[17ss1LE]

Hi everyone, I need some help. I tried searching and didn't find anything that fits my issue. I'm running nittos nt555 g2 and my inner metal struts are rubbing on the tire pretty bad.well let's say I got lucky that I didn't get a blow out or crash. I lifted my car to change the exhaust and was shocked to see my front passenger tire with metal showing and once inspecting the driver side there's also a Grove that's starting to wear from inside rubbing. I'm newb when it comes to suspension... well I don't consider myself a confident mechanic lol. I'm running the stock size which is 285/30 so I'm really confused why it's rubbing. At first I thought maybe I should get spacers or go to 275 but I shouldn't be have to do that soo should I try to find a place to take it in? I didn't see anyone having this problem with stock set up. Thank you in advance.

[STALKER_174]

From what I have read the Nittos are slightly larger than other tyres of the same size. They also dont round off on the edge as most others do.
A small spacer might fix it, or go to a 275 gives a bit of tuck.

[arpad_m]

I dont understand. There is a mile of clearance from the strut perch, which could be misleading if you took pictures with the car lifted, but those rubber nipples, if rubbing, would slice right off well before the tire shows wear.

Did the black paint rub off on the underside of the perches? In other words, do you see any potential counterpart surface or part that is causing the wear?

Finally, are you sure these tires are 285/30s and not 285/35s? Then again, I have PS4S 285/35s in the front (long story) and even those don't rub, these Nittos at the same nominal size are shorter than the PS4S (26.77" vs 26.82"), so I feel there must be something else at play here, probably the wheels if they aren't stock (you can compensate for an offset difference with spacers).

[Joshinator99]

What wheels are you running? Offset looks off?

[ihada69L78]

Originally Posted by 17ss1LE

Hi everyone, I need some help. I tried searching and didn't find anything that fits my issue. I'm running nittos nt555 g2 and my inner metal struts are rubbing on the tire pretty bad.well let's say I got lucky that I didn't get a blow out or crash. I lifted my car to change the exhaust and was shocked to see my front passenger tire with metal showing and once inspecting the driver side there's also a Grove that's starting to wear from inside rubbing. I'm newb when it comes to suspension... well I don't consider myself a confident mechanic lol. I'm running the stock size which is 285/30 so I'm really confused why it's rubbing. At first I thought maybe I should get spacers or go to 275 but I shouldn't be have to do that soo should I try to find a place to take it in? I didn't see anyone having this problem with stock set up. Thank you in advance.

Are you running factory wheels?

[17ss1LE]

@STALKER_174, I was wondering this about the nittos i was going to get continental as a replacement since they offer better mileage and people have said nice things about them, I don't mind the nittos but they seem really hard and traction of the line isn't the best. I just want to make sure I don't have a bigger problem.
@arpad_m the car is fully lifted on car Jack's, I'm positive the tires are 285/30s, and it's a 1le but it bought it used about 1 1/2 yrs ago so I don't know 100% if they are the original wheels but it's a 1le with 1le looking rims so I guess I'm assuming they are original. And it seems to be rubbing on the part of the bottom strut where there's a lip that seems the most glossy part I thought the same thing about the nipples but they are tuff nipples apparently ��. Is there a way to know for sure obviously prob take them off and check the inside? They have factory chevy caps in the middle and I've driven the car for about 20k miles and I love the way it drives. I am in San Diego where the roads aren't the best and the tires could have sat for awhile before I purchased because they seem very very stiff but they haven't given me any issues other than the big one in having.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by 17ss1LE

@STALKER_174, I was wondering this about the nittos i was going to get continental as a replacement since they offer better mileage and people have said nice things about them, I don't mind the nittos but they seem really hard and traction of the line isn't the best. I just want to make sure I don't have a bigger problem.
@arpad_m the car is fully lifted on car Jack's, I'm positive the tires are 285/30s, and it's a 1le but it bought it used about 1 1/2 yrs ago so I don't know 100% if they are the original wheels but it's a 1le with 1le looking rims so I guess I'm assuming they are original. And it seems to be rubbing on the part of the bottom strut where there's a lip that seems the most glossy part I thought the same thing about the nipples but they are tuff nipples apparently ��. Is there a way to know for sure obviously prob take them off and check the inside? They have factory chevy caps in the middle and I've driven the car for about 20k miles and I love the way it drives. I am in San Diego where the roads aren't the best and the tires could have sat for awhile before I purchased because they seem very very stiff but they haven't given me any issues other than the big one in having.

Okay, thanks for all the info. I'll make a guess, these wheels of yours may be MRR 017 replicas that have a +23 offset in the front instead of the +20 with the stock 1LE wheels, and maybe the shape of these Nittos make them more susceptible to rubbing with this offset. You might need at least 3mm spacers in the front. Sorry about your tires, they'll be expensive to replace (sigh).

(Check the inside of the barrel, it should help you decipher what wheels these actually are. The stock 1LE wheels have the Dicastal branding and a GM part number stamped into the barrel.)

