2015 Tahoe new tires rubbing sway bar

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BlaineBug

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Are you saying yours rub the fender liners in the wheel well? If that was the case I wouldn't be concerned as those are just plastic. However, these are rubbing on metal, granted it's smooth metal. But metal vs. rubber, metal will win.

The car we bought for my son had some giant tires on it that rubbed the body underneath. There was literally a cut line all the way around the tire from where the metal had "dug" it out over time. That's what I'm afraid of. Here's a picture of the tire we took off his car.

View attachment 381528
By the way was your Son's vehicle a Jeep? I remember my 1995 Jeep Cherokee had a pinch weld in the fender liner that looks like it would have made this cut. We used to make relief cuts of this joint and hammer/fold it over flat. Your sway bar won't cut into your tires like this, which I assume cut into his tires when the tire was flexed up tight into his wheel well. Apples/Oranges.
 
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bdbull

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By the way was your Son's vehicle a Jeep? I remember my 1995 Jeep Cherokee had a pinch weld in the fender liner that looks like it would have made this cut. We used to make relief cuts of this joint and hammer/fold it over flat. Your sway bar won't cut into your tires like this, which I assume cut into his tires when the tire was flexed up tight into his wheel well. Apples/Oranges.
No, he has a 4Runner, and it was like that when we bought it. I had done my research and was prepared to get the "body mount chop" done on it after I changed out wheels and tires. It's good now. I sold those wheels and tires and the stock wheels and tires that the previous owner gave us with the 4Runner and made enough to pay for the body mount chop and brand new wheels and tires. So now he has better tires and it doesn't rub at all.
 

BlaineBug

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Sounds like a similar issue with a modified 4Runner.

As for your Tahoe, it's not broke so don't fix it. There's no way that smooth anti-sway bar will damage your tire rubbing at full lock. Adding those stupid lug-centric spacers is asking for more trouble than what kind of symptoms you are experiencing at present.
 
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bdbull

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Sounds like a similar issue with a modified 4Runner.

As for your Tahoe, it's not broke so don't fix it. There's no way that smooth anti-sway bar will damage your tire rubbing at full lock. Adding those stupid lug-centric spacers is asking for more trouble than what kind of symptoms you are experiencing at present.
That's a great point about being hub centric instead of lug centric. Read a lot of reviews on amazon about "universal" spacers causing balancing issues because they are lug centric and will essentially "fall" onto the lugs when installed.
 
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bdbull

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Looks like Bora makes hub centric spacers for the Tahoe. That was a very recommended brand when I was doing all my 4Runner research.
 

BlaineBug

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Looks like Bora makes hub centric spacers for the Tahoe. That was a very recommended brand when I was doing all my 4Runner research.
For such a thin spacer though they are just a spacer not a bolt-on spacer, so regardless if lug or hub centric (although better) they are still pushing your wheel away from the mating surface and reducing the amount of usable threads you have. Unless these Bora spacers are different from what I have seen.

I'm not a fan of any wheel spacers due to the leverage that they create but the "safest" would be one like these which essentially gives you another full set of lug studs and another hub face to mate with the wheel. Of course in order to be able to do that the spacer has to be a lot bigger than 1/4".
5065661-1.jpg
 

Joseph Garcia

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Many shops won't do any work that requires removing and re-mounting the wheels/tires, if there are spacers on the hubs.
 

BlaineBug

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Many shops won't do any work that requires removing and re-mounting the wheels/tires, if there are spacers on the hubs.
Many years ago in 2006 CostCo wouldn't mount 30x9.50s on my Jeep as it was just ever so slightly larger than the 235/75/R15s I was replacing. But they would mount them on the wheels if I brought them to them, which I did, but required borrowing yet another vehicle.
 

CMoore711

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@bdbull Are the tires only running the away bar right there?

Are they rubbing anywhere else up front that you can tell? Specifically are the tires rubbing the inside of the fender liner at all?

The rear side of the front fender closest to the drivers seat and/or closest to the front passenger seat is a common place for larger tires to make contact with the inside fender liner.
 
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bdbull

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For such a thin spacer though they are just a spacer not a bolt-on spacer, so regardless if lug or hub centric (although better) they are still pushing your wheel away from the mating surface and reducing the amount of usable threads you have. Unless these Bora spacers are different from what I have seen.

I'm not a fan of any wheel spacers due to the leverage that they create but the "safest" would be one like these which essentially gives you another full set of lug studs and another hub face to mate with the wheel. Of course in order to be able to do that the spacer has to be a lot bigger than 1/4".
View attachment 381543
We have a set of these on my son's 4Runner. So far they have functioned well.
@bdbull Are the tires only running the away bar right there?

Are they rubbing anywhere else up front that you can tell? Specifically are the tires rubbing the inside of the fender liner at all?

The rear side of the front fender closest to the drivers seat and/or closest to the front passenger seat is a common place for larger tires to make contact with the inside fender liner.
They are only rubbing the sway bars. No rubbing on the inner fender at all.
 

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