Hey guys, first time user. Had a few issues that brought me to this forum. So lets get the basic stuff out the way,
I live in bay area california. I own a 2007 Honda Fit Sport. I recently decided to get new rims and tires.
I had the stock rims on the car for 2 years and ended up going from the stock tire size, up to a slighly bigger, 195/65/15, about a year ago. Those 195/65/15s had never brought up an issue for me. However, I went to americas tire looking for some new wheels and tires to take away the stock look, and we ended up going with a 17" rim, and 205/45/17 yokohama yk740s. Ever since they were installed, ive noticed a scraping that happens, ONLY when i am say, on the free way and hit on of those little dips. Or, turning around a downhill corner, and while driving, the scraping will only happen in the front wheels, but I also noticed that with 4, not to heavy people in the car, 200lbs per person AT MAX, the rear wheels now bottom out. We couldn't even make it onto the road from my drive way because the slight dip from the driveway to the road caused it to bottom out in the rear. The problem is, I REEEAAALLLY like these new rims and tires and don't want to replace them. So i tested that the wheels fit completely in the wheel well by going to a big open parking lot and maxing my turn radius for both left and right. No scraping. So like i said it really only happens when i hit imperfections in the road, even speed bumps aren't an issue because i'm going so slow. its really only during free way driving or on a road such as vasco, or marsh creek, where i really have an issue. So i guess the info i'm trying to get here is, is this a suspention problem? it is a 2007, and had never had the suspention done, or will i need body work, to open up and maybe widen, my wheel wells? The plastic part of the wheel well in front, i pushed forward because there was a whole where i could tell the wheel was obviously making contact, but even after my DIY fix and the wheel well having at least an extra inch towards the bumper, the tire still scrapped against the fender sometimes, since now the wheel is wider. So like i said, would new suspention fix how far the car bounces when im driving, or should i look into some body work to widen, and highten the wheel wells?

 

Sounds like the new wheels have a lower offset than that stock rims so they are further out from the hub. This means they are now closer to the fender and rubbing when your suspension moves.

 

That is very true. I bought some spacers from orielys for like 12 bucks that just screwed into the front springs relatively easy to keep them from compressing as much. It fixed the problem somewhat. I drove most of the roads i normally drive, that contact would happen on the most, and it cleared up for 80% of them. I noticed that the only contact now is on the fender directly rather than the wheel well. Most of the calls ive made, and diagnosis from the auto shops ive been to today say if i dont want to change the wheels and tires would be to have an autobody place extend out the fenders a bit so the wheel is no longer wider than the fenders

 

Well... for starters 205/45R17s are too tall for your Fit. 205/40R17s are the go to size if you want to keep things in proportion in terms of speedometer being somewhat accurate as well as to minimize tire rub. Stock tires on the GD (our gen Fits) are about 23.5 inch OD on average, those slightly taller and wider 205/45R17s are right around 24 inch OD. Great for GE and GKs but not GD.

My questions...

What are your wheel specs? Width and offset needed.

What suspension are you running? Stock, lowering springs, coilovers? If the later two, what spring rate and how much lower/higher than stock height?

Do you know what your alignment specs are? At least for camber on front and rear axles, just to help get a better grasp of how much room you have to work with.

Do you have any pictures of the locations of were the tires are rubbing?

 

200# per person, for four people, that's a lot of weight for a Fit to pull around.

 

Get the Honda pumped up a couple of inches. Get a wide body kit or get new wheels. All expensive I know but the best solution.