Stance and Tire Rub

I'm sure you get this all the time, but I have a twist!

I'm running HR race springs and 17" Cobra R's with 245/45 tires. The car sits pretty low and has a really nice stance to it. Of course the problem is that the dang front tires rub when you turn it all the way, or if you hit a bump while turning, they rub as well. At first I thought maybe they were just rubbing inside the fenderwell, nope...they're rubbing the paint right off the fender lip.....and also cutting good size chunks out of the tires.

I know one option is to roll the fenders, of course I have no clue how to do this.

Here's the twist. I have another set of brand new 16" chrome pony's on it with 225/50's on them. I could either sell these and use the cash to buy new tires for the other rims, or put these on the car and not have the rub problem, probably. If I'm going to sell, obviously I'd like to retain the "brand new" quality and not run them at all.

Do you think I'd have any rub issues with 16" 225/50's? I'm guessing they're narrow enough not to rub.

Is there anything else I can do to help the 245/45's not rub? Would it help if I swapped the Race springs for HR Sports or Super Sports? Do you guys know how much of a ride height difference these might have, if any?

The paperwork that came with the car claims that the car has Ford Motorsport A-arms in the front. I noticed the MMS site says this, and wonder if this is part of my problems...

"The 1994 and newer Mustang front control arms can be used on the 1979-93 cars for an increase in track width. Significant fender modifications are required. "

Would it help with a different pair of control arms. My rears are adjustable so if I somehow increase ride height in front, I can raise height in back a little.


Basically, if I could retain the ride height and ride quality (she handles great) while fixing the rubbing, that would be ideal. Unfortunately its basically set up for a race track and does not accomodate any bump without getting that rub while turning. I'd also prefer to keep the 17" wheels as I like the look better than the pony's.

Thanks guys....some good ideas. Like I said I don't want to lose my ride height and I'd prefer not to compromise my handling by going with too small of a tire.

Would it be bad to run something like the 245/45's in the rear and something like the 225/45 in the front?

I'm not sure how wide my rims are though. The 245/45's seem to fit about perfectly without much overhang or anything.

I don't really have any good pics yet that show how close they ride....here's a couple I have. I'll take some better ones tomorrow afternoon when the sun is back up. Is there an easy and accurate way of measuring my rim width? I just got the car about 4 days ago so I don't have a clue what size rims are on it. I might be able to find out from the last owner I guess.

I'm not sure if they're legit. I'll take one off tonight and try to look more closely at it and measure it.

I did a quick measurement this morning and they seem to be 10" front and back. The tires measure about 10" wide too as 245/45's and the tires seem to fit the rims nearly perfectly.

So maybe they are 10" rims and that would certainly explain why they rub so dang bad in the front.


EDIT....scratch that. They're probably 9" width since I was measuring the outside of the lip rather than the inside.

I'm gonna do some testing with it when I get home today, if its not raining. See exactly where its rubbing, when its rubbing, etc. I'll try to snap some pics too. I know its hitting the fenders, but not sure what its hitting at full turn.

I like the idea of the 235/40's up front and 245/45's out rear. Both seem like they would fit my 9" rims, be of similar width, just a bit shorter in the front.

Do you think a 255/40 would fit out rear without any rubbing issues?? That would give me about another inch width while being only a half inch larger in diameter than the 235/40's.

*head spinning*

It might be...I was going by Tirerack's system. I pulled up a set of tires and used their guide. They showed a tire width of almost an inch more.



BTW....I realized the dude before me installed spacers. Less than an inch. Took off the front ones tonight. So far they haven't hit the fenders although I still need a hardcore test. But they still rub with tight turns like a mofo now. Its like trying to balance the scales of justice I guess!

Here's what I was looking at if the link works.

I might be making the mistake of looking at section width rather than tread witdh.

Tire Specs for Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec