So, like the title says, I've got some brand new 215/45/17's on my car, with stock s-heavies, and no suspension mods at all. Coming home from the tire place, one if not both of the rears were rubbing with my old snow tires/wheels in the back. Took em out, rubbing gone. That's all fine and dandy, but since my cooper is my only car, it's rather utilitarian at times, and I do have things in the back on occasion. I'm fairly certain it's rubbing on the inside where the strut is. Should I just let the plastic wear down? Or should I invest in some 5mm spacers? It's unlikely I'll have any serious suspension mods while I still own these tires, if anything, some springs and not really serious ones. Would 5mm spacers then cause me to rub the outside?

 

Really odd... I run that tire size, with lower than stock rear springs, and with four people and 700lbs of people and gear in my car, it doesn't rub...

 

Maybe it's because the tires were brand spanking new, but I only had some holies in the back with winter tires on them so the weight wasn't much. Certainly not like two people plus gear. I'm hoping the fender liner and/or tire rubs itself down to the point where the problem is gone, but is that really good for the tire?

Plus I just had a 4 way done at the tire shop, so I know the wheels were not misaligned. That would have to be a serious alignment issue though.

 

Before you go and buy spacers, make sure you identify where they rub. It could be rubbing the wheel well on the outside of the tire. If you have a late model car, some slight cmaber adjustment with stock lower arms could be helpful.

Some do just let it rub until the problem takes care of it's self.

 

Mines an 02, so no adjustment. :( I'm going to look at it later this week some more, I only took a glance at it yesterday when I got home from the tire shop.

 

Ok then, hopefully it is the inside of the tire, and so 5mm spacers would likely do the trick. Search the marketplace, they often pop up there. Pre-owned is fine for spacers.

 

What brand did you go with? Some run a little big. For reference I run 225/45/17 on S-heavies with no rubbing.

 

They are Cooper Zeon 2xs.

 

Whens the last time you got it properly aligned? It could be rubbing because of that.

I too run 215.45.17 with 17inch wheels and have no issues at all, even with people in the back...

I agree with Mini racer, go check out your measurements.

 

I think your car is a bit different being a second gen

That does seem off that 215.45 is rubbing, however as previous posters have said, it may be the brand of tire running large. However, that does seem extremely large to be rubbing that often... I'm not sure

 

2nd Gen cars can run 235/40-17, offset of 45mm. on stock suspension with no rubbing. So yes, 2nd Gen cars have more room. It looks awesome too.

Get back there, take a wheel off and find out what is going on, then you can take deliberate steps to remedy instead of this speculation.......Go get some data!

 

Yup, that would indeed have to be WAY oversized to rub like you say.

 

Its got to be the offset of the rims or you need an alignment

 

I had a 4 way alignment when i got the tires put on, on monday. Or maybe they just didn't bother with the alignment and charged me $49 anyway. (it was a 4 way, minus my free front alignment, so $49.)

The tire place called me THREE time yesterday to have me come back in and retorque my bolts... I've never had a tire place call me to have me do that, but then again I haven't been to a tire dealer in a long time. I usually buy online. Perhaps it's because they forgot to have me initial the sheet where it says "wheels need to be retorqued after 25 miles.."

 

So today on a three hour drive, I'd only get rubbing when I hit a big bump and the suspension would compress, like over a large dip. It's only happening in the rear, and on the left. Could I have a bad strut?

 

Max....where the heck are you getting the tires worked on?? I've never heard of this.
They wanted you to retorque the wheel bolts?? What are you paying them for....

 

How many miles you have, being an 02 I was gonna suggest looking into the possibility of your suspension needing some new components.

 

Town Fair Tire. I usually never go to the tire places for tires, but I made an exception this time because we were bringing my fianceé's car in for her summer changeover. They mean that after 25 miles the wheel bolts should be re-checked for proper torque, i.e. "we need to make sure they're still tight." :D I've never retorqued wheel bolts anytime I've put wheels on.

Oh and the car has 92,000 on it.