Tire rub?

Travis

Travis

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
932
Location
Clinton, Iowa
I was looking around under my Jeep today. I noticed a something that I can't figure out. I have, what I think is a tire rub mark on each side. The spot is in the same exact spot on each side, but I didn't see any marks on the tires themselves. I had my son turn the wheel to full lock, while in park. The tires were not touching anything and it seems there is plenty of room in there. Sometimes when I am in motion, and turn the wheel near or full lock, I hear a rubbing type sound & the steering wheel shakes. This does not happen all the time however. Would there be marks on the tires if they were rubbing? The marks on the arm (sorry I don't know what it's called), are fairly deep, I can feel a definite gouge in the steel. I have 31"x10.50" tires on stock Canyon wheels. I have read that other Jeeper's with the same size tires have experienced tire rub, which spurred me to check my situation. Is this bad for the tires? I can't imagine them rubbing on steel would be good.

20160902_095755.jpg

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One more thing I noticed was the oil/grease splattered around the driveshaft joint. Is that supposed to look like that? That does not look normal to me either. Thanks for reading guys.
 
Looks like your pinion seal is leaking. My 31s rubbed in the same place and I have 2" of lift. I got tired of hearing them rub, and installed wheel spacers.
 
That is a super common rub spot when running larger than stock tires and not enough back spacing. You can add wheel spacers, get new wheels with different back spacing, or ad some washers to your turn stops like @StG58 did.

And yes, your pinion seal appears to be leaking :D
 
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I have posted prior about wheel spacers & have still been thinking of picking some up. I think I will get them now. I really like the look of the Canyon wheels and wanna stick with them. As for the pinion seal, how is that fixed? Is it something a beginner could tackle?
 
Here's where the steering stops are.
The adjustable part is a bolt with a nut welded to it. Put a wrench on the NUT to loosen and remove. Use lots of penatrant and give it time to work.
20160822_114131.jpg

This is one of mine with two washers under it. I have Grizzly wheels and 31x10.50's. Depending on the amount of "slop" in your front end, you may still rub a slight amount at full lock in reverse or in forward. After crawling around under my stock TJ and playing with the stops, it's apparent that the best fix is new wheels with proper backspacing. A lift isn't going to appreciably change clearance between the tire and the LCA.

Another item to note: putting a taller tire on changes the scrub radius. The center of the contact patch is moved in from center of the "kingpin angle" on the pavement. You can hear your tires scrub on the pavement in a tight turn. That may or may not be a major issue leading to increased tire wear. Again, correct wheel back spacing would help.
 
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UPJOHN said:
I have Gambler wheels. The PO turned the steering stops out, then welded them, so spacers or new wheel are my only option.
Click to expand...
That welding is just where the factory welded the nut onto the bolt which is normal. The steering stop bolt still unscrews so a washer or two can be added underneath the nut like shown below to stop tire rub when the steering wheel is turned all the way left or right.

You can't see the factory weld on this photo, it's on the back side of the bolt.

steer-stops00.jpg
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
That welding is just where the factory welded the nut onto the bolt which is normal. The steering stop bolt still unscrews so more washers can be added underneath like shown below to stop tire rub when the steering wheel is turned all the way left or right.

You can't see the factory weld on this photo, it's on the back side of the bolt.

View attachment 6054
Click to expand...

Never too old to learn something new. When I saw the weld, I never even thought of trying to crank it out. As long as my spacers don't give me problems, i'll keep them though. My jeep seems to follow tracks wider vehicles make in deeper snow. Could just be my imagination, but it is about 3" wider.
 
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