Liberty scrubbing

[lkernos]

Hi guys,
Need some advise. I have a 1998 liberty (legacy) which has a pair if 17"
wheels & a set of 215/45 tires on them. Now as far as I know u could get
liberty's with 17" wheels from the factory but at the moment the rear
guards scrub on the tires when there is a bit of weight in the back seat
(haven't needed to put anything heavy in the boot yet) I was wondering
what I could do to counter this?
it looks like it's only scrubbing on the lip of the guard, but I could
be wrong. I am actually due to replace the 2 front tires in about a week

I have guessed that stiffer suspension may do the trick but would like
to know if there are any other options & compare them.
thanks in advance.
Will

 

[TG]

Were the tires that came with the 17" wheeled Libertys 45 series or
something with less diameter like 40 or 35 series? Regardless of wheel size
the tire circumference should be the same as it was with the original
wheel/tire combo. TG

 

[mike]

I had a similar problem on my 96 legacy
The 17" rims probably have a different off-set (mine did to accommodate the
Brembo brakes from a 2002 wrx sti)
I had the lip bent up out of the way by a panel shop. It took less than a
day and solved the problem & cost NZ$140. I'm really happy with the solution
and is all but visually unnoticeable modification. It seems to be quite
commonly done to modified Legacys & wrxs.
In regards to stiffer suspension, although it helps, its not a good solution
to you problem. I have Tein adjustable suspension installed and had it
tightened up as hard as it would go and it still rub when loaded and was an
uncomfortable ride had some interesting handling characteristics

Mike

 

[lkernos]

Thanks for the advise mike, I think I'm going to get the guards rolled I just am
afraid that the paint will crack. visually I would like to keep my car the way
it it. It has it's bumps & scratches but cracked paint does look ugly. I did
find that out of factory the 1998 model doesn't come with 17" rims. the diameter
of my current setup is 13.9 mm larger than factory setup. So this is why it's
scrubbing. Now if only I could find a really good place to get the guards rolled
in sydney I should be able to fix the problem.

 

[lkernos]

Thanks TG,
yeah read spome specs on tyres & stuff. Factory tyre combo is 16" rims.
205/50 16r.
So I'm 13.9mm too big. I don't want to go for lower profile tyres because they
r low enough at the moment. I'm looking into getting the guards rolled.