You're right about a taller tire not changing fender gap. But the horizontal gap does in fact change. This is why the tab rubs with the wrong size tire. Whether you're lowered or not, the wrong size tire can cause rubbing issues. If you want to run a 45 sidewall, get some 17s


Also, just a side note, I use my wheels to fill the fender. Not the tires...

 

That's what i said son!

LOL

The only way to fill the fenders front to rear ("horizontally"), is with a taller tire. That's the ONLY way. Fender gap vertically is entirely dependant on springs.



And yes it's very simple, cut the damn tab, or bend it as some suggested. When your tires are worn, get the proper size.

No point spending money to replace something that is perfectly fine, as long as you don';t mind the body sitting a bit higher.

 

I don't know if we're getting terms confused, but here is how I see it. Going from a 40-45 series tire, the diameter of the tire changes. Simple math, the percentage of the width, etc...

The body is only resting on half of the diameter change, the other half rises above the hub. It's like saying if you had a 65 series tire, that the body would rise alone, leaving the gap the same.

If you're referring to fender gap being the distance laterally, not vertically, therefore not affecting the tabs, you have to take into consideration offset of the wheels. On stock wheels with no spacers, the profile of the tire would only come into play if I almost bottomed out and hit the inner well. On Z33 Tracks or G35c 18s, the offsets even the wheels closer to the fender edge, therefore the profile makes a bigger difference when coming closer to the tabs.

Cliffs: The diameter change between 245/40 and 45 is exactly 1 inch. .5 will affect the ride height, the other .5 will be distinguishable in the fender area visually.

 

Daym, you're absolutely correct man. I was wrong no misunderstandings, I was just thinking in overall height rather than splitting the height changes.

So yeah, half of the increase is directly transmitted into the fender gap vertically. Also didn't mention the strut clearance will obviously change too, an especially in the front, you need to keep an eye on it. My G37S 19"s are VERY close to the Tein SS's. They're SO close, that I have to camber out just a little or they'll touch.

 

This thread is clearing up some issues i was having with the whole wheel size/ride hight measurments.BTW for winter i swapped out the coilovers and put the illum/s-tech back on and it seems like all springs even if the same brand give different results like right now the rear of my car sits at exactly 25" measured from the wheel well to ground and the front sits at 25 1/4" and the tire size is 245/45/17 and it fills the gap up pretty nicely.now i do want new rims and was looking at 18" tsw Zolder 5 which are 18x8 or 18x9.5 offset 40 this is where i get confused the 40 offset fitment how does that play with filling the gap and more of a flush fitment?

 

I was having the same rubbing issue. I trimmed the plastic tab with a dremmel and bent the metal tab with a sledge hammer. Problem is - I still hear rubbing on hard dips, but I cannot find absolutely any trace of rubbing!

I'm running 245/45/18's as well, with a +35 offset, sitting on Teins @ 26.25" F/R. Rolled fenders and 5mm spacers in the rear. Anyone else encounter this problem? I'm thinking about going with a staggered setup and putting 9.5's in the rear, but I want to find the source of my problem, as I do not want to make it worse (I'm suspecting I'm just hitting the plastic inner fender liners?). From what I have seen, people have run much more aggressive setups which tells me it should be doable.

 

I think you need to rethink that. A taller tire due to it's larger diameter/circumference will reduce fender gap & increase ride height at the same time all things being equal. The axle is in the center of the wheel so it will split the difference vertically between the road and fender, but the F/R fender clearance is fixed horizontally in the plane of motion the axle takes.