265/70/r17 -12 offset rub.

Hello! Just put 265/70/r17 Open Country AT3s on RockTrix wheels that have a -12 offset. Fully stock 2017 TRDOR suspension. Rubs pretty bad when turning, both left and right. Fully locking the wheels when parked I appear to have pretty much zero room between the tire and wheel well. Would strongly prefer not to cut much of anything. Would an alignment possibly fix this issue?

 

I have a 265x70r17 on a 17x9 -12 (venomrex) wheel. I rubbed so bad leaving the parking lot I had to think about my route home.

Step 1. Remove mud flaps and then Dremel off the hard plastic lip at the bottom rear (near the outside) of the wheel well. This is the piece that sticks out the most and is easy to remove.

Next, heatgun the heck out of the wheel well liner. That plastic is pretty soft and shapeable. I used an old baseball bat to push the heated plastic back to allow more clearence and hold it while it cools. It may bounce back a few times just heat it again and work it back again.

That's the easy part. Now I'd chalk or mud up the inside of the wheel well and drive it around the block. When you get back look for the clean spots. Those are where you still rub. Probably rub when braking, turning and backing (or some combination)

With stock suspension you can move the wheels a bit but you may be limited and you probably need to use a off-road/specialty shop in your area. The local alignment shop for me made the problem worse because they just want to get it all in the green.

In my case I already had SPC upper control arms and a suspension package waiting. So I installed that and got a shop that was recommended for the adjustable UCAs to do the alignment.

I still have one tiny clean spot on the driver wheel well after a full lock reverse over a bump. I've never heard the rub but that clean spot says it rubs.

All this is to say with a little DIY easy plastic adjustment and an alignment you can probably get rid of most of the rub most of the time. From there you can figure out where and when it is rubbing and make a plan for that.

 

Thanks for the info! The EXACT same thing happened to me leaving the shop, I immediately rubbed like crazy and almost walked back in to grab my old set up .

I don’t have a heat gun, do you think my wife’s blow dryer would work to shape the wheel wells?

 

I doubt you want to spend the time with a blow dryer. I picked up a harbor freight heat gun for less than $20 if my memory holds and it's been used for more than just this project.

 

Looks like I’ll be rubbing my way down to harbor freight tomorrow.

So heat and push the entire back half of the wheel well?

 

The biggest offender is that hard plastic nub at the bottom. From there take a first pass at the entire back side. You'll get a feel for what moves. After the first pass chalk it up (kids sidewalk chalk is what I used) and turn and out of your driveway. 50' of driving while turning the wheel will show you where you need work. I think there are youtube tutorials on shaping Tacom liners with a heat gun.

I can't promise you will solve your problem this way but you can take care of the cheap stuff first. Ultimately it was the adjustable UCA and alignment that got me clear.

In case Google lands anyone here. Do your research (or know what you are doing) before sticking a 17x9-12 wheel on a Tacoma.

 

Appreciate all the help!