that whole thing shoulda buffed right out

damnit. Something is aligned wrong... My new fender is rubbing into my tire. It already took off a small portion of paint at the one edge/corner thing.

My driver's side doesnt hit there at all.

The passenger side didnt do that before it was backed into.... I know it did afterwards with the dented fender...

The only time I've ever had rubbing issues was when I had 195/65/15 snow tires on and the front struts were bad. I think thats what caused the driver's side fender rust as there are no marks or gouges in these 16 inch tires.


http://i.imgur.com/EKRObKal.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/J4OYf3Gl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3ponzJSl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wUdimv5l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Z39WUlul.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/lSnzZKgl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nHpBSuEl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XGxWhLZl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/b0vLkkel.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/yMeCVkJl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/y35Et2hl.jpg


That and the m103 needs a tune up. Its been AT LEAST 18,000 miles since the last one. 18,000 miles ago was when the 3L m103 was put in..so add how ever old the plugs/rotor/cap were on that to the 18,000...
Tune up parts ordered, $100..

EDIT: The 3L was installed at 213K..So its been 24,000 miles since THAT point..how old the cap/rotor/plugs were on the 3L when it was installed? No idea.

This is a bit of a rough and ready idea but why not try measuring the distance between the centre of the wheels (front and back) on either side of the car and compare. Then measure the distance of each wheel within the arch. If the rear wheels sit at the same place in the rear arch (they should!) then you can start to compare from the front end of the rear arch to the front end of the front arch.

More complicated measurements can be made by parking the car on a flat hard surface and dropping a plumb bob from each point of measurement and marking the floor with chalk - drive / roll the car out of the way to measure between points and (importantly) across points.

Im fairly confident that its not an alignment issue. Prior to the accident I was not having any rubbing issues. I have a set of Lorinser 16x8's on there. They've been on there for three years now..

Dollars to donuts it's going to play out like this:

1) Hmm rubbing here on this passenger fender lip area?
2) Hmm rust on the driver's fender lip area, same as passenger?
3) Hmm wheels must be rubbing.
4) Not our problem. Tough.

My 190E had the right wheel rub the fender the same way, due to a dent on that fender.

So I just gloved up with and pulled the fender outwards little by little, just enough to stop the rubbing. Went for a test drive, and even on dips the tires no longer rub.

This is on 195/60/15 tires.