Usedcat

So when I bought my 911 i noticed the front tires were 205/45's instead of 205/55's....for the casual driving I do it seemed fine. But the tires were old and so I just put on the correct 205/55's on the front yesterday. Now they are rubbing on the inside of the fender. So took it to body shop this morning to discuss rolling the fenders and they are concerned that the paint could crack when they roll them (there is already a small paint chip on one fender that I think will expedite the cracking) which then leads to removing and repainting the fenders, new weather stripping etc. etc. and knowing my luck this is what would end up happening.

I really don't have the $$$ laying around to get into painting right now so my question is how bad of a thing is it to run the smaller height tire for just weekend driving....I know they won't rub the fenders so I could just go back and throw new 45's on there instead of the 55's for a lot cheaper than the new paint job.

awhenry

There is some missing but necessary information in your post. What size tires and wheels are on your car? 15x7, 16x7 or other The change in sidewall height in nominal and there may be other factors at work here. Has the car been lowered? If so, you may want to raise it slightly in the front.
I personally dont see a problem with the 45's on the car unless there were other issues that caused you to want to change to 55's.

Usedcat

Sorry bout that - I have 16x7's...

I had the front end lowered a little bit but we raised it back up some yesterday when the new tires were put on...

The only reason I changed was to get back to the original specs. The tire guy that has great reputation around atlanta said he has seen this issue back since the 60's and 70's where he would roll the fenders to solve the problem...

he also said that maybe the older struts could contribute to the problem since they are not absorbing as much of the up/down movement when hitting the dip or bump...

But no - I thought the car drove fine with the 45's.. the front end sits a little lower with them and now the 55's actually look really big to me but Im no expert....just wanted to make sure there is not a serious issue with the 45's - i might autocross some...but won't do any DE's since it is a cabriolet - so really i just drive around town on them...

Amber Gramps

You may want to look for some of Bill Verburg's charts.

911 Rod

6's are standard for this car, not 7's on the front.

theiceman

dont roll the fender is my opinion. the fender lip is to give structural support to the sheet metal around the fender. i would NEVER buy a car with rolled fenders. its not a Honda..

I think your 45s will be fine . i have 16 by 7 on the front of my car but those are my winter wheels and up in sorage... oh wait let me check my bill of sale..

i have 205 55 16s on the front of mine and they do not rub. my fender hight from the ground is about 25 1/4 to the midle through the centre of the wheel so i will rechecjk that

also do you know the offset and part number of the wheel ? could you have a 944 wheel on it for example ?

just a couple of things to check.

also how is your camber. you want as much negative as you can go.

also what year is your car . does it have Sc flares ? it isnt a narrow body that has been turned into a cab is it ? i cant tell from that tiny pic

JCP911S

Yes, factory optional Fuchs front on your car should be a 6x16. 7x16 will rub. Check the inside of the wheel. If it is a real Fuchs, it will have a parts number and size. This will help determine what you have.

Many of these older cars have mix and match wheels added by previous owners, but my guess is this is not a factory offset. The difference between 45 and 55 should not be significant on a factory wheel.

911 Rod

I have 7's on the front of my car and they don't rub.

You haven't told us this is when you load the tire on a corner or while normal driving.

theiceman

my 7s dont rub at all with those tires either

911 Rod

But I did roll the fenders and have a pretty stiff suspension.

And Euro height too

theiceman

mine is stiff too .. wait for it .....

Usedcat

Ok - so some follow up - the wheels are 6's on the front...I notice the rubbing at higher speeds...30+ mph when you hit a dip/bump...not noticing it as much on hard cornering...

I don't know if these were the factory wheels so need to check that but did not have time to remove the wheel to look last night...

There is about 1 1/4" clearance between the top of the front tire and the lip on the inside of the fender...

Usedcat

a little more - with the taller tires the distance from the ground to the fender in the front now sits at or maybe 1/4"higher than the same measurement in the rear...I had the rear height adjusted when i had new tie rods put on so that the front was lower than the back but that also had the 45's....

Ugh....all of this cuz I just was trying to get new tires....

Usedcat

so now i'm preoccupied with the question about offset....just in general should the outside edge of the front tire be inside the fender - mine is not - it is even or just barely outside the fender edge

Usedcat

Ok - so i took both front and rear wheels off to get part numbers...

Front Tires
16x7
911-362-115
ET 23.3

Rear Tires
16x8
911-361-020

So here is my completely unknowledgeable diagnosis...

This car is normal body carrerra - should have 6's and 7's but it has 7's and 8's. I am guessing someone in its lifetime put these larger wheels on. And when they did the 7's in the front pushed the outside edge of the 205/55 tires too far and they rubbed so someone put on 205/45's instead??? I know the 7's were an option on this car- i think though they were really designed for the turbo...but you could get them on the carrerra - anyone know if maybe wider front fender flares were also an option that would have accomodated the wider wheel?