Okay, so when I'm pulling into my driveway or any parking lot that has ANY kind of upward slope to it I get this horrible scraping sound like I'm draggin my bumper. So I put it on ramps and there's no scraping anywhere under the car. The other day after it did it really bad I got home and noticed that directly above the center of the tire my fender is bent out at the lip right above the top of the tire-like someone has taken a screwdriver and bent out the edge. I'm thinking that maybe it's a combination of my tires being a little too big (205/50/16) and my springs being a little worn. It's doing it on both sides in the front, but a little worse on the passenger side. Anyone have the same problem or have any other ideas of what it could be? Thanks!

 

I have the same problem with the fender being bent out right above my driver side rear wheel. I'm running on stock height and winter rims so I don't think thats your problem. I don't hear any scraping sounds either.

 

TG, how much of a drop have you got & what is the offset of your rims? Are there gouges in the tyres from where they are scraping against the fenders?

I'm guessing the tire has pulled out that section of the fender when you went over a bump or something. To stay at the stock rolling diameter your tyres should have an aspect ratio of 45, so yours are about an inch bigger.

You prolly just need to get the fenders rolled... Should be a cheap fix fing02.gif

 

I don't have any drop. I can't remember the offset of my rims...seems like it was 42 maybe. When I first noticed the fender there were gouges in my tires, but I'm not totally sure that it's not from the messed up pavement at the end of my driveway (one part sticks up about an inch higher than the rest of it and it's right where the passenger side tire is when I pull in). Fixing the fenders shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I don't want to have to keep fixing them over and over if there's something that I can do to keep it from happening. At 100k could my springs be shot?

 

I actually HAD the exact same problem with the EXACT same size tire.

How ironic.

Get a rubber faced mallet and a wood block, go and pound it gently (Sounds sexy eh? LOL) back and forth down the affected area and you can curl your fender back inside so it won't catch anymore. Took me a few tries to get it far enough to where it doesn't hit anymore.

 

^^ You should be able to tell if the springs or struts have had it. If your car handles horribly & your stock springs have sagged to the point your tyres are hitting the fenders then it's probably worth replacing them.

I am 99% sure that the scraping noise is coming from the tire hitting the fender & not from your jagged pavement. When you go up driveways, the wheel is nearly at full lock so with the angle of the wheel & the fact that it is effectively being pushed up at the same time, the tire is scraping the fender.

Change your springs (maybe look into better aftermarket ones) & while you are at it check the condition of your struts (If need be KYB GR2 struts for example can be had for cheap on ebay). If the fenders are damaged already you will still need to have them rolled.

Good luck fing02.gif

 

Thanks guys. I was pretty sure that's what was happening but I wanted to see if that made sense to anyone else. The car actually handles fine so I think my springs might be OK for a little while longer. I think I'll wait to fix the fenders until I buy some lower profile tires! Thanks again!

 

You might also want to change how you pull into your driveway. Either approach it from the other side of the street or swing wide (if you can) so that your wheels are more or less straight when you pull in. This way, if the wheel comes all the way up to hit the bumpstops, the fender will not be in the way.