Tire Grinding/Whirring issue

[Santos]

Hello all.

 

About 3 months ago I bought some Kyowa Racing rims without really researching. It was an impulse purchase. (I know I know..stupid mistake, please don't flame me

 

The problem is that when I have extra weight on the car and go over a speed bump (for example) I can hear a whirring sound that changes in pitch depending on the speed that I'm traveling at. (70mph = high pitch, quick grind) (10-20mph = low pitch, longer grind. Again, only on bumps/ramps)

 

I have verified that the tires are NOT ALWAYS grinding, but just when I hit a bump on the highway, entering an elevated parking lot, etc.

 

Now, I really love the look of the rims, and don't want to get rid of them. But I have considered throwing the stockers on there just so I don't feel guilty every time I hear that grind.

 

It's gotten to the point where I don't like having too much weight as in (people) in at once because it will sound like the car is falling apart, lol.

 

TIRE INFO: '99 Subaru Legacy 30th anniv.

 

Stockers: 195x60x15

Newish ones: 215x45x17

 

From the research I've done it seems that the tires might be grinding on the wheel-well? If not, it's probably the coilovers..

 

Thanks for all the help like always. I hope all of you have Labor Day off!

-Santos

[broknindarkagain]

Can you post a picture from the side of how your car looks now so we can see how it sits on the tires.

 

You may have to roll your fenders. Do you happen to know the offset of your wheels?

[Santos]

Hi Brok, thanks for the quick response..

 

And sorry I don't know what the offset is..I did take it to a tire shop and paid for the balance/installation, so I'm assuming they would know to do it right? (Not to say that they didn't mess up...this entire process was a pita.)

 

Here's an image of the car.http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/DBsantos77/photo_non_HDR.jpg

 

-Santos

[broknindarkagain]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v287/broknindarkagain/Align/offset.jpg

 

Zero Offset - The hub of the wheel is in line with the centerline of the tire

Negative Offset - The hub of the wheel is towards the inside of the vehicle

Positive Offset - The hub of the wheel is towards the outside of the vehicle

 

Read through this thread for some more info on wheel offset and other alignment stuff.

 

Jack up your car and take the front tires off. Look around for any evidence of where the tires are rubbing. Adding wheel spacers or even changing to a different set of wheels all together may be whats needed to fix the problem.

 

You said you're on coilovers. If you lift them up a litttle bit, it may help with the noise.

 

After looking at the picture, I don't think rolling your fenders would help you. Rolling fenders is usually nessicary for wheels that are REALLY close to the fenders, and that doesn't look to be the case wiht your car

[Santos]

Sorry for taking ages to respond.

 

Hopefully this helps other people in the same situation.

 

It's a little hard to explain this..The edge of the tires were grinding up not against the fender, but against the edge of the body just before the body tapers off into the wheel well (where the tire runs alongside the body, that edge.)

 

I ended up installing rubber spacers in the coil overs themselves. They lifted the car about 2" so the rubbing stopped (great).

 

A couple of days later I checked on the spacers and found that one of them broke off.

 

Long story short I decided to sell the rims and throw the stockers back on. Those spacers add up in price, and I needed the cash as well.

 

I miss the rims but the car needs work in more important areas. Again, hope this helps anyone with the same issue.

 

-Santos