So this is probably something I'm going to have to get looked at by a mechanic but I wanted to see if anyone had a similar issue. When I have my car in reverse and the steering wheel turned to the side pretty good, the wheels sound like the are rubbing or scraping real bad when I back out of a space. My car has 235s up front and 275s on the rear. Wheels are 19/9.5 with -40 offset. The suspension is not lowered at all! Completely stock ride height and I have never noticed any wheel rub at all (wouldn't expect to as there is decent wheel gap between the fenders). Car drives totally fine going forward and the sound seems to be coming from upfront but again, only when in reverse.

Someone said it it may be the brakes but that doesn't really make sense to me. The car drives fine in reverse straight back, it's only when I cut the wheel decently. The front tires do have the "stretched" look a little bit that's just because I got wider wheels put on and am running the tires till I need new ones, so idk if that has anything to do with it. Probably not even full lock when it makes the scraping. It's a little sketchy and I wasn't sure if maybe an alignment would take care of it, probably something that should have been done with the new wheels. If any has any advice I appreciate it, thanks!

 

MINUS 40??? If that's true, you just answered your own question.

OK, if that's a typo and you meant +40, well, that could also explain it as you put on a wheel that's 10mm more offset than OEM and could be rubbing the inside tire edge or shoulder on suspension or frame. Look very carefully for "clean spots" on suspension or other areas behind the wheel.

If that's so, only two solutions:

1. Get proper offset wheels (best solution)

2. Wheel spacers - to bring them back into OE conformity. You can do the size/offset math to determine proper spacer size.

If that's not the problem (and solution), can't say without hands on.

 

As usual, Mic has the best answer. But any kind of front end inspection would have revealed where the tires are rubbing and NO, a wheel alignment will not fix this.

 

yeah they are Rohan's rc10s. It's like -40 offset which apparently was a mistake because a couple of people have freaked when I said that. Saw some other 350s running it so I figured they would work. Do you think some spacers could fix it? It started making some weird rubbing sounds when I turn right at a certain point. Don't want a wheel to pop off when I'm driving lol

 

Uhhh, no. Spacers will put them even further into the red. Get some sane offset wheels and put bigger tires on to boot.

 

Oh thought you said spacers could help? I thought a lot of people ran the square setup so cause it balanced the handling and allowed for proper tire rotation? I had these wheels on for about 8 months and they've been fine. Just started doing it more recently

 

Read again.... i said spacers may help if you really meant +40 instead of negative 40.

You cannot correct negative offset other than wheel replacement.

Given this just came up, pull wheels to look for scraping to eliminate tire rubbing due to wheel sizing as probable cause; then explore other possible problems

 

ok. I was going to run 255 all the way around and then eventually go with coils and maybe spacers. I'll take it to a shop though and see if they find something. Hopefully it's something they can fix or prevent it from getting worse. I've seen people with 20" wheels like mine on their Z but who knows how they make it work. It's going to be a ***** if I have to get different wheels

 

Wheel diameter, e.g. 18...20, etc makes no difference if you've sized the tires correctly by choosing sizes equal in diameter to O.E. Say, 245/45-18 and 285/30-20, both effectively the same height but a 40mm width diff.

Width and wheel offset are the two critical components concerning fit on the car.

 

A 9.5 -40 would stick out almost 3" past the fender on stock suspension and would rub on every little bump in the road. Are you sure that's what you're running?

 

OP needs to post a few pics.

 

This. -40 offset is just insane.

 

**** I had to double check it. It's 40 not -40. I don't really understand offset, my fault!

 

Ignore the dirt lol. It stays pretty flush with the fender, I don't see any wear on the outside of the tire or the fender wheel well. Could be on the inside behind the tire. A friend of mine said it may be the brakes going, possibly the rotors or pads getting low. Not sure. Offset is 40 not -40, sorry I suck lol

 

Sorry I messed up. Offset is 40 not -40. It sits pretty flush with fender. No spacer. Guy I work with says it could be brake related, possibly the rotors or pads needing to be replaced

 

jack the corners up and spin the wheel... see if you hear anything

 

maybe its rubbing on your suspension, you should probably get that checked out by a professional if you cant figure it out with the car right in front of you...


-40 offset no I ment +40

 

lolll We ARE professionals!!


- Jack up the corners, like travlee suggested, and turn your front wheels and spin them to try to mimic the situation. If you hear that rubbing sound then crawl under there with a flashlight and find where it's rubbing.

 

And don't forget to secure it with jackstands before crawling under it

 

No one's fault. Offset is somewhat counterintuitive. This might help:

https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-...t-novices.html

Hmmm, when I wrote that, I just thought it might be a good opportunity to put it out there since I had new wheels to play with (and use as an illustration backdrop) but turns out it may ackshully be helpful...

So, now that it's been determined it is +40 (as all suspected), go through all the diagnosis (or have a shop do it) and when that's settled, get yourself a set of new tires in correct sizes and/or add a 15mm spacer to bring the effective offset to about +25mm so that it sits right because right now it's pretty "tucked". (That IS a "t", not "f".... )