Hey I just got my 17" TE rims from Perk here on the org and I got them up on my 01 GLE max and for some reason it feels as if these new shoes are rubbing against the wheel well or something its hitting when i turn the steering wheel all the way to the left or all the way to right.. has this ever been an issue for anyone before? I'm about to take the car in to get an alignment and check if they are rubbing but just figured I'd ask here first see if anyone had this experience before...

Here's some pics of the rims on my car....

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._8210672_n.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._2227941_n.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._3725998_n.jpg

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._7463104_n.jpg

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6390130_n.jpg

 

There shouldn't be any rubbing issues. What are the measurement of the tires? Are your steering bump stops broken?

 

tire is 225-50-17 stock tires.

What do you mean turn stops broken??

 

You have steering bump stops that limit how much you can turn the wheel. It is like a long bolt with a plastic thing at the end. If it has been removed/broken you may be turning the wheel at a greater degree than the specs allow and that may be the cause of your rubbing.

Is it rubbing only on sharp turns?

 

Oh nah I dont think its broken or anything like that the wheel turned fine before I put them on my car i just got these things on and now it feels like its hitting a lil.. if they are rubbing for wateva reason it has to be very very lil nothing crazy but i can tell cuz you feel it on the sharp turn cuz its like the wheel catches and it starts pullin the car in that direction and doesnt go back str8 rite away like it should ...

 

I'm under the impression that it's not rubbing, unless you inspect the tire/wheel well and prove me wrong. That said, I think it could be one of two things. Either the problem is with you and you aren't used to bigger, fatter rubber. Or, something is wrong with your steering. Have you checked the steering fluid?

 

your car is like an SUV, your car is not dropped so there is no way the tires can rub. Check your suspension but there is no way.

 

Fluid is fine.

The car should be so sloppy on the road as it feels right now... my only guess is that its in dyer need of a wheel alignment which I'm going to ASAP. Just had my whole front end done less than 4 weeks ago. New inner/outer tie rods, ball joints and front and back suspension done about 3 months ago. But the wheel is definitely hitting or rubbing something when I turn the wheel all the way to the left /right. I'm gonna take this to my mechanic tomorrow and see what he thinks.. I'll keep it posted see if he can't figure it out or if I'm completely wrong.

 

If you had all that work done on the front end, definitely get an alignment if you havent.

Do you hear it rubbing? I would that if it was rubbing you would be able to hear it.

 

It should not be rubbing at all, Something must not be right in the suspension, I saw you stated it was redone recently bring it back to the shop that did it..

the Wheels look Sick!!

 

Only thing I'm hearing when driving str8 is the break pad hitting the rim? i think it the rims are a lil too close i dunno if thats possible with this i mean its a 17" from an 03 and my GLE comes stock with 16"s but i mean 01 SE has 17" stock so there should be no problems with this ever hitting the inner walls rite?

 

Thanks Perk.. They look F-Kin Sick at Nite..

 

While you were installing the new wheels, did you happen to bend the dust shields on either side? Any possibility of something like that?

 

I don't think so but I can always check it out..

 

If you are hearing the actual brake pad hitting the rim, you have some serious issues.... I'm assuming you mean the caliper.
I would highly doubt this because the '03 SE/TE wheels have the most clearance of any 02-03 stock wheels (i believe anyway).

What I was talking about though is when you turn the wheel to the extreme right or left. Thats most likely when you would hear the wheel rubbing and it would be rubbing against the strut/spring or a plastic splash shield.

This is a possibililty of the dust shield around the brakes rubbing on the rotor. But that would be a high pitched, metal on metal, tinny sound.

So based on what type of sound you are hearing, it can tell you what is rubbing, if anything.

 

I don't think ive heard any scraping noise..

Its hittin the plastic shield under the car that covers the entire under body in the front of the car. I guess not a big issue its only plastic but its definitely touching. Just went out and got under and its hitting it when turned to the extreme left / right both hitting the same place

 

If you could get some pics showing where its rubbing, it might be helpful.

The only other thing I could think of is if the plastic shields arent secured tight and they are hanging out towards the wheel too far. If you grab the part thats rubbing, do they feel loose?

 

Have you tried putting the 16s back on and seeing if you still have the problem?

 

16s were on the car a day ago and I didnt have so much play in the wheel nor did the wheel hit the inner wheel well when turning. I check air pressure on the tires seems that they are at 40 psi so I lowered them to 35 all around. I'm going to get a wheel alignment in a few I hope it helps the problem.

I'm going to check the plastic clips on the bottom see if they are holding tight or if its loose and maybe thats y its hitting? I'll try to take some pics as well of it.

 

you need to adjust you stop screws now since you've installed wider SE wheels! The steering stops settings are set different for the 15", 16" and 17" wheels, That's why our turning radius sucks!

 

Really?? I never heard of doing that before are there any writeup's on how I can do this? Anyone else heard or known about this?

 

This may be it.

The slop in your steering, however, I don't know about.

 

In the Factory Manuals under general spec's I'm at work presently but I'll give your what my factory manuals states once home they're paper back! Most of your rubbing should be up front but the gas tank filler pipe cover is not installed on the SE models at the left rear wheel well either.

 

I too have this creaking/grinding sound only when i make a hard left. It almost sounds like a soft tat tat tat. It does not happen ALL the time, car typically has to warm up first; and made no noise at all today while raining.

I have been reading a lot in the forum that it can possibly be worn steering bump stops--where are these located that I can check? (i am a gal with no auto body experience).

The mechanic asked for me to bring it back during dryer weather for them to check it out.

advice welcome!

 

The Factory service manual has two separate settings one for the 15"+16" wheels (inside) Min: 36*, Nominal: 39.5*, Max: 40*, (Outside) nominal:32*. For the 17" wheels (inside) Min: 29.5*, Nominal: 33*, Max: 28.5*.... You need to adjust the stops a little easier so you have 1/2" -1" clearance with your slash sheilds at the fwd wheel edge and the rear wheel edge on both sides. The stops torque is 40-53 ft-lbs! Good luck. Info in the 2000 FSM pg SU-9 and SU-16!

 

Ok so I took the car to get alignment and now shes straight but now I'm having a problem with my transmission!! I was driving on the highway and I smelt like burning tranny fluid, I decided to get off and see what the hell was up i get off the highway come to a stop light and when it turned green my car wouldn't move out of 1st. Now I have 2001 GLE AUTO, never had a problem before with my transmission but now I got these rims and my tranny is slipping on me? WTF? Can it be that the rims have something to do with this?? I have about 130K miles on the car any ideas? I check the stick and it smells like burnt fluid my mechanic saying a new rebuilt transmission is gonna run me $1250 with everything and a new CAT.

 

Definitely not the wheels. Those wheels are too light to make a tranny burn. Before you jump out the window with a rebuilt tranz I would try a power flush. It's about 100 bucks. Good luck.

 

Not wheel related!