I recently put 265 width front tires on my car, and I didn't think they were rubbing. But I've noticed some "slices" on the side of my tires, and I think they're caused when the front is under load (braking, or hitting a bump). There are some little screws and stuff inside the front fender, and I think my tire may be hitting these screws. Has anyone had this problem? I'm not sure I can just roll the front fenders, because the lip is already "rolled" (angled up) from the factory. Here's a pic. Notice there are two kinds of "slices". The ones pointed out by the upper arrows are deep, and concern me the most, could cause a flat or a blowout. The lower slices, pointed out by the lower arrows, aren't as bad, but may provide some information.

Front wheel: 18x8.5, +.25 offset (volk re30)
Front tire: BFG KD 265/35/18
Hotchkis springs, so I'm about 1/2-inch lower in front.

 

Damn. sucks dude..

What about cutting (dremel) those front fenders? Maybe this will help..

 

You couldnt hear this rubbing? It makes a pretty noticeable noise while rubbing. Either way, try rolling the fenders.

 

The front fenders are already factory rolled on the Zs. Higher offsets on your front rims would have slightly tucked in your tires and prevented this problem. Is this problem isolated to just one side?

 

I wish I had gotten higher offsets. I told the people I bought the wheels from that I don't care about "bling", that my concern is motorsports and track events. I also wanted 255 width tires, but the KDs don't come in 255... next time I'll know.

The left side seems to be worse than the right side. The left side has those deeper cuts in it, while the right only has the very small ones. From the looks of the cuts, it's probably only a few millimeters of clearance that I need to get.

 

get some camber arms and increase your negative camber. That will give you more clearance as well as better for the track

 

Yeah I was planning on doing this, so maybe I can kill two birds with one stone. I'll make a visit to SPL parts this week... they're about 2 miles away from me.

 

Looks like you need at most 0.5 more negative degrees of camber. You have two options. Pull the fender or more camber. You can always try a different tire. That tire seems to be fat for its size. Some tires are known to be. "Its like a small from express may not be the same small from macys." (Quote from adam@z1) lol

You'll never know if you ahve too much camber unless you have a pyrometer and are running at the proper surface temps. Too much toe will cause the entire tire to get too hot, and too much camber will cause the inner section to be too hot only. If you have too much toe AND camber, as in the case of being lowered and not having an alignment, you'll make a lot of road noise, and overheat very quick.

 

Very unusual damage.

 

Had the same damage at my sisters car ??? but on the stock wheels with winter tires (i wasn´t a Z). but the marks where moreat the center of the tire???? could it be that glas or some metal did this to the tire?

 

Is there a bunch of rubber on the offending screw inside the fender?

An easy way to find out what is rubbing is to line the inside of the fender with masking/painters tape and go out driving HARD.

 

. . . and tear up some more chunk of the rubber.