Front tires rubbing... :(
 

So... After re-doing my front suspension (K member, Tie rods, springs, ball joints, all bushings.) my front tires are rubbing when I turn (even moderately) from side to side. It didn't do that before but I assume that is because the suspension was so loose the wheels wouldn't even turn how far they should. I think it might have something to do with either the offset of the rims, or the tire size. Right now the rims that are on there are 16x8 (don't know the offset) and the tires are 225/60/16. Could I get away with putting spacers up front?

These are the rims.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...83/Camaro9.jpg

Did you get an alignment done? Those tires don't seem like they'd even remotely create a problem.

Yes, the guy said he did it twice. the car does drive straight, but I guess the camber could be off still.

Where are they rubbing?

pitman arm is no wear on 3rd gens

Also, 225/60/16 are ~1" taller than stock.

Did the shop give you a print out of the alignment specs afterwards?

Yeah, something is definately not right, I cant even turn the wheel even remotely close to all the way without them rubbing on the inside wheel well. I can see the places where it is rubbing but can't figure out why.

Yeah, I deleted my post. Forgot.

I was thinking that the 225/60/16's were too tall, but I didn't know what it should be.

No :(

Also, I am not sure what you mean by "no wear on 3rd gens"?

My guess is 245/50/16. Maybe 235/55/16 - did 3rd gens get that size? - if so they are probably only 1/2" shorter.

pitman arm is solid metal and it (realistically) cannot wear out. WB was thinking about this 1st gen, which has a wearable pitman arm. Idler arm and center link are wear items on 3rd gens, but won’t cause rubbing.

Ah, ok.

So it seems that the tires are causing this? I hate not being able to turn normally. If all I need are 2 tires, I would do that for the short term, until I get new rims and tires all the way around.

So does anyone have two 235/55-16 or 245/50-16 for sale... :)

Not exactly what I am saying...just trying to get to the root issue by looking at the facts.

Where do they rub?

For the record, most 3rd gens with 16" rims had rubbing issues.

It is hard to describe where they rub.. They rub in 3 (or more) places, in the front of the wheel well (farthest front portion of the car), on the inside (close to the rotors) front of the wheel well, and on the back side (close to the rotors) of the wheel well.

did it just happen after the k-member? did you have the wheels/tires before with no issues?

what k-member is it?

I was actually talking about the pitman arm assembly, I'm not sure why I referred to it as a K member .... :-? But yes, I had the wheels and tires on there before I did this work and they didn't rub, but I believe that is because there was so much slack in the suspension.

Rare-

So what exactly did you change in the steering system?

Everything that was changed is as follows: Center Link (pitman arm), Idler arms, Tie rods, lower ball joints, swaybar bushings, springs (stock).

I think that is it.

For the record, a center link (14) is not a pitman arm (13).

http://econtent.autozone.com:24991/z...52800992da.gif

Based on that, my guess is the rubbing is more due to alignment changes, specifically caster. But I'd really have to see it.

:) It's been a while since I have actually worked on an American car.... Thanks for the refresher.

The guy that did this work and the alignment said he did the alignment twice because when he drove the car the first time he felt a vibration. So it is possible that he over corrected somehow.

ohhhhh ahhhh an exploded view
i love those things

Alignment does not cause vibrations (assuming it was 'in the ballpark').

How does the car drive?

The car drives fine. i don't feel any vibration and it drives straight.