Trying to determine the cause of my tire rubbing the wheel well. Added some pictures of the suspension setup. The vehicle does not have any sway bars. I'm running bfg mt 31x10.5x15. When braking straight, there is almost a grinding/rubbing type noise from the inside of the wheel well and also when I'm turning. When going up small inclines I can hear the tire bump into the wheel well too. Now is this an issue with my coil spring / shock or is there another issue I'm missing. Thanks for your time and help

 

What size is your lift?

oh and are you sure those are bfg tires? They look like goodyears...worn out goodyears haha

 

yeah they look like Goodyear Wrangler MTRs

does it make two separate sounds? is it a grinding like brakes grinding or like tires rubbing? If the tires were rubbing going straight then you would be able to find the issue easily.

 

My apologies, they are Goodyear. Been looking at other tires today which is why I'm trying to get to the bottom of this in order to go bigger. I have 5" of lift. As far the noise goes, going straight and breaking (sometimes) sounds as if something like if a tire was spinning rubbing against a mud flap.. That's the only way I can think of to describe it. Now when going up the inclines it's a combination of a spring noise and the "dung" noise in which the tire is tucking all the way up which is cause the large rub spot at the top of the wheel well. Any other info that can help.. Let me know

 

Not sure on your problem, but that tie rod end at the pitman arm looks questionable.

 

Did you install taller bump stops ?

 

31s on a 5 inch lift sounds pretty tough to cause some rubbing on minor bumps in the road. O don't think the tires rubbing is the noise being heard.

 

I see rub marks on top of the spring tower in that one picture tho.

 

Are those from the tire, or from mud & debris kicked up by the tires as they spin.......he has no inner liners to protect

 

Looks like a combination of the LCA boxes, which alter the arc of the axle movement, lack of a sway bar allowing increased side to side movement, and possibly the wheel offset for the 31" tires.

Just my humble opinion.

Happy Jeepin'

 

That's the trackbars job...and he has one of those

All lack of a sway bar will do is let him experience more up & down on 1 side compared to the other

 

Indeed he does but...with the arc of the axle moved rearward with up movement of the axle under load in combination with increased articulation at the peak of that arc, does the top inside of the tire not move in closer to the inner fenderwell in flex situations?

With the boxed LCA mounts the upward movement of the axle would make the old centerline of the axle, which was further forward than the altered centerline which with stock or equal to stock length LCA's used with the boxes, would place the inner sidewall of the tire further toward the rear of the vehicle thereby creating clearance issues not before incurred.

Appropriate length bump stops could help resolve the issue at the cost of loss of some articulation.....which is the purpose of not running a sway bar is it not?

Personally, I am not a fan of the boxes for the above mentioned reasons. I had an XJ with the boxes used in a lift and I like to have never figured out what the heck was going on. I took all that junk off and changed the entire lift kit out and WAALAA, numerous issues went by the wayside.

I was trying to share my experience with the same issues, I certainly am not a guru for jeeps or geometry. I am just an ole country boy that has to make stuff work the hard way, put it together, try it, if it doesn't work, repeat the process until it does.

Cherokee Forum has altered my learning curve alot and I appreciate all of everyone's input and discussion.

Happy Jeepin'

 

I think the fix is simple. Some 1.5" hub spacers should do it. Tire is just too far in

 

[QUOTE=4.3L XJ;3431526]I think the fix is simple. Some 1.5" hub spacers should do it. Tire is just too far in[/QUOTE

That would certainly help. Looking at the pictures again, he is also rubbing when turning full lock both directions. Heavier on the drivers side than the passenger side. Possibly need to adjust the track bar slightly to center the axle under the truck and/or adjust the stops on the knuckle. Either way, wheel spacers would eliminate the inside rubs.

A five inch lift probably should be done with a long arm kit according to the chart here on the forum anyway.

Happy Jeepin"

 

or, probably even better is wheels with proper backspacing.....but op said he hears grinding even on minor bumps