I bought a set of snow tires for cheap on steel rims. They are 185 65 15 and being so close to the OE 185 60 15 I thought it would be fine. I put them on and all seemed fine until I hit my first real bump.
The tires are rubbing somewhere... the only spot that looks like it may have been hit is the little metal retainer inside the wheel well.

Has anyone else "upsized" their tires and found where it is rubbing. This tire should only be .8" bigger so only .4" closer to the wheel well. I think it only rubs on the drivers side front tire.

I installed some spring boosters in the front to help the problem and they did help but didn't fix the problem on extreme dips and bumps.

If anyone is interested I made a video on them. Summary is they aren't so great.

 

Did you use original rims? If not, what is the offset?

 

I'm using a set of universal rims that came with the tires. They came of a 201X yaris.(+39 offset oe)
I actually don't have the oem rims for the car they were damaged before I bought it.
I can't get a great measurement on them with the tools I have on hand but they appear to be 5.5" rims with about 2" between the hub and the outmost part of the rim.

So if my concept of offsets is correct my measurements would make it around a +20mm but being that the OG Fit is +50 it seems like it would be really obvious.



Do they appear to be farther out than stock?

 

Spring helpers never work and are not a good way to lift any vehicle. Those are a complete joke.

PS: you are actually not lifting anything. You are just compressing the spring more than anything and getting less travel. Those are made for old cars and trucks that have sagging or worn out springs as a temp fix. Not for a performance upgrade. Zip ties should NOT be used on any suspension component for any reason. That alone screams dangerous.

 

Installing those will also throw your suspension geometry off. Plus your overall handling will go down the gutter.

 

Well there is the reason for rubbing. It is not about the tire size, it is about the offset too far away from the original and it brings the wheel outer than stock. My advise would be to get suitable rims e.g. used Fit rims and keep the tires you've got.

 

I agree that the offset is the problem. 65 ratio tires shouldn't rub; might be close but shouldn't. Be careful driving with those mods. Stock offset on mine is 53, when I decide to get new wheels I'll be sticking to 43-53. You could move to a place where you don't need snow tires.

 

I couldn't agree more!

 

Not everyone has common sense I guess. But there is nothing proper or safe about what this guy is doing. For a real lift you taller springs. Not rubber spacers and zip ties.

Fail, fail, fail.

 

Everyone is worried about the rubbing. But there are much bigger issues here. lol

 

Thanks guys for the insight on the offset. The rims looked so close to my other steelies I didn't even think to measure it. I'll look into alternate rims.

Believe me I do think about it mostly due to rust

Now time for my butthurt internet rant:

Yes, I realize that spring helpers are not a GOOD solution to my problem but they did help significantly and they were cheap. I am well aware of the compromises I was making when I installed them. If you watch the video I point out these compromises and that's also why the title of this thread isn't "Spring Helpers are the easiest best way to lift a Honda Fit". Also the way I am using them is no less safe than someone installing stiffer springs in the front.

My goal wasn't necessarily to lift the car it was to make the suspension more progressive so it wouldn't bottom out as easily. In fact I start the video saying the correct thing to do is buy the right tires. They don't actually compress the spring unless your talking about the remaining coils compressing more than they normally would on bumps. I am getting less travel but that is actually the goal I'm going for. And the comment on zip ties is just ridiculous its not like they are actually holding anything together they basically just hold the helpers in place when the car is being serviced. Worst case scenario if the zip tie broke there is the smallest possibility that the helper could fall out onto the road but they are being held in place by the springs unless I'm airborn.

I will concede that it can effect your suspension geometry and negatively impact your handling (also mentioned in the video) but unless its track day what I did to the car effects it very little.

That's because that was the initial problem...... hence why I tried the spacers.
Internet people hurt my feelings rant over.

 

I'm surprised you are having rub issues with the slightly taller tires. I'm running a +35 offset with even taller tires on a lift and haven't noticed any issues. How fast are you hitting those speed bumps?! lol
Perhaps it isn't the offset or taller tire, but the increase compression on the spring??? I used a strut spacer up top for the front suspension, perhaps that is difference?
My install is pretty new, so I'll drive it around awhile and see if I run into issues like you.

 

I think the offset is the primary culprit it puts the edge of the tread just under that little metal nub in the tire well and that’s where its hitting. It is probably barely touching it since it hasn’t ripped it out.

Putting a strut spacer at the top would probably fix my problem and may be why you don’t have a problem. but I wanted something that I could remove easily when I swapped the tires.

As for how fast am I hitting bumps, my girlfriend is the one having the problems. She took me on a test drive and it happens at a pretty extreme dip in the road when you go 60+mph. The rubbing was the least scary part of the experience.