I have experienced that, while moving at full lock, the tires rub the inner fender well by the door with the outside edge of the tire. It’s a 1981 camaro with a 1 inch lowering spring in the front. P255/60R15 cooper cobra radial GT front and rear. The rubbing needs to stop. should I get thinner tires? Should I get physically smaller diameter tires? (Less tire=more clearance) Or would something as simple as wheel spacers help in this situation? I can’t really find a definite answer in most places So I thought I’d ask on here since a lot of people seem to know a lot more than I do/can find
Spacers will most likely make the problem worse.
What wheels are you running and what is the offset/backspacing?
Assuming you are running the 7" wide factory Z28 wheels... A 255 tires is simply too wide for the front.
Some people have avoided the rub with a 245/60R15 but that is about as wide as you can go with stock suspension and wheels.
A 235/60R15 will just about guarantee there would be no rubs and it fits a 7" wheel perfectly.
Save those 255's to the rear wheels.
255's are the max width for a 7" wheel and even then they tend to wear out down the center if the pressure is more than 27-28 PSI.
What wheels are you running and what is the offset/backspacing?
Assuming you are running the 7" wide factory Z28 wheels... A 255 tires is simply too wide for the front.
Some people have avoided the rub with a 245/60R15 but that is about as wide as you can go with stock suspension and wheels.
A 235/60R15 will just about guarantee there would be no rubs and it fits a 7" wheel perfectly.
Save those 255's to the rear wheels.
255's are the max width for a 7" wheel and even then they tend to wear out down the center if the pressure is more than 27-28 PSI.
That's a kind of big tire up front on a camaro. But I wouldn't worry about it if its only at full lock and it's not causing any trouble. The stock 225/70/15s would rub sometimes. I ran 245/60/15 at all 4 and mine rubbed in that same spot if I read your description right. 30k miles later they were fine.
My 275/35/18s rub my sway bar on full lock lol.
My 275/35/18s rub my sway bar on full lock lol.
Yes, they’re factory sized rims, although off of a 1986 trans am, they’re still 7 inches deep. I have never checked their backspacing but I presume it to be similar.
Yeah, if you’re looking at the drivers side front tire from the outside of the car with the no’s pointing left, they rub the outside edge of the tire on the inner wheel well on the right side of the tire closest to the door of the car. I’ll probably shrink the width a couple of sizes and keep the rubber for the rears just in case they lose tread anytime soon (3.73 posi with a 388 stroker... lol)
with "perfect" back spacing ...and good alignment you could run those. 255's up front but short from that you got too much tire.
its easier on a firebird
Yeah. I’ll probably drop down to about a 235 in the front and keep the rubber from the 255for the rears, Maybe mount a full size spare or something
Zspoiler
Veteran Member
badazz81z28
Veteran Member
Yeah with rubbing.....This is why I get so annoyed with post of people claiming how big of tire fits. There's a difference between physically fitting and actually fitting. 245 is the MAX on the front and even that you'll get slight rubbing at full lock if you lack camber.
