ssmoked

I have a 96' Es and about to get new tires. The current tires are 225/40/18 and they rub really bad on bumps (especially will a sub in the trunk and passengers). Would it terminate the rubbing issue if I put 215 instead of 225? would it still fit the rim? any suggestion and help is welcome and appreciated!

chrispy

iTrader: (21)

roll your fenders, problem solved.

trukn1

Looked on one of the tire sites and for your car it is recommended that you use 215/45 for 18" rims. Is your car lowered???? Where is the rubbing, ooutside, inside, in center??? Examine your tires really carefully to first determinw where the rubbing is coming frm then decide what to do. The infor you gave was pretty vague, but like I said, with what you have provided in the way of info here, 215/45/18 should do you just fine. AQll demends on where, to the best of your ability, to determine where the rubbing is.

ssmoked

i am mechanically challenged, how do you roll the fenders?

chrispy

iTrader: (21)

there's a ghetto way, and the better way. except the better way costs money.

you can take it to a shop and have them do it professionally for 60-70 a side i think.

then there's the ghetto way that i did. take a wooden baseball bat or a rolling pin, wrap it in a towel and put it between the tire and the fender. have a few heavy buddies sit in the trunk and carefully push down on the bat to roll the fender up. i suggest using a heat gun on the paint to make it bend without cracking. you can crease your fenders if you're not careful. you can also put the car in drive and reverse with the bat between the tire and the fender and go back and forth very slowly. i chipped some of my paint off when i did it so i applied a lot of touch up paint under the fender to prevent rusting. if you know what you're doing and you're patient, the ghetto way is free.

Choas

I bet its even funnyer to watch LOL

chrispy

iTrader: (21)

lol we did it at my friends house and his dad came out to see what we were doing. i don't think he really understood but he sat in the back to help me out.

Choas

But to save the $150 is it really worth possibly rusting out the inside of your fender?

ssmoked

hummmm...... rolling the fenders sounds complicated and i dont want to spend any more money than i really need to. so i guess i will be sticking with the tire method. the question is, does anyone have 215 their 18' rims and do you experience rubbing or not?

chrispy

iTrader: (21)

if you know anyone who has any experience in rolling fenders then it'll be no problem, but i didn't so i just research and experimented. you should see where it's rubbing, and by how much. then we can tell you if getting a less wide tire will help.

ssmoked

to check where it is rubbing, do i look on the tires or the fenders? i did notice some irregular marks on both the innner and outer wall of the tire, is that it?

chrispy

iTrader: (21)

look for small cuts from the fender on the tires and just estimate if the fender and the tire do touch. it's usually the fender lip on the inside that is doing the rubbing.

sricenbaw

ok, now im no tire expert, and didnt take the time to look, but i believe 215/45/18 is gonna be almost the exact same height as the 225/40/18.. the middle number is the percentage of the first number that it is.. so if the car is 225 which lets just say is 10 inches wide, and then the next number is 40 it'd be 40% which would be 4 inches tall, so although the 215 is not as wide, its gonna be just as tall, just depends where your rubbing, with the subs and you mentioned bumps, it sounds like its rubbing on the top of the fender well, im guessing only the rears really rubbing, you'd only need to roll the fenders if theres rub lines on the sidewall of your tires from the fender.. not really necessary.. i think 215 will fit 8" wide tires.. not positive on that, 7.5" for sure.. you could put 215/35/18's, but there really small side walls, and will look funny in the wheel wells.. ive got 225/40/18s on my lex, and no real problems in the back, unless i have 3 people back there, then the outter (the side you can see) sidewall of the tires will have marks, and there will be excess rubber on the fender.. but just say no to more then 4 people total in the car, and fat chicks.. make sure anyone fat sits up front.
-Scott

Pchaser

iTrader: (1)

if they are rubbing because they are too wide & u have no passengers in back, then maybe the offset of ur rims may be wrong for your car because 225 should be fine on a ES with no problem.

if they are rubbing because they are to tall then
u have to look at the tire height from ground to top of tire

ur stock 15" tire height is 25.5"
with 225/40/18 height is 25.1" (lower than the stock tire height)
if this is rubbing then either ur car is dropped or u need new struts or u have entirely to much weight in the rear of ur car

215/45/18 will defintely not solve ur problem because tire height it 25.6"

ur best bets are:
225/35/18 tire height is 24.2" (about an inch lower than ur current rim & tire combo)
or
215/40/18 tire height is 24.8"

ssmoked

i went tire shopping today and the guy told me 225/40/18 are fine, and maybe the 11 yr old (88000 Mile) struts needs to be replaced (is it true or is he trying to sell me something?). Did anyone have the same issue like me and by replacing the struts solved your problem? hey sricenbaw, i see that u have 2 12s and 2 10s and it doesnt rub?? is it because you have the springs changed or other mods?? did you get your struts replaced?
What exactly is the offset? is it the width of the rim itself? Pchaser, my car is not dropped and i dont think i have too much weight in the trunk because i only have single 12' with box and amp. compared to sricenbaw, that is chump change!
so do you guys think my best bet is to get new struts? i just dont want to spend money on anything that is not going to be beneficial.
thanks