Right Front Tire Nearly Hitting Corner of Rocker Panel

[Pfreen]

Fyi, my spare was a 165/70-13.  As I remember, itt was still a pain to take that in or out.  I don’t use it any  more.

[4129R]

A 185/60 would, or should work on the front.

[jlmullen2]

This reminds me of the day I test drove and bought my current Europa. The brakes were quite weak and the front tires seemed to rub on the inner fender wells. I mentioned this to the owner as we slowly drove down the street and he said he would change the wheel cylinders as they were leaking but he couldn't do anything about the tires rubbing as 'they all did that". When we got back to his garage I did a quick check and, sure enough, the 185's were on the front and the 175's were on the back. I pointed this out to him and he said they came that way from the factory. After some discussion he finally admitted he really didn't know much about these funny little British cars as he was more comfortable with Maserati's. When he delivered the car to me the 185's were still on the front.


Larry

[surfguitar58]

FYI, see attached pace from the TCS owner's manual.
t

[lotusfanatic]

BDA:

And now comes the part where I, mister I'm-a-full-time-automotive-writer, says "I am a big doofus.

You said "i.e. a 185/70-13 for a front tire. Ding ding ding ding. I was chasing the wheel vibration issues and swapped front and rears without remembering that the rears are 185s and the fronts are 175. Or were before I swapped them.

Uh, never mind.

(Too bad you're not coming to LOG39. I'd buy you a beer!)

--Rob

at least it's sorted now! 

[Fotog]

And now comes the part where I, mister I'm-a-full-time-automotive-writer, says "I am a big doofus.
--Rob

 

   Great that you've got a sense of humor and you didn't just go silent on this.

[pboedker]

Glad you got it sorted with only a swap of the wheels. 

I just checked the clearances on my own TCS, and the front wheels (175/70) are centered in the wheel arches with about an inch to the edges. I mention this because I had some issues with bent suspension arms on one side probably after hitting one or more potholes in the road. The suspension arms are the weakest and sacrificial part of the front suspension. The high speed stability saw a clear improvement when the suspension arms were fixed and (I guess) the caster angle returned to within specifications. Anyway, just to add that if your front wheel is still too close to the edges and is not centered in the wheel arch the reason could be bent suspension arms.