Rubbing only on one side with larger tires

I’m looking for advice on solving some strange tire rubbing. I have a 2014 Trail with a King 2.5” lift. The previous owner increased the tire size to 275/70s. I am getting some tire rubbing on the frame but only when I crank the wheel to the right and reverse. It is only happening on the front passenger tire. No rubbing moving in any other direction. I bought this from a private party and don’t know if they got an alignment after installing the lift. Is it worth getting an alignment to see if it will fix the issue or is that wasted money? I had the tires balanced to alleviate a slight wobble at 60-70MPH but it didn’t quite cure the issue. Any advice would be helpful.

 

Stock wheels?

did he do a body mount chop?

 

No body mount chop and he put Vision 17” wheels on it.

 

An experience OffRoad alignment shop may be able to fix it, but depending on the offset of those wheels, a body mount chop may be your ultimate fix.

 

Yeah I kind of thought the wheels might be the issue. Thanks for the insights.

 

Do you happen to know the offset of those wheels?

Do you have UCA's?

Has the fender liner mod been done on this truck?

Did you have the truck Road Force Balanced?

 

I don’t know the offset. I could probably find it. No mod to the fender liner and only had the tires balanced, not Road force balanced. It is rubbing on the frame at the back of the wheel well. What are UCAs?

 

UCA's are upper control arms. They help you achieve a proper alignment with lifts above 2" or so.

One of the reasons you could be rubbing on the body mount is because the caster (one of your alignment settings) may be low with your 2.5" lift. With a 2.5" lift and upper control arms you can increase your caster and potentially eliminate the rub on your body mount. This increase in caster moves your wheel forward in the wheel well away from the body mount but puts it closer to the front of your wheel well where you can rub on the fender liner and fender flare. The good news about this type of rubbing is that its very easily fixed by moving the fender liner forward about an inch (removal and reinstallation of 1 bolt) and trimming a small corner off your fender flare with a box knife. It's a very simple fix.

Your wheel offset also contributes to this rub. That's why it's a good number to know. Lower (negative) offsets will increase the rub.

Road Force Balance is the solution to the 60mph shimmy. Follow these steps for your best chance to eliminate it.

https://www.4runners.com/threads/the-official-guide-to-balancing-your-tires.28872/

 

Terrific advice! Thanks to everyone.

 

Oh and I do have UCAs!

 

I’d hope so! The question is are they aftermarket?

 

Good!

Do the fender liner mod. There are tutorials on it if you look it up.

A simple alignment with higher caster numbers should get rid of that rub on the body mount.......unless your wheel offset is really low. Shoot for caster around 4 degrees or so.

Get those tires Road Force Balanced on a Hunter's Machine.

Then

 

Weird you mentioned this!!

I got a lift and new wheels and tires. Everything has been awesome and I had turned the wheel to the left, when reversing, and noticed rubbing but only the driver’s side front tire. But only have had that happen when the wheel is turned to full extent to the left. Other than that, I haven't had any issues.

I’m getting a few things done this Friday, so I’m going to ask the guys about it. I can let you know what they say if you’re interested!

 

That would be super helpful. Thanks! I’m getting it looked at on Monday but as was suggested earlier in the thread, I don’t have a good off-road shop near me. I’m curious what they will suggest.

 

Well my local shop can’t do much for me. I took it in today and they said going back to the 265s is the only thing that will solve the rub. Not super happy with that answer. I will get a second opinion and ask about changing the castor. Thanks for the suggestion Nimby.

 

Sorry totally spaced it! My shop said a body mount chop, or sometimes depending on the UCAs, wheels can be pushed forward a little. I guess just depending on the vehicle. That’s not something I would want to hear either, I’d say do a little chop!

 

Yeah, I’ll probably run into the same issue of local expertise if I go that route. I’ll keep looking into possible solutions. Thanks!

 

IMO its not worth doing a body mount for 275/70R17.

I strongly believe the 2014 4Runner trail should not have to do a body mount chop for 285/70R17 tires on TRD Offroad wheels used with those King 2.5in lift. I'm pretty sure like new take off TRD Offroad wheels are available around $350 on FB Market place. I had no problems running 285s on my TRD Offroad. I only cut the lower part on the front bumper, push the front fender liner forward. I also used a blow torch to head the mud flap and flatten a bit.

 

What shop did you take it to? An auto repair shop?

Take it to an alignment shop and tell them you want the caster as close to 4 degrees as possible. 3.5 and up is fine. Shouldn't be a problem with most aftermarket UCA's. This should solve the rubbing on the rear unless you have some crazy wheel offset.

If after this you get a little rubbing on the front, do the fender liner mod and be done!

 

I have the same issue and I’m told that the fender liner simply needs to be pushed back an inch or so on the drivers side. I’m getting that done in a couple of weeks and will report back.

 

Yeah mine is definitely rubbing on the frame, not the fender liner.

 

oh yikes! Are you sure? Because it sounds like the same issue as mine, where I’m backing into a parking space with the wheel turned all the way to the right and the rubbing happens. My mechanic looked at it and saw that it was rubbing right against the fender liner, a common problem.

 

Yep, I think it is the Vision wheels that are causing the problem. I may look into replacing them. Too bad as I like the way they look. Rubbing is on the passenger side on the V-shaped frame support that is to the rear of the tire. Only rubbing on that one side. I also have an off-road front bumper with more clearance in the front of the wheel well so it doesn’t seem like that will be an issue for me.

 

See what your offset is. Once you have that, it opens other options. The offset will be stamped on the back side of the wheel...usually on one of the spokes. It will sat ET 0, ET 18, that sort of thing. Post a pic of that marking as well.

 

You can do it yourself very easily if you have a heat gun. They are pretty cheap on Amazon.

 

Heat gun fix...I just had to do it on ours with 265/70/17 stock size Toyo AT3's and 0 offset wheels.

 

Did you get that alignment yet and push your caster forward?

That's way cheaper than buying new wheels.

It sounds like your offset isn't that bad if you're only rubbing on one side.

A simple alignment might be the answer.

 

I was told by my tire shop that an alignment wouldn’t change anything. I kind of want to get it done anyway so I can at least rule it out. The castor discussion may be beyond my local shop’s expertise but I’ll ask about them getting it close to 4 degrees.

 

I won’t be able to pull the wheels for a little while so I can’t check the offset. The internet tells me that these are Vision Turbine wheels and they have a backspacing of 4.5 but no mention of the offset which I understand is two ways of measuring the same thing.

 

Question about your set up. Just got a 23 TrdOR and want to do your exact combo. Toyo at3, stock size, with method wheels that have 0 offset and 8.5 in wide. Are your wheels 8.5in wide as well? Also, did you only have to push back the mudflap?..... didn't have to trim fender? I'm not planning on lifting.

Because it's brand new I went through phases... I'm not trimming nothing on a new car.... ok, maybe just the mudflap..... well, I guess a little of the fender won't hurt....... lol. I'm convinced it's the offset but not many wheel options close to factory offset. Thanks!