What Causes Tire Rubbing?

[4runit]

I wanna know what causes tire rubbing other than the obvious answer that the tires are to big.

This may be a noob question but why do some have issues rubbing with 33's, compared to someone who has 35s, no rub, and the same lift?

Could it have to do with wheel backspacing and offset compared with tire size?

I know there are many other options of this situation like bumpers, BL, but I'm comparing almost identical rigs. Hopefully someone understands this poorly worded question. Thanks .:beer:

 

[01t4rnr]

This may be a noob question but why do some have issues rubbing with 33's, compared to someone who has 35s, no rub, and the same lift?

Could it have to do with wheel backspacing and offset compared with tire size?

absolutely, could also be 8" wide vs. 10" wide, obviously the wider the rim the wider the tire's footprint which means more surface area to rub on your truck. also some tires are true 33's, others may be a 33" tire on paper but actually measure 32.xx, you get the idea. cant think of much else

 

[brian2sun]

This may be a noob question but why do some have issues rubbing with 33's, compared to someone who has 35s, no rub, and the same lift?

No one runs 35s without rubbing unless they hack and pound the fenders a lot (really, you have to tub the fenders to eliminate all rubbing). 33s just require less hacking/less lift than 35s.

 

[theizzardking]

it is very very close but i have zero rubbing with my 285's and the rubbing issue is on the UCA the fenders are completely clear under full lock both ways.

but on rims with differant back spacing the rub was horrible.thats why i'm rolling these gangsta rims for the moment

 

[4runit]

Hmm okay. I'm still unsure how backspacing and offset come into play? Rockdawg84 is rollin on 35x12.5x17 with a 17x9 wheel and 3.5 bs. He trimmed the fenders but I'm wondering how he doesn't rub the UCA and izzardking gets rubbing with 285's.

Sorry for all the questions but I don't want a body lift and may want to put 35's on later.

 

[downpour11]

Hmm okay. I'm still unsure how backspacing and offset come into play? Rockdawg84 is rollin on 35x12.5x17 with a 17x9 wheel and 3.5 bs. He trimmed the fenders but I'm wondering how he doesn't rub the UCA and izzardking gets rubbing with 285's.

Sorry for all the questions but I don't want a body lift and may want to put 35's on later.

rockdawg DOES rub on his UCA at full lock, its not that bad though, and he rubs on the frame when the front is tucked. His front tires are like 1.5-2" away from his UCA lol but I've driven it and there are no problems. That guy mobs it in his 4runner! If he shaved his UCA's he wouldn't rub at all, but there is no need to.
he didn't trim his fenders either, he just hammered in the fender wells. the only part he cut was each side of his front bumper. you can see it in his pics.

 

[brian2sun]

Hmm okay. I'm still unsure how backspacing and offset come into play? Rockdawg84 is rollin on 35x12.5x17 with a 17x9 wheel and 3.5 bs. He trimmed the fenders but I'm wondering how he doesn't rub the UCA and izzardking gets rubbing with 285's.

Well if izzard is running stock wheels, those have ~4.5" BS. Rockdawg's tires are ~.75" wider on each side but his backspacing puts his wheels ~1." farther out. That means the outer edge of his tire is ~.25" farther away from the UCA than izzard's.

Like I said before, if you plan on wheeling you will have to do excessive, major cutting of your wheel wells/firewall to not rub w/ 35s if you don't have a body lift. On road you probably won't rub much but your tires don't get stuffed on road. for off road, you will need to tub your fenders if you plan on wheeling it w/ 35s on just a ~3" lift. That said, 35s and 3" lift would be optimal - the least amount of lift with the biggest tires possible = best for wheelin.

I went a different route. 33s and dual lockers will get me farther than 35s with an open front diff. 35s and dual locked wasn't an option because it's really pushing the limits of the IFS with a locker and that big of tires.

 

[4runit]

Well if izzard is running stock wheels, those have ~4.5" BS. Rockdawg's tires are ~.75" wider on each side but his backspacing puts his wheels ~1." farther out. That means the outer edge of his tire is ~.25" farther away from the UCA than izzard's.

Like I said before, if you plan on wheeling you will have to do excessive, major cutting of your wheel wells/firewall to not rub w/ 35s if you don't have a body lift. On road you probably won't rub much but your tires don't get stuffed on road. for off road, you will need to tub your fenders if you plan on wheeling it w/ 35s on just a ~3" lift. That said, 35s and 3" lift would be optimal - the least amount of lift with the biggest tires possible = best for wheelin.

I went a different route. 33s and dual lockers will get me farther than 35s with an open front diff. 35s and dual locked wasn't an option because it's really pushing the limits of the IFS with a locker and that big of tires.

Thanks Brian you are probably the most knowledgable guy on the forum hehe.
I have some 33's in the shed which are 295/70/17s but they don't have much tread left so I was thinking...
If I have a custom front and rear bumpers (shrockworks and perkins), 3" lift, and wheels that are 17x8 with 4.5 backspacing what kind of rubbing should I expect? Do you think I'm gonna need wheel spacers?

 

[brian2sun]

Thanks Brian you are probably the most knowledgable guy on the forum hehe.
I have some 33's in the shed which are 295/70/17s but they don't have much tread left so I was thinking...
If I have a custom front and rear bumpers (shrockworks and perkins), 3" lift, and wheels that are 17x8 with 4.5 backspacing what kind of rubbing should I expect? Do you think I'm gonna need wheel spacers?

Thanks for the compliment! There are some very knowledgeable guys on here that know about all kinds of stuff that I know nothing about too so we all make a great forum together. Great techs, guys who know about all the different trim models and features, off road guys, electronic and lighting guys, and some really great fabricators on here as well.

The 4.5" BS would be really close to stock (~4.6") so a 295 will be ~5mm wider on each side than 285s. Most people need at least .25" spacers with 285s so I would say you'll need ~.5" minimum more spacing. That would mean wheels with 4" BS or less or wheel spacers in the front. .5" isn't a normal wheel spacer size because they're too long to use your stock lugs and not long enough to run new studs so 1" spacers would be what you'd use.

 

[4runit]

Haha yea there are a lot of knowledgeable members here but I can depend on you for 3rd gen info.
I think I understand now, thanks. Basically with my wheel spec for every 10mm wider, would the spacer increase by .25"? If I wanted to run 35's later (probably not), would a 1" spacer suffice? I'm thinking about getting savage off road spacers since I just ordered some of their sliders today! :guitar3:

 

[Rockdawg84]

The other thing to remember is that Im not really running 35's a 315x70R17 is really a 34.4x12.4x17. Im sure that if I was running a true 35 I would have to tub the front to make it work. BS is really important but remember that as your backspacing increases the ark your tire turns in moves further out and closer to the rear fenderwell. I have a set of 1.5 spacers and when they were on I hit the fenderwell super fast. So instead I just left them off and hammered a little more. honestly I think it was dumb luck that all my pieces came together just right so it wasn't to bad. I already had the rims and then the tires I really wanted True 35's were on back order and so I went with the MTZ's and love them. Honestly I don't think i would rub the UCA if the tire didn't have sidebiters on it.

 

[theizzardking]

yeah even on my 285's i needed a spacer to fit the stockers, i had to get some fancy gangsta rims as they didn't sell spacers and they actually sold me 4 rims for $62, so the rims where cheaper then spacers, i do think i may go back to the stockers in a little bit.

so like brain was saying it's all about the back spacing and offset in what you can get away with, if you want to stuff your tires and not worry about flex i bet with the proper back spacing you could fit a 35 on there with the lift i have, i wouldn't suggest becuase you'd have to regear and it'll probably be hell on alot of things, but you could....