Drivers side rear wheel sticks out more than pass side?!?!?!

[FTC]

as the title says, it seems my drivers side tire sticks out way more than the pass side, like i would say 3/4" to 1", its noticable. i just recently put centerlines with BFG's on and i didnt notice this, i think it was like that when i put the wheels on. they are 15x8's, 3.5" BS with 265/50/15 BFG radials. the only reason why i noticed it today was because the fender trim chewed the hell out of my sidewall when i was pulling out of my driveway with some weight in the trunk. my question is what is causing this??? and how would i go about correcting it. i pulled the drivers side wheel and it looks like the weight on the drum is contacting rim, i can see a mark that its made. i figure its the weight on the drum cause the other drum doesnt have one for some reason but i didnt take the wheel off to look. the weight is welded on as well so im sure it has a purpose there. help me anyone

 

[tazgn]

I have the exact same problem with my car and I know there are many others like that too. It's just the way the body was put on the frame from the factory. I thought about moving the body, but then I would have to re-align the front fenders and nose to the body and decided it's just not worth it. I got wheels with .5" different offsets to minimize the affects.

If the weather is better tomorrow, come out to the cruise in at pearl kai McD's and I'll show you mine. But like you, I never noticed until I put bigger tires on the car.

Derrick

 

[TR Custom Parts]

An inch seems like a lot, have you verified that both rims really have the same offset? Mine is also off a bit, probably less than half an inch but not noticeable.

 

[turbojimmy]

Mine's off a bit, too, in the other direction. Passenger side tire rubs once in a while. But it's not really visible - probably about .25". Just enough to be a pain in the butt.

Jim

 

[crash]

That seems like alot, could the car have ever been hit? I had a Monte that was hit and the body repaired, but the control arms were still tweaked.

 

[tom h]

Another data point-

my driver side tire is 1/4 more "outboard" than is the passenger side tire. Not much. I would only have to to nudge over the body 1/2 this distance, or 1/8", to make it perfectly symmetrical.

I measured this by hanging a plumbob on a string, from the top of the wheel well, then meauring the distance from the hanging string to the widest part of the tire sidewall (stock tires & wheels).

 

[Hyper]

Hummm. my car is centered, it came that way, but then it has roll up windows and manual seats to....lite weight GN...lol

 

[JayC]

I remember reading an article about this some 10 years ago. It's pretty common for the rears to be offset like that. Doesn't mean your car has been hit or anything.

 

[FTC]

haha plumbob i know exactly what your talking about, i use that everyday as i am a land surveyor. when i get soem time i guess ill correct it but for now it seems it wont be a problem, i think only cause i had a lot of weight in my trunk the fender trim bit into my tire.

 

[HRpartsNstuff]

Production tolerances are 1/4-1/2" off easily. 3/4-1" does sound a bit much. Check to see if your new rims are hitting somewhere that the old rims didn't, like the weights you described. You might also jack it up & see if they are spinning straight or wobbling side to side from mounting on a high spot.
About the only other thing that would cause this would be worn out body bushings, worn out rear control arm bushings, and possibly cracked welds on the control arm mounting brackets. Does the car still track straight forward & reverse? If not, something may be coming loose.

 

[SPOOLFOOL2]

My rear was off 3/8". Its usualy not the body to frame alingment that's the problem. From the ones that Iv'e seen, it's the dif that's off centered on the body and frame. check the inside of the tire against the frame rail to see if this is you're problem also. The only way I found to correct this offset is to fork out $280.00 for a set of adjustable upper control arms. The happy side of this coin is that I can run 275/60/15 DRs on a 1" lowered car with out rubbing . Looks sweat. NOTE: I also have air bags (8 and 12 PSI) and had to shave a 1/4" off the iner fender trim for clearance. sorry no pics but hope this helps.