What causes this? I'm going through tires like underwear. It's rubbing so bad that the assembly is bent from constant rubbing. I can't feel it rubbing but obviously it's doing it often.

 

A badly worn wheel bearing can cause it but most likely it is a bent strut or knuckle/spindle. Another thig is your camber could be way out of adjustment if you have aftermarket struts that allow adjustment on the knuckle/spindle.

 

that's what I'm hearing but I don't know much about the suspension parts. Everything is stock. I have 17s but I took them off and even the stock wheels rub. Is there a way for me to check and see which one it is?

 

If your wheel, stock for sure, was bent inward enough the rub against the strut, the car would be undrivable.

Are they really rubbing or is your alignment way off, scrubbing the edges of your tires bald?

Again, if they were rubbing you would absolutely hear it, which you say you don't.

 

IMO, it's time to take it to a professional. If you can't figure out what's causing it at this point, you need to take it to someone that can. A problem like this should be very obvious as to the source.

 

It's a cover that's under the spring. It's like hard metal or plastic. It's rubbing against that. So it's not rubbing the side of the tire....it's the tread. On any stock max if you take a look up under the wheel-well you will see it. Its about 5 inches up over the tire.

 

you hit a curb or something?

 

uh. no. Could it be bad struts? It's not rubbing the side...It's rubbing the top of the tire. It's almost like it's rubbing the spring...Definitely not rubbing the strut.

 

Here is a horrible picture of what is happening. The big black box is the tire. It's rubbing right where I put the arrow.

 

You're running stock-size wheels and tires, with what struts? the only way that could be rubbing there (that's part of the strut you're picturing) is if the tires are WAY too big for the car, or you've got struts too small for the car.

either way you need to get it fixed.
can you pull the wheel off and get a picture of the contact point on the car?
I'd also like to see a picture of the tire itself across the entire tread and maybe one of the tire on the car. you should be able to see it rubbing even while the car is jacked up.

 

I'll take some pics when I get home. Everything is stock. Well at least the tires are.. I never replaced anything on the car. I have wide 17s and they rub also. It rubs regardless of the tire size. It's a 96 and I got it 3 years ago. They could be the original struts.

 

Well i've decided to just get new struts, springs, LCAs, and tie rods. That should take care of it.

Illumina/Progress FTW

 

get an alignment to, you probably have severe negative camber, it's like dragging the inside of your foot as you walk but in this case it is the tire, negative camber also lowers gas mileage

 

will do....

 

Well this weekend I spent 3 days under my car. Replaced both tie rods and both LCAs. The LCA on the passenger side was completely demolished!!! All points off contact were torn to shreds. The driverside tie rod was busted. The boot was split and the joint became dry. So this whole endeavor was not worthless. I now have my progress/tokico setup and will be doing that later this week. I will keep you guys posted. Here it is. Finally!!!

 

none of those explain how/why the wheel was rubbing against the strut. only way that would happen is if you're running the wrong size tires, wheel bearing is damaged, or strut is bent.

 

Well. I assume that the problem is the alignment. The alignment obviously wouldn't hold with all those parts being bad. I finally installed everything and I will be getting an alignment on Monday evening so if we have good tire wear then all is well.