17" Wheel Rubbing Alert!

[newtomit]

Hi all,

If we haven't talked, I'm new here. I got