rear tire is rubbing against the fender

2003 JAGUAR X-TYPE
64,000 MILES
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DAVIDQ
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I put 18 inch rims on my 2003 Jaguar X Type and now ONLY the driver side rear tire is rubbing against the fender. In fact, the fender is destroying the tire. The other 3 wheels fit fine. Why?

Now that I put on new 18 inch rims the drivers side rear tire is rubbing against the fender and is getting chopped up. Why only one wheel? All other wheels fit fine, no rubbing whatsoever.
Feb 22, 2012 at 10:08 PM
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DAVIDQ
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NOTHING? Shouldnt have made a donation.....oh well, you got me.
Feb 22, 2012 at 10:18 PM
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CARADIODOC
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It's common for the rear axle to be off-center a little due to production tolerances and / or alignment angles. If the rear "camber" can be adjusted, lowering it a little will tip the top of the wheel in. It might be necessary to do that to the right wheel too. That angle should be nearly the same on both sides because tires want to roll in the direction they're leaning. The two must counteract each other equally. The left wheel is often set a little higher to make up for "road crown". That is roads leaning to the right so rain runs off. That's much more important for front wheels, but the rear camber also has to be close to specs to reduce tire wear on one edge.

Some cars have a rear cross member that can be shifted from side to side a little. Depending on the suspension geometry, shifting the cross member to the left could move the entire wheel to the left, (which is what you don't want), or it could move just the bottom of the wheel to the left and tip the top to the right which would increase the clearance to the fender.
Feb 22, 2012 at 10:25 PM
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CARADIODOC
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Your question just showed up, and it takes time to type a custom answer just for you. You're WAY out-of-line if you think you're going to get an answer in less than 10 minutes. Some people wait an entire day before they get a reply, . . . and they're grateful!

Some car problems require repeated interaction over a period of days or weeks before we finally figure it out together, and researching those answers takes a lot of time, usually for free. (My record is over 50 replies before the owner found a really unusual cause, thanks to my help). We don't check back to see if there's new posts until we're done typing our fingerprints off for the ones we're already helping. When we finally DO check for new posts, we only answer those we feel competent on and that we can help. If that's not the case, you'll just have to wait until the other experts read it. I would think you'd rather wait for an accurate answer than for an instant one that didn't get any thought or research.

Thank you very much for your donation as it really helps those of us who are unemployed, but you're going to get the same consideration without having to make a donation, and I like that the site owners set it up that way.
Feb 22, 2012 at 10:37 PM
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DAVIDQ
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sorry, didnt mean to offend...if you didnt know there are MANY scams on the internet and I was just expecting an acknowledgement because the site says an immediate response....no worries...you are absolutely right and I apologize.
I want to thank everyone for their help. It is truly appreciated.
Feb 22, 2012 at 11:27 PM
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CARADIODOC
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So what have you found for a solution? If you bought the wheels and tires locally, what do they have to say? Any problem you can encounter, they've run into before. A tire and alignment shop should have answers too. I was a suspension and alignment specialist for 16 years but I left the repair industry in '99 so I'm not familiar with your car specifically. I can't get into our online service either to see how your rear suspension is designed.

Once the problem is solved you might consider taping off the lip of the fender with masking tape on the painted surface, then spraying some primer and paint or some rubberized rust proofing on the edge where it had been hitting the tire. Any original paint or coating is going to be rubbed off and will promote the formation of rust.
Feb 23, 2012 at 1:19 AM