his offset is already too low and spacers wont help. If he was rubbing the strut, then offset is too high and spacers would help to lower the effective offset.

8" w/ +38 to 40 and 7.5" with anything from +35 to +42 would typically work. I think +45 might rub the strut w/ 7.5", or at least sit too far in.

[SleeperSolara]

Nice rims man.

[Solorange]

The pull that you are feeling going either direction I believe is normal since you have new tires. When i first put on my 17s (w/ new tires) and my 19s (w/ new tires), i felt the same pull on this certain stretch of freeway that I go on... the pull was due to the little grooves in the road on that fwy... after about a year now with the same tires on my 19s, the pull is barely even noticable whenever i drive on the same stretch... So I think youll be ok with the pull (i know... its weird!!! like it wants to dive right or left on its own)

Im sure youve also already gotten an alignment after you lowered ur ride so this should be okay... as far as only one side rubbing, i think its possible since ive heard ppl rubbing on one side before with different cars... though Im not sure of the actual reason...

Now that you have low pro tires on, the wheel gap seems pretty even... you have about a 1-2 finger gap? due to the fact that your tires are sitting flush to your fenders, with any weight in the rear, you will definitely have to roll your fenders... my offset is at 45 so they sit a little more inward... if it was like a 40, then i wouldve had to roll the fenders...


overall... looks pretty good bro.... how long have you had the suspension on for?
I guess it was worth it to hold back from buying all this other stuff you wanted and saved up for the rims/tires huh?

Yeah you are right, Im already starting to get use to it and Im not even noticing it that much anymore. But its acts exactly how you described. And yeah I dont need an alignment. I lowerd my car last July and got an alignment done then. I checked my diagram they gave me that shows my current camber, toe, and caster. My rear passenger side has a slight bit more camber than the driver side. Thats why it rubs on the driver side. Im probably just barely missing the fender on the passenger side. I have a 2 finger gap all the around now. With the new wheels on it definatly makes the lowering look better now.

It was definatly worth holding back from the other stuff. But now that I got this done my next thing I need to focus on is replacing my timing belt and water pump. I also want to get the black headlights. Since im a performance type person I would really like to start doing engine stuff. But I dont see me getting too far with that cause there is no stuff. I cant afford the supercharger so that only leads me with headers, y pipe, exhaust, and a intake. I dont even know how much of that stuff i will do cause im a broke college kid. But well see, only time will tell.

Thanks for all the comments.

Last question, do you guys think i should roll my fenders or shave them? I know if I shave them I will loose rigidity in the fenders. But I dont have to shave the whole thing. I just have to take of about a half a cenitmeter off. So it shouldn't really loose any rigidity in the fender. I think the main issue with shaving is that the edge will be sharper. So what do you guys think? Bend or Shave?

[michaels artic frost]

i like it! nice choice!

^^What he said^^ Congrats bro!!! So it's time for another meet ay?

-Michael

[Solorange]

Yes it is time for another meet! Now my car will almost be as flashy as yours is now! Well put something together soon!

[Solorange]

So When I was rolling my fenders, I descide to shave them. I was grinding the metal away and it started to crack some of the paint on that inner lip. So I quit what I was doing. The just used a rubber hammer and rolled the fenders. I knew it would take some of the paint off, but now as much as I wanted. Now im worried that exposed metal will rust and the rust will creep under the paint and work its way around to the outside where you can see it. I used some touch up paint and some clear coat touch up paint on that inner fender edge to protect it. Do you guys think that will do the job, or do you guys think I need to do something else additionally?