Tires Rubbing on Passenger Coil Spring

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Jaximus

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Newer to Jeep life. Lifted an ‘03 TJ with 2” OME suspension kit and shortly after upgraded from stock tires to 31x10.5x15 Wildpeaks on stock wheels. The stock ecco wheels to my understanding are 15x7 with about 5.25” of backspacing on them. Initially I was rubbing on both front tires at full lock until I added 2 washers to each steering stop.

After doing that now the passenger side is the only one rubbing just barely and it seems to be on the coil spring. Couple questions for anyone who has been through this…

A. If I leave it alone will there be any bigger issues down the line?

B. Would installing an adjustable track bar fix the spring lean?

C. Do I just purchase 15x8 wheels with less backspacing?

I am assuming that the axle is no longer able to be centered given stock track bar with the 2” lift, but I could be completely wrong here… any input is appreciated!

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C. 3.75 backspacing.

Or D wheel spacers...1.5"ers should do. Not a fan but it's a one way to do it.

-Mac

And P.S. yes adjustable track bar will help with the spring lean. Start with getting the axle where it needs to be.
 
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macleanflood said:
C. 3.75 backspacing.

Or D wheel spacers...1.5"ers should do. Not a fan but it's a one way to do it.

-Mac

And P.S. yes adjustable track bar will help with the spring lean. Start with getting the axle where it needs to be.
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Thank you. Yea I will avoid wheel spacers. Starting with getting the axle where it needs can only be done with doing the adjustable track bar, correct?
 
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Has nothing to do with backspacing. Lifting the ride height of the Jeep without some sort of track bar adjustment will pull the axle to the driver's side. This is evident when you look at how the bump stop tower is not centered over the axle's lower bump stop pad. The hack is to drill a new hole on the track bar axle mount to re-center the axle. I say hack because that's what it is. Better off buying an adjustable track bar to dial the axle in back to center.
 
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Good call...Oh and, it will fix your passenger side sway bar rubbing on the frame too.
 
1904-06LJR said:
Good call...Oh and, it will fix your passenger side sway bar rubbing on the frame too.
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Wow, completely missed that! Thanks for pointing it out. This whole deal seems common, will it make me want/need to do an adjustable rear trackbar? From what I can tell it seems aligned back there.
 
If it's rubbing at full steering lock it's much more likely that it's rubbing the lower control arm. Mine does it too...no harm but a bit of missing paint but i don't just keep cranking the wheel once I hear and feel it happening.

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Solutions for the track bar issue have been suggested. You don't need any more backspacing to run 31s.
 
Jaximus said:
Thanks for the input all. Seems pretty straightforward to install an adjustable track bar without breaking the bank. I will knock it out in the coming weeks!
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Just beware that any aftermarket track bar you install will require additional bumpstop to keep from hitting the diff cover at full bump.
 
deadbeat son said:
Just beware that any aftermarket track bar you install will require additional bumpstop to keep from hitting the diff cover at full bump.
Click to expand...

I appreciate this information. I was looking at just getting a Freedom offroad adjustable track bar and it now sounds like a extended bumpstops, any recommendations?
 
Jaximus said:
I appreciate this information. I was looking at just getting a Freedom offroad adjustable track bar and it now sounds like a extended bumpstops, any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Never heard of that bar, I don't know how much bump stop extension it would require. May be time to do some research.
 
I have the 2 inch EMU lift with the stock track bar which offsets my axle maybe half an inch to the driver’s side. In my case the offset is actually beneficial because the front driveshaft U-joint strikes the exhaust runners. It has ever since I replaced the exhaust with a new Mopar unit (at great cost). The CATs are pushed as close to the engine case as possible yet the U-joint still strikes the runners (both of them) and has dented them in slightly. If I re-centered the axle this would just make it worse. So I leave the offset in with apparently no ill effects. I have no rubbing even without adding washers to the turn limits.
 
TurboTJ said:
I have the 2 inch EMU lift with the stock track bar which offsets my axle maybe half an inch to the driver’s side. In my case the offset is actually beneficial because the front driveshaft U-joint strikes the exhaust runners. It has ever since I replaced the exhaust with a new Mopar unit (at great cost). The CATs are pushed as close to the engine case as possible yet the U-joint still strikes the runners (both of them) and has dented them in slightly. If I re-centered the axle this would just make it worse. So I leave the offset in with apparently no ill effects. I have no rubbing even without adding washers to the turn limits.
Click to expand...

Very interesting… I’ll probably get under there and take a harder look at everything. It sounds like I can fix the centering with the track bar deal, but may have more minor adjustments to make like the bump stops.

I wouldn’t have rubbing if I had normal wheels with 4” of backspacing so I guess I have to consider this more… really appreciate all the knowledge on the matter.
 
TurboTJ said:
I have the 2 inch EMU lift with the stock track bar which offsets my axle maybe half an inch to the driver’s side. In my case the offset is actually beneficial because the front driveshaft U-joint strikes the exhaust runners. It has ever since I replaced the exhaust with a new Mopar unit (at great cost). The CATs are pushed as close to the engine case as possible yet the U-joint still strikes the runners (both of them) and has dented them in slightly. If I re-centered the axle this would just make it worse. So I leave the offset in with apparently no ill effects. I have no rubbing even without adding washers to the turn limits.
Click to expand...

This is interesting - I thought the stock track bar with a lift would always result in the axle being too far to the passenger side. This is the problem I have.
 
Granite said:
This is interesting - I thought the stock track bar with a lift would always result in the axle being too far to the passenger side. This is the problem I have.
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Lift will pull the rear axle toward passenger, front toward driver. Look how the track bars are attached at both ends, visualize what happens as the body and frame moves up and down while the axles stay put and you should see how that works.
 
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Jaximus said:
Very interesting… I’ll probably get under there and take a harder look at everything. It sounds like I can fix the centering with the track bar deal, but may have more minor adjustments to make like the bump stops.

I wouldn’t have rubbing if I had normal wheels with 4” of backspacing so I guess I have to consider this more… really appreciate all the knowledge on the matter.
Click to expand...

There's a compromise there in that you drop backspacing you add scrub radius, which has negative handling effects. You really DON'T need or want 4" of backspacing to run 31x10.5 tires...I run that with 35x12.5.

One thing that's working against you is your 15x7s. If you could get some factory takeoffs in 15x8 5.5BS (like Canyons or Ravines) that itself would move your tread outward a bit by not squeezing the outer sidewall inward so much. This is a common arrangement with 31s, no additional backspacing needed. I even ran it with 33x10.5s and I ran 5.25" BS with 32x11.5s for 3 years.
 
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