Front wheels are rubbing on the fender...help!

Ok I need some brainstorming ideas...

The front wheels on my car are fine when driving around town, no rubbing at all. As soon as I try to go up any driveway or small ramp, the tire rubs against the fender. I tried rolling and pulling the fender...still rubbing but not as much. Is there anything else I can do? I am running Nitto 215/40 on 18x8.5 tire.

Drop to a 30 or 35 series tire, increase the camber?

Take yields as fast as you can with your head out the window and scream "OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!"

works for me.


What is it rubbing on inside the fender?

yeah, try more stretch. post up your setup.  because i had the same issue due to the compression of the coilover, and turning of the wheels.  unfortunately, i was stretched on the smallest tire already, and no more negative camber available, so i just dealt with it.

goodluck
Charley

run a 205/35 tire. add camber as needed!

Ok my front setup is as follows: Nitto Neogen (I think thats the name of it) 215/40/18 on 8.5 wide rim. Theres another person with same wheels and he claims to have no problems at all with rubbing is using Falken FK452 215/35/18. He said all he had to do was a mild roll and pull of the fenders.

I did some comparisons width on 215/35 setup from Falken is 8.5" and 215/40 from Nitto is 8.7...but thats not enough to make a huge difference.

The wheels are rubbing on the fender itself almost at the very top. After pulling them, the inner liner started to sag a little bit. I am thinking of heating it up a little and then stretching it. But that won't make that big of a difference. 

I want to have no gap up front with my tire slightly tucking in the fender...right now I am back to 1 finger gap and still hear slight rubbing on the inner liner. Pretty sure I can add more negative camber and that will free up some room, but not sure how much of it will matter under hard turns.

I would just ditch or trim the fender liner.

I haven't missed mine.

You could switch to a 205/40, that works well on a 8.5 - that's what I'm running on the rear of my car.

[QUOTE=firelizard;192236]I would just ditch or trim the fender liner.

I haven't missed mine.

You could switch to a 205/40, that works well on a 8.5 - that's what I'm running on the rear of my car.[/QUOTE]

You could do this but i wouldn't recommend it. Get a heat gun and a wet towel, heat  the plastic where you need room and push it back...ultimatly looks cleaner.

[QUOTE=augdogg;192293]You could do this but i wouldn't recommend it. Get a heat gun and a wet towel, heat  the plastic where you need room and push it back...ultimatly looks cleaner.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! So I heat it up, push it where I want it to go and then apply wet towel to cool the plastic? If I have time, I'll try it today.

Also might try adding camber up front. My last setup was 8.5 +45 on a 215/40 tire and had no rubbing issues. So if I can push the top of the wheel 10mm back, I should be ok. If this doesn't work, then I will look at different tires.

Although minute sidewall thickness, the difference between 215/35 and 215/40 is the stretch angle.

If you still have your fenderliner, you can't ride low. Either ditch it or push it up.

Well more info for you guys...I heated and pushed up the fender liner, so I know for sure its not rubbing. I parked the car in the middle of a driveway to see exactly where its rubbing and seems like its the very top of the tire right where it curves into the sidewall. I can't really pull my fenders anymore than I already have. I tried and it starts to cause allignment issues with the hood and the lights (VW uses paper-thin metal). For now I raised the car back up a little so it doesn't rub. 

This is frustrating because I really don't want to step down to a 205 tire or try my luck with 215/35 and hope that it doesn't rub. Right now I am already running into traction issues with the 215 setup...so stepping down will mean trouble.

[QUOTE=Dark Anghell;192737]Well more info for you guys...I heated and pushed up the fender liner, so I know for sure its not rubbing. I parked the car in the middle of a driveway to see exactly where its rubbing and seems like its the very top of the tire right where it curves into the sidewall.[/QUOTE]

How about cutting a panel out of the fender liner where the tire hits - that way you have most of the protection, without the rubbing.

I recommend a different tire.  The Nittos generally have a square sidewall.   Try the smaller tire with Falken ST115 or Nankang and it might give you the clearance you need.

Different brands will have slightly different widths. Try Falken ST115 (if u can still find one), heard it's running narrow? Although minute, it might just cure? Coupled with cambers.

One thing I do to safeguard against this - turn the front wheels straight over the
apron portion of the driveway, where the suspension would be compressed and
the tire would be pushed into the fender. When the wheels are turned the tread is
literally outside the fender and can hit the arch. Basically you turn before and after
the driveway entrance but try to keep the wheels as straight as possible when actually
crossing the uphill/downhill portion.

I hit both my left and right fender arch during driveway crossings like this and I ultimately 
decided to pull the fenders and cut the lip off. Removed the plastic fender liner, too.

A shorter tire would help, also.

so pull hte fucking fender lo;l

Pav, you need help rolling a fender?  Its not the hardest thing in the world to do.  Let me know, you know how I drive my cars. I dont like rubbing.

What about flaring the front fender a lil bit if you can't pull it anymore?

Thanks guys, here's the problem I am running into in regards to pulling the fender:

The metal used on VW is so thin that I can literally pull it with my fingers. When I pull/flare the fender, it stars to pull in other areas. Mainly behind the headlight and the hood line. So what I end up with are these huge gaps...something I'm trying to stay away from. For the time being I may drive the car as is until the tires wear out some more and then get a different set for the front. Also if I end up moving soon and stop driving my car as much, then I will go a lot lower just with some additional camber...as of right now I take this thing everywhere and some streets in Seattle will be super smooth and all of the sudden theres a huge bump thats 3-5" high sticking out in the middle of the road.