Chapel Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I purchased a set of Fondmetal 16x7 ET42 wheels for my girlfriend's 1997 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport from Tires.com back in September. I was told the proper wheel size for this size wheel is 205/55/16, so I bought some Toyo Proxes FZ4s to go along with them. I didn't feel like installing them until after winter, and I finally got around to putting them on yesterday However, the rears seem to rub a little under hard cornering and going over big bumps. Now, the OBS seems to have big rubber fender protectors on the inside of the fender, and luckily its just rubbing on that, so Im not worried about a puncture as a result, but its annoying. Im thinking it MIGHT stop the rubbing if I remove the rubber protector or if I pull the fender a little... Im also wondering was this even the right offset? Tires.com sells 16x7s with an ET40 and recommends 205/55/16. However, I think that these would cause a serious problem on any Impreza... I figured the ET42 was good enough, but now Im seeing that its rubbing on the rear :( The only other question I have is, could I buy 205/50/16s for JUST the rear (because right now Im out of a job and I can really only afford 2 at a time.) or would that cause problems with the AWD system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7stars Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 how wide are the stock wheels? 15x6.5? going with 205/50/16 in the rear would throw off your speedo and may not even cure the rubbing, plus it may look funny. check out how much room you have until it rubs on the inside to the strut. perhaps a 45mm offset would've been better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBE555 Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 The +42 is quite a distance off spec. For that size wheel, +48 to +53 offset is optimal and highly recommended against going any lower than that or you will run into rubbing issues as you are and likely premature wheel bearing failure as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapel Posted June 14, 2004 Author Share Posted June 14, 2004 actually, wheel bearing failure only really occurs (from what I have seen) when you are WELL past your ETs (IE running an ET0 on a car that needs ET25) However, Tires.com sells tons of rims for the 1997 OBS in the ET40 and ET42 range in the 7" wide wheel. Has anyone ever confronted them about this? I can't return these wheels because I bought them so long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBE555 Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hmm, they shouldn't be selling wheels with that low of an offset for a modern Subaru with normal wheel widths of 6.5 to 7". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapel Posted June 14, 2004 Author Share Posted June 14, 2004 take a look on tires.com for yourself [img]http://www.discounttiredirect.com/product/wheels/fon67w.large.jpg[/img] these are the wheels (NLA in 16x7) I sent this email to Tires.com: [quote]I purchased a full set of Fondmetal wheels (16x7" ET42) for my girlfriend's 1997 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport in September. I also purchased a set of Toyo Proxes FZ4s in 205/55/16 size as recommended for this car on your website. I had stored the wheels and tires until the summer and have just recently installed the wheels as of yesterday. The tires are rubbing on the inner fenders on the rear. After speaking with multiple Subaru experts, I was told that the ET42 offset was much too low to work with this model. I noticed that you still sell 7" wide wheels with an ET42 (and even a few with ET40) for Subarus. These wheels do not fit without rubbing the fenders. I do not know if there is anything I can do at this point as I purchased the wheels almost a year ago. I purchased these wheels and tires expecting them to fit with no issues as these were recommended in your 'Find Sizes for My Vehicle'. They do not fit and I would like something to be done about this. Aside from massive widening of the rear fender wells by a custom body shop, there is no way these wheels will fit. I hope there is something you can do to rectify my problem. [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapel Posted June 14, 2004 Author Share Posted June 14, 2004 They only rub on the rear driver fender... does anyone know a place that sells rear springs that might be a shade taller and stiffer than OEM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBE555 Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Think about rolling the fenders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapel Posted June 15, 2004 Author Share Posted June 15, 2004 yeah, Im thinking about it its about $100 to get it done professionally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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