SharkSkin

The tire moves inward from there as the suspension compresses. Kibort's car barely has room to fit a business card between the fender lip and the tire, and they don't rub under compression. Spacer and a little massage of the outer lip makes sense.

Bill Ball

Come on, Andrew. Burn 'em to fit!

AO

Ok guys... I figured out how I'm going to do this. Later this morning when Home Depot opens, I'm going to buy a whole bunch of fender washers to try diferent thicknesses to see how far I need to come out. Then I'm going to buy the right sized shim, and massage the fender accordingly. Don't worry I'm not going o drive the car with the washers installed - well, I might roll it back and forth a bit, but just to see if it rubs anymore.

Thanks for all the suggestions - epecially you, Bill!

Peter F

With my Carrera light weight 10" rim and 285 tire I used a 7mm spacer to clear the inside which also was rubbing a little.
This rim has 65mm ET though, plenty of room on the outside still.
Think that I could use a 15mm spacer without rolling the fender lip.
(or a 295 tire, but no need yet since no super charger)

/Peter

stuartph

Andrew


Nice wheels

S4-on-your-back-door

srry for dum question but why would you use a spacer? wouldnt that bring the tire out further into the finder?

IcemanG17

Andrew
Nice wheels...11" rear too (mine are standard 10" x 58mm)....what size is the rear tire.....probably a 295....so you could always drop to a 285 and you should be fine? The outside looks fine......my CIII's with 265/40's clear on both side with at least a finger.....does your GT have the factory flared fenders?

ParkerC

Dude...

I don't think you even got 3mm between your tires and fender

Do they make 1.5mm spacers?? Looks like you just need very little room to clear that inside fender, and it looks like your GT has the fenders already rolled, compared to my S4 anyway.

Guess theres nothing like tryin.
I know you don't wan't to hear the #s 285 either

Good luck
Parker
889285SPD.

AO

Yeah I know I could drop down to a 285, but that would defeat the whole purpose of this exercise - get more rubber!

So I tried the fender washer trick. Each washer is about 2.7mm thick. I tried one thickness, it looks like it barely clears the inside - not enough in my mind. I hear it squeak just barely on the outer fender. So it looks like I'm going to have to massage the fender just a bit.

I decided that I had better try 2 thicknesses of washers to see if that will give me enough on the inside. It does, but I'll have to flare the fender ever so slightly.

So I'm going to call Ernie's Alloys and see if I can get a set of 5mm shims for the rear and then have a little fender flaring party!

So I've learned that a 285 is as wide as you can go on a GT without flaring if you have perfect spacing.

mark kibort

1/8" spacer on the rear, baseball bat at the neck roll of the fender. PLUS, take a 10lb mallet and smack the the crap out of the frame area on the inside of the tire. you can push that steel in about 1/4" if you pound long enough. that part can be fixed, but if you see rubbing on the lower control arm , thats bad and you need a slight spacer to fix that. we fit 305s all the time with some careful rolling and the pounding of the inside area of the chassis. 295s would be very easy!!

MK

danglerb

All other things being the same, what sort of traction difference do you get with 305 vs 225 tires?

AO

37% more traction. 1-(450/610)=0.37

dr bob

Andrew,

Traction isn't a linear function to tire width. Area of the footprint, and specific loading come iinto the equation somehow. Bigger is better generally though, so you are on the right track, so to speak.

Meanwhile--

I have a set of 5 or 6mm hubcentric plate spacers in my collection. PM me if you want to give them a try, and I'll get them in a Fedex envelope to you Monday. That will give you a chance to see without a big investment. We can wheel-n-deal on them for sure since they are paperweights right now.

Tony

see if you can place a small jack under the rear so you can jack up only one side of the suspension on the car ..this should give you an idea of what will rub under compression. ???

dats a whole lotta rubber!

Mike Frye

Mark- I'm glad we all understand the technical terms thrown about here .

I've seen that pic before. I would have thought that the outer fender would be an issue with it that tight under normal curb stance. I guess the real issue with that much tire is the inside of the wheel well when the shocks are compressed?