[17ss1LE]

Thanks for the help and replies, I was thinking 5mm spacers and trying a different tire, I was just baffled when I lifted the car to change my exhaust, i thought i hit something but the other side also has grove marks on the inside tread(its the second pic). I really wanna stick with the 285 you never know when your gonna need that extra 10mm! Lol and I don't wanna get new tires and then be screwed 400+ due to strut wear. I guess I could try measure how much rubbing it's actually doing tomorrow. I remember back in the day you could go to your local chevy dealer and talk to the mechanics for advice or if that is a thing but now they won't even let you see them agh!

[17ss1LE]

@arpad_m awesome! Thanks for the tip, I'll take them off in the next few days and check for that gm part number and go from there, I'm sure it won't hurt to get spacers anyway. Any recommendations on a place to get spacers? Thank God I have a new daily now so I'm not in desperate need to get it fixed im just glad I didn't have an accident!

[WhiteMale]

Not all 285/30 are the same, as said I think that the Nittos are known to be on the fuller side of the sizing.

[Msquared]

To add extra info to arpad's reply:

Originally Posted by 17ss1LE

@arpad_m the car is fully lifted on car Jack's,

That's irrelevant. The lower spring perch is part of the lower strut body and therefore that distance between the tire and perch doesn't change when the suspension moves. Unless you see actual evidence of rubbing on the perch (e.g. paint missing or evidence of metal being ground off), your tire isn't rubbing.

Furthermore, plenty of people here run those MRRs with 23mm offset with bigger tires, the 305/30/19 Falken RT660s and Bridgestone RE71Rs being prime examples. They don't even rub when run without spacers and with MRC struts. And those Nittos are not big tires. Falkens run wider than they do for a given size. Nitto 555G2 tires suck, but they aren't causing an interference problem. No 285/30/20 tire on a stock 1LE wheel will have any rubbing issues on a 6th-gen Camaro.

Also, if you look back at your pics, the wear on that inside edge doesn't have a defined edge where the tire is getting "lathed" away, so to speak. It has a gradual feathering out toward the center (but not all the way to center) that indicates this is tire wear rather than rubbing. If both fronts are wearing like this, then you probably have severe toe out. If just one is, you might have severe negative camber on one side combined with some toe. Another possibility is that this tire has a serious internal defect like a belt shift, especially if it's just one tire doing this. You should definitely check the alignment before putting new tires on this car.

[WhiteMale]

if not rubbing, good point on not seeing a corresponding rub mark on the suspension, would be a shiny spot. I think that that's toed out that wears the inner shoulder?

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by Msquared

To add extra info to arpad's reply:

That's irrelevant. The lower spring perch is part of the lower strut body and therefore that distance between the tire and perch doesn't change when the suspension moves. Unless you see actual evidence of rubbing on the perch (e.g. paint missing or evidence of metal being ground off), your tire isn't rubbing.

Furthermore, plenty of people here run those MRRs with 23mm offset with bigger tires, the 305/30/19 Falken RT660s and Bridgestone RE71Rs being prime examples. They don't even rub when run without spacers and with MRC struts. And those Nittos are not big tires. Falkens run wider than they do for a given size. Nitto 555G2 tires suck, but they aren't causing an interference problem. No 285/30/20 tire on a stock 1LE wheel will have any rubbing issues on a 6th-gen Camaro.

Also, if you look back at your pics, the wear on that inside edge doesn't have a defined edge where the tire is getting "lathed" away, so to speak. It has a gradual feathering out toward the center (but not all the way to center) that indicates this is tire wear rather than rubbing. If both fronts are wearing like this, then you probably have severe toe out. If just one is, you might have severe negative camber on one side combined with some toe. Another possibility is that this tire has a serious internal defect like a belt shift, especially if it's just one tire doing this. You should definitely check the alignment before putting new tires on this car.

The wheel was just a guess, 3mm indeed isn't a huge difference, but I never had these Nittos myself For just tire wear, this is extreme, maybe toe out + a lot of camber would do it (perhaps someone tried to increase camber and didn't pay enough attention to toe?). Since OP says both sides are developing a similar pattern, I'd rule out tire defect as very unlikely.

[17ss1LE]

@Msquared you said alot of smart things and you lost me until towards the end lmfao, where I might have some alignment issues due to to much toe out or possible too much negative camber. I really don't know much about suspension other than the key words but fixing it on my own might be an issue so I'm thinking the best option is to take it to an alignment shop after I take the rim off to find out if it's original or reps, I gotta get tires for it first and it might take a week or 2 depending on my work schedule and parenting schedule, it is my daughter's bday this weekend and there's only so much my wife will put up with when it comes to my car love. However thank you for the info and I appreciate everyone helping out with possible reasons or ideas to look at. I can take some better pics of that might help identify the issue, what you said makes sense there's is some shinny rub marks on the bottom of the strut but the rubber nipples are intact so abnormal tire wear seems like a very possible issue with my car. I had no idea you could still manually mess with suspension since it's a electronic magna ride etc. I will post more updates as soon as I get a chance luckily I don't rely on the car as a daily anymore so I can take my time identifying the issue.