Need some guidance on tire rubbing

Hello,

I'm new here and well I've been searching for about a week and I can't seem to find an answer to my specific issue (if you wanna call it that). Anyways, I've just recently put new wheels and tires on my truck and they look amazing. I don't have any intentions of lifting it at the moment specifically because I have some money saving to do for other reasons. What I've noticed as I'm sure other people have too, is that there is slight tire rubbing when I make sharp turns, however what I've deduced is that the rubbing is taking place right where the front fender flairs tuck into the bottom of the truck. I think that if I take a dremel to it and cut away that piece it should solve my problem, however before I do that (because I'd really rather not if it can be avoided) is to see if anyone had any other ideas? I know a friend of mine mentioned a leveling kit, but I'd like some Tacoma expert advice. Thanks for the assistance ahead of time.

OH here are my wheel and tire specs:
Wheels - XD Series 797 Spy's 17x9 with -12mm offset
Tires - General Grabber AT2's 265/70/17

 

Welcome to the forum. I suggest before you cut anything, turn your wheels from left to right and see exactly where it could be rubbing or check for rub marks. If it's just the plastic, some people have used a heat gun to flatten those out or bend them.

 

I actually have done that already and it's a very small portion of the fender flair that it's hitting, but still when making those turns it's very noticable and well to be honest embarrassing haha. I'm at work right now, and I don't have a good picture....but the highlighted area is the bottom of the fender flair that I'm referring to (but the portion inside the wheel well).

 

I wonder what your caster is set as at stock suspension. I bet a good alignment with caster setting at 2.5 would remedy your problem. You can always just get an alignment inspection as its free in most good shop just to see where you caster setting is at. I believe max stock setting can be pushed to 2.7 for caster. Just make sure your camber remains at zero. This should get rid of the rubbing problem without cutting anything. You should be able to fit stock tire size even with those wheels. I believe backspace in that size is about 4.5" which pushes your wheel/tire out.

 

Hmmm...yeah I'm not sure what it's set to. But this is excellent information and I'll definitely take a look at that. My alignment does seem to be a bit off. And if anything I can do the minor cutting/trimming, it really isn't a big deal, but just wanted to see what other options there were before I did that.

 

I'm surprise they didn't do an alignment with new tires or at least check it. It's always a good idea to at least check whenever you get new tires.

 

Well I got into the shop 30 minutes before closing time, and they were nice enough to stay after to get them on....so I don't think they did any of the rest just due to that.

 

I agree about the alignment, to some degree. My truck was already lifted and had bigger tires and wheels. With the mud flaps off, I got pretty bad rubbing and obnoxious noise. The dealer had the alignment done, but wasn't right. He had it re-done, and now I have almost no rubbing now and the noise is slight or non-existent.
When my alignment was done, they installed bigger cams from toyota, so the caster and camber could be set to factory, which has more positive camber than the zero recommendation. When lifting an IFS truck, without relocating A-arms, it affects the amount of camber adjustment, and having zero positive camber will work, but affects SAI. You never want to go negative on camber, unless maybe in a racing application, but not highway use. Too much or too little camber affects tire wear. If lifted and bigger cams aren't used, then I'd recommend as close to factory spec on caster, without going negative on camber.

 

Factory caster is as low as +1 which would not help in this situation rubbing on the back (cab mount area). This is why caster should be pushed to max setting while keeping camber at 0. I've never heard of this "bigger cams" thing. Do you have a part number on your work order?

 

Awesome that is some great info and very useful. This is definitely something I did not think about. I will most definitely make sure to get a correct alignment set up for the truck.

 

Correction and my apologies. I couldn't find the part number on the alignment invoice, so I called the shop. The guy said it was only the stock bolt, and was replaced because the cam was stripped on the bolt and wouldn't turn. I was surprised and maybe misunderstood, when told that it was different bolt than stock.
Here are the alignment settings. I agree more caster would be good, and since the adjustment is on the lower arm, it should help with rubbing. Forgive my first try at attaching an image, we'll see how it goes. Second try, had to rotate the image.

 

No need for apologies. I was merely intrigued by a bigger cam bolt as an option. How tall are your spacers? I'm assuming you have at least 2"+ spacer lift to run 33's.

 

Increasing caster pushes your wheel towards the front to prevent the rubbing in the back. The trick is doing that while keeping camber at zero. I actually had to do my own alignment to get the setting to where I wanted it. I also had aftermarket UCA so that made it easy but when my lift was under 2", there was no rubbing with 265/70/17 with aftermarket wheels (4.5" back space) due to setting the caster at 2.2.

 

Agreed!

 

I hate misinformation/exaggeration, hence my apology.
I think they are 1.5", but haven't measured them. Since it was done by the "Used" dealer at a shop he chose, I don't know what brand. They look well made. The rear has what looks like 1" blocks.

 

A 1.5" spacer would give you about a 3" lift in the front which allows for the 33's. The caster is on the low side for a lifted truck but within oem specs. Does it feel like it wanders on the hwy?

 

Maybe a bit, but it's not bad. I don't think I'll mess with it. Having not driven a stock one, I don't know what it used to drive like. My main concern is tire wear and clearance.

 

When I had 33", tires only rub when backing up at full lock. I was gonna do a cab mount chop.

 

Mine really only touches the factory fender flare. I could cut it, but don't need to at this point. Under some compression, I may get some rub on the mount, but I don't feel like it hurts anything on mine.

 

That tire is only 31.6" tall and 10.4 wide. I think the problem is your wheels have incorrect backspacing and the turning arc is wider than if you had stock spacing. Sell em on Craigslist and make another selection.