Tyre rubbing the fender

[Zed]

On 6/11/2021 at 8:38 PM, Anish S said:

Hello Everyone,

For sometime now, i find that my front tyres are rubbing under the fender, around the fender liner/shield area (I attached a photo for the same). The rubbing does not happen on road at all, however while off-roading, the rubbing occurs occasionally when attempting a climb and descend.

Hi @Anish S, since I've done a lift I can answer this:

1. You need to look into BODY LIFT (not suspension lift), this moves the body away from the frame (but not giving you a higher ground clearance like suspension lift), so your tyres will not rub the top.

2. If Body Lift is not an option, or after you did Body Lift there's still rubbing, look into "Pounding/Hammering the Pinch Weld", this is best shown in pictures here >> Finally, the Pinch Weld Mod – ADVENTURETACO

3. There's a 3rd option if you don't like modifying your car and keep it as much stock as possible: downgrading your tyre profile. Currently it's 265/70 = 70% x 265mm = 185.5mm = 7.3 inch sidewall. If you decrease the sidewall, say getting a 255/70/R16 = 70% x 255mm = 178.5mm = 7 inch sidewall, less 0.3 inch. Will lessening sidewall to -0.3" prevent rubbing? You need to test this... if you have friends with 255/70/R16 who are willing to lend you their tires for testing all good, else it's a bit of a hassle to hunt for 2nd hand tires and re-sell them if they still rub or you don't like the lower profile...

Good luck with whatever choice tho 🤙 

 

[Anish S]

On 6/13/2021 at 10:32 AM, Srikumar said:

If this happened with OEM shocks as well, then your bumpstops are the culprit. Measure the distance and get them replaced to a longer bumpstop. 

I measured the distances but since it is in an angle, the distance between the gap of the bump stop and the gap between the tyre and fender varies so its hard to know the correct distance. But i think if i extend the height of the bumpstops, it might solve the issue.

[Anish S]

22 hours ago, Lawrence_Chehimi said:

@Anish S, are you sure you are buttoming out? There is another reason why this might be happening, if you hit your bumper or fender before, the metal might slightly bend towards the inside and thus when you make full turns left or right while driving the tire might rub the fender.

@Lawrence_Chehimi There is no rubbing when driving on road neither when steering nor on bump. But it happens only when off-roading especially if i go on a bump at a speed. 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Anish S

[Srikumar]

A working bumpstop might also give the feeling of bottoming out. The reason I feel this is because from the pictures the distance of the tyre from the fender seems to be higher

[Rob H]

Because of the motion ratio of the suspension geometry you can't directly compare distance from a bump stop to total wheel travel. If you know the motion ratio you could do the math but its not going to solve anything without knowing the compression limit of the bump stop. 

 

You mentioned the tires are the same as OE sizes, but every manufacturer makes tires slightly different within the same standard tire size. Look up the actual overall diameter for your original factory tires and compare to the actual diameter of what you have. More than likely they're slightly taller which is why they rub, but it doesn't appear to be doing significant damage just very light rubbing, which I wouldn't be concerned about. 

[Mario Cornejo]

1 hour ago, Rob H said:

the compression limit of the bump stop

If reached, the compression limit of the bump stop, wouldn't this become a cause of concern for other issues apart from the tire rubbing a fender?  For example: risk of bending axles, damaging shocks?

Seems as if bump stops are sometimes overlooked as an integral part of the suspension and by doing a quick search there seem to be interesting options, including hydraulic bump stops.

Any views?  Hope this is not deviating too much from the original topic raised by Anish.

 

[Rob H]

3 minutes ago, Mario Cornejo said:

If reached, the compression limit of the bump stop, wouldn't this become a cause of concern for other issues apart from the tire rubbing a fender?  For example: risk of bending axles, damaging shocks?

Seems as if bump stops are sometimes overlooked as an integral part of the suspension and by doing a quick search there seem to be interesting options, including hydraulic bump stops.

Any views?  Hope this is not deviating too much from the original topic raised by Anish.

 

No, that's what its there for, and offroading its normal to hit them. Removing or shortening the bump stop would cause issues to all of those. 

[Abdul Rahman AK]

Dear @Anish S, As far as I know the standard tire size on a 3.5 LWB Pajero is 265/65/R17, but you are driving 265/65/R16 (I feel it's R17, please check again.). I used to have same issue as your with my Pajero after I upgraded my stock tires to 265/70/R17... the issue controlled to some extent after I went for a 2 inch lift with a suspension upgrade (But still I feel my tires hitting fender in Fewbie Plus and Intermediate drives). My recommendation would be to reconfirm your tire size and see if that helps. I am planning to go back to the stock tire size (265/65/R17) as it also helps in getting a better fuel average.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Abdul Rahman AK

[Anish S]

@Abdul Rahman AK

For sure, My stock rim size is 16 inches (R16). There is no way you can fit a R16 tyre on a 17 inch rim and vice versa. Instead u can opt for slightly different width and profile of tyre (at you own risk unless u have mods) but u cannot opt for a different radius unless if u change the rims.

It's strange that u are having the rubbing issue since u upgraded to 2" lift kit despite the fact that u put a slightly different size of tyre.

I would love to know your experience with lift kit. Which one did you put? How is it on the road?

Edited June 15, 2021 by Anish S

[Lakshmi Narasimhan]

5 minutes ago, Anish S said:

@Abdul Rahman AK

For sure, My stock rim size is 16 inches (R16). There is no way you can fit a R16 tyre on a 17 inch rim and vice versa. Instead u can opt for slightly different width and profile of tyre (at you own risk unless u have mods) but u cannot opt for a different radius unless if u change the rims.

It's strange that u are having the rubbing issue since u upgraded to 2" lift kit despite the fact that u put a slightly different size of tyre.

I would love to know your experience with lift kit. Which one did you put? How is it on the road?

I changed my rims from 18 to 17, but maintain the same tyre height profile. I had rubbing issue, even after 2” lift I had developed the same problem after few off-road drives. I guess the bumpers and fenders tend to lower/ bend after offroad drives. Need to understand this better!!!