340/360 tire size

[misa]

I put 195/65/14 tires on the back and they fit perfectly.

When i tried to put 185/70/14 at the front they rubbed at inside at the shock apsorber carrier.They rubbed a little at tire profile & a little at a tread surface,so i removed them and put back original 13" wheels.

My next try will be with 175/65/14 or 165/65/14 at the front.I hope that they will not rub.

What is your opinion?

[SonyVaio]

I had a 360 GLT for 9 years and it had 185/60/14 for the complete period.

These were the original alloys that were on the car and never has a problem or let me down, even 260,000 miles later.

[misa]

Ok,you had 185/60/14 and they fit ok,but i don't understand why the tyres i tried at front rubbed ONLY at passenger side.

Let's resume....I put 185/70/14 and they fit correctly at driver's side.It was tight,but they didn't rubbed at all.BUT,when i put the other tyre to the passenger side,it rubbed on the inside(at shock apsorber carrier).

Your tires had 60mm on the profile (which is 10mm lower than mine which is 70mm).With that profile i would not have rubbing on tire's tread surface,but i would still have rubbing on the inside profile of the tyre because of the width.

I'll try tommorow with 165 or 175/65/14 and i'll see will they also rub,but i doubt they will.

I guess that's because of bad ball joints & tie rods.There is a little play in them and they needs to be replaced soon.Also,it appears that passenger side is a little more worn than the driver's side.

Thanks,Misha.

[SonyVaio]

Misha,

I can't see for any reason why they would rub one side and not the other. Has the car hit a kerb on one side a bit hard or slid into one in bad weather etc?? Basicaly are you sure there is absolutely no damage to the side where you experience it rubbing?

[misa]

I also can't see why.

I bought the car 3 years ago in excellent condition(for 25 years old car).I don't know was it involved in any sort of accident,but i'm sure that there is no damage(at least visual)at both sides.

Like i wrote in the previous post....the ONLY things which felt on my mind are bad ball joints & tie rods,because there is a little play in them.

Is it possible that they are the culprits?

[SonyVaio]

Most definately can contribute that's for sure but I still wouldn't expect them to rub even with a fair bit of wear.

Wheel bearings okay?? A badly failing wheel bearing could cause that problem for sure but then again you'd sure know about it too.

Mmmm...

[misa]

I'm confused too.

It came with original 13" wheels 175/70/13 and if i didn't wanted to upgrade a bigger wheels,i probably would never found out this problem.

Wheel bearings....hmmm...I read somewhere at 850's forums that is not neccessary that failing wheel bearing will produce groaning or any other sound.
In other words,it could not be noisy(indicating that it's failing or bad),but at the other side it can have play in it which also indicate that it's bad.To me that is very unbelievable....bad wheel bearing which is not noisy.

Personally...every time i had a bad or failing wheel bearing it produced groaning or highly groaning sound.

But,you know how they say...."every day you learn something new".

[misa]

I installed 175/65/14 at front today and they fit perfect.

I perform a little investigation today at tire shop and the rubbing i had with 185 width tires was because of the worn ball joint at passenger side,so....ball joints & tie rods are next thing which will be replaced.

Wheel bearings will be replaced also,because they started to produce a little groaning sound and have a little play in them.

A little play from wheel bearing+little play from bad ball joint contributed to a rubbing at inside of the wheel at passenger side.

Misha.

[SonyVaio]

Nice to see you got to the bottom of it in the end. Although unless it annoys you then I wouldn't go changing the bearings if the noise is only slight as they tend to run on for tens of thousands of miles before getting to the stage of needing changing before they are dangerous.

Them ball joints are a must though!

Well done.