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Old 5th June 2011, 14:48   #1
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Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

i've got a Honda Civic & i've changed my rims & tyres
Rims - R17
Tyres - 215/50/R17

The problem is that if there are people sitting in the rear seats and i go over a speed breaker or bump, there is this horrible creaking noise which comes from the back of the car, the Honda mechanic tells me that its the wheel hubs touching the tyres and squealing.

My questions are
a. Has anyone else on this forum had a similar problem ?
b. Does anyone know how this can be fixed ?
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Old 6th June 2011, 11:49   #2
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re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

wrong size mate , you need 225/45/17 the correct size. You have put bigger tyres and hence the noise of them rubbing in the inner fenders at the rear
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Old 6th June 2011, 12:07   #3
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re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Quote:
Originally Posted by s.prashanth View Post
wrong size mate , you need 225/45/17 the correct size. You have put bigger tyres and hence the noise of them rubbing in the inner fenders at the rear
Although 225/45/17 would be perfect, this upgrade seems within limit. Could it still cause an issue?

OE is 195/65/15 = 1913.61mm
Upgrade is 215/50/17 = 1950.7mm
1.94% difference.


There a members running 205/65/15 = 1952.81mm without any issues.
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Old 6th June 2011, 12:15   #4
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re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Isn't 215/50/R17 an overkill for a Civic on Mumbai's roads? The low profile is going to make the ride bumpy. As you noted tyres scrapping the arches, an even lower profile maybe the solution with a wider rubber (225 or 235). This will make the ride even more bumpier. And the suspension is going to be taxed to the limits.
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Old 6th June 2011, 15:36   #5
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re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Is there any solution in terms of changing the suspension that i can do to set this right ?
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Old 6th June 2011, 15:43   #6
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re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Quote:
Originally Posted by keertan View Post
The problem is that if there are people sitting in the rear seats and i go over a speed breaker or bump, there is this horrible creaking noise which comes from the back of the car, the Honda mechanic tells me that its the wheel hubs touching the tyres and squealing.
While a 2% window is permissible in a regular car, it's not so for the Civic. The Honda's rear end completely sags under load. Not only have you increased the diameter by over 10 mm, but you've also gone for wider tyres (thus, and effectively, reducing the lateral gap in the wheel well).

The coil spring adjusters I got for my Civic may or may not solve your problem, but they do keep the ride height higher at the rear. Worth a shot for 2 grand.
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Old 6th June 2011, 16:07   #7
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Re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Is there any specific brand for these coil spring adjusters ?

Last edited by keertan : 6th June 2011 at 16:20. Reason: wrong word used
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Old 7th June 2011, 13:49   #8
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Re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Quote:
Originally Posted by keertan View Post
Is there any specific brand for these coil spring adjusters ?
Nope, many people supply them & most brands are local. Psycho even used to make aluminium coil spring adjusters! The ones I've used are from AutoRunner.
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Old 7th June 2011, 13:55   #9
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Re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Quote:
Originally Posted by shuvc View Post
Although 225/45/17 would be perfect, this upgrade seems within limit. Could it still cause an issue?

OE is 195/65/15 = 1913.61mm
Upgrade is 215/50/17 = 1950.7mm
1.94% difference.


There a members running 205/65/15 = 1952.81mm without any issues.
I have 205/65 R15 tyres and never had issues with tyres scraping the inner wall. I think in this case the increased width of the tyre may have contributed. In any case it is better to stiffen the suspension setup by using a different set of shock absorbers or springs. Mine is getting upgraded to Koni FSD and I am planning to get Eibach springs as well.
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Old 7th June 2011, 14:09   #10
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Re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Other than spring adjusters, the easiest fix would be to change the rear tires. New springs or shocks would be expensive and make your ride stiffer.

It could also be a problem due to wider rims and aggressive offset, it could be touching the inside of the fender and cause the same noise.
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Old 7th June 2011, 17:35   #11
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Re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Keertan,
As GTO posted above the cheapest alternative would be to install the coil spring adjusters. He's got it installed on his Civic and so have I. A set of 4 will set you back by 4.5k, half of that for rears only.

The other options are expensive and I'm not sure you would want to go in that direction.

Hope this helps.

Regards
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Old 7th June 2011, 18:06   #12
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Re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

you needed a 45.
50 is a tad too much for a loaded civic.
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Old 7th June 2011, 19:39   #13
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Re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Quote:
Originally Posted by keertan View Post
Is there any solution in terms of changing the suspension that i can do to set this right ?
pls change tire to 225/45/R17 & it should not have any problem thats a perfect upsize to 17inch
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Old 8th June 2011, 09:42   #14
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Re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Quote:
Originally Posted by hiren.mistry View Post
Keertan,
As GTO posted above the cheapest alternative would be to install the coil spring adjusters. He's got it installed on his Civic and so have I. A set of 4 will set you back by 4.5k, half of that for rears only.

Regards
Thanks GTO & Hiren. I think i'll get the coil spring adjusters installed. This seems to be the most economical solution to my problem.

i am based in Gurgaon now, any advice from the t-bhp-ians on a good workshop in Gurgaon / Delhi, where i can get this done.
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Old 8th June 2011, 14:35   #15
 
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Re: Upsized my Civic's tyres. Now scraping under load!

Im sorry!! Coil Spring adjusters???

So basically what does this do, increase your car's ride height???

Do you want your car's handling to go completely wayward?? Firstly you have the wrong tyre and no you want to make it worse? You are digging your own grave my friend. PLEASE do not go in for shortcut methods to do things. If these "so called" coil spring adjusters increase your cars ride height you are basically negating millions maybe billions of dollars worth of R&D. Do you really think this will work? really??
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