I've got Jeff's lift installed on my '00 2.0L Vitara along with 1.25" wheel spacers, aftermarket 15x7 wheels and 235/75R15 Hankook Dynapro MT's. I noticed the rubbing right after installing the tires and wheels and i did do some substantial trimming of the plastic inner fender. It's now drivable, but the tires still rub the bumper and fender when approaching full lock.

The way i see it, i have several options, but i'm really not sure which would be the best:

1. install a body lift. Pro's; it would probably fix the rubbing and the truck would be higher. Con's; cost and it would be farther from stock.

2. get smaller tires. Pro's; 225/70R15 all terrains would almost certainly fit and they'd return my gearing closer to stock. Con's; i'd loose money selling my mud terrains and the little truck wouldn't look nearly as cool 

3. get smaller wheel spacers. now i'm not even sure this would help, but the additional thickness of the wheel spacers only adds to the turning arc of the wheel.

4. some miraculous solution i haven't thought of.


SO, what would you do?? 


Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance 

I have the same size tires on mine with no lift and the stock zr2 wheels 15x6 inch.  I get very minor rubbing on the drivers side frame rail when turning left.  Try removing the spacers and see what happens

My Vitara originally came with 16" rims, therefore the wheel spacers are necessary to clear the calipers.

What I'm not entirely sure of is how much wheel spacer is required... I've heard of some people only grinding the calipers down and successfully fitting 15's with not spacers.

So I wonder, maybe skimming my 1.25" spacers down to 1" might help?

sawzawll, and hammer. Thats how I fit 30's on my GV with only an OME lift.

sawzawll, and hammer. Thats how I fit 30's on my GV with only an OME lift.

Maybe you're right. As much as i'd like to preserve the resale value of my little Zuk, a Big F***ing Hammer can fix just about anything.

The front side is easy, the plastic bumper can easily be "altered" with an angle grinder.

The back side is a little tougher, the tires rub against the sheet metal of the body. I guess that's where the BFH comes in handy....

The fender well plastic covers up my damage. I'll try to get pix.

Thanks Shadow.

I'd love to see how other people have had to trim fender bits to fit tires.

Did you have to alter any sheet metal ?

Why'd you go with 15's?

225/75R16's and 235/70R16's are the same height and have many options in mud terrain styles.  Would work with stock rims and only rub the frame at hard lock turning.

Why'd you go with 15's?

225/75R16's and 235/70R16's are the same height and have many options in mud terrain styles.  Would work with stock rims and only rub the frame at hard lock turning.

Is hitting the frame any better then rubbing the bumper?? 

I wasn't sure that the rims i wanted would clear the calipers, even if i got 16's. I liked that with 15's you get more tire sidewall and less rim, and the additional track width from the wheel spacers seemed like a bonus for performance and appearance.

Obviously if i'd known that clearing the tires was going to be such a pain in the a$$, i may have got with 16's. Anyways, what's done is done, and I've gotta work with the 15's now. 

This whole ordeal has really got me rethinking my situation. Do i really need mud tires?? Smaller all terrains would provide better on road performance and fuel economy with only marginally less off road abilities....

Anyone wanna trade?

The frame rubbing is mild.  On my XL7 with the 225's it was just a light buzz at max lock.  Basically just rubbed the paint off the frame there.  My Tracker has 235/75R15's and it's a bit more pronounced rubbing but nothing horrible.  I may at some point go to wider ZR2 wheels or something aftermarket but probably not any time soon.

I may have a lead on some 215/75R15 MT's. I'm hoping the guy will trade me for my 235/75's...

My only concern;  a 215 tire on a 7" rim 

trim bumper or remove it entirely to escape rubbing it in the front
Frame rub I think is unavoidable...

no big deal though, as most lifted trucks /w bigger rubber run into those issues

X2 on keeping your present tires and going with some light trimming.  Unless you are just plain unhappy with the tires and rims you have, you can  quickly get into the trick bag of second guessing yourself on the mods to your truck which will result in wasted bucks you could spend on other great mods to your truck.  Been there and done that.  That's why I am so slow in making new mods to my current truck.  For example, for the price of a new set of 5 tires you could buy OME springs and struts and achieve more actual ground clearance and a much improved ride (useful and adds to the "cool" factor) OR you could buy a set of coil spacers for much less... etc.  I'll warn you ahead of time though, you will love the ride improvement the OME equipment will give you. 

X2 on you will probably have tire rub on any 235 tire you put on your truck.  The MTs and some of the more aggressive ATs will rumble more at full lock because of their "chunkier" side walls.  I had a set of 237/75/15 BF Goodrich A/T KOs on one of my trucks and they rubbed just like my Cooper Coursers on my other truck and the Michelin LTX M/S tires I had on it earlier.... the BFGs just rumbled more on the frame when when turning full lock.  Just keep this fact in mind and try not to completely lock-up your steering when turning.  It's not that big of a deal.  Be kind to your PS pump and your and rack and pinion.

These trucks are supposed to be both cool and fun... and they are.

Thanks for all the advice guys. It's really helping me decide what to do.

Well, here's where I'm now. I've got an offer of $650 for all 5 of my 235's. The 215/75 MT's looked good, and the guy wants $500 for the 4.

Going in down in size would surely fix the rubbing issue AND would net me a tiny increase in power and fuel economy (but do i really care?).

I've already trimmed just about as much as i feel comfortable, so I'm leaning (ever so slightly) towards going with the smaller tires.

Can anyone post up some pictures of where they've hacked up the fender well to fit their tires? Maybe i just need some inspiration. 

Your problems are the wider wheels AND the spacers.  They're pushing your tires out from the center of the vehicle and into the fenders when turning.  Bet the wheels don't have a deep backspacing either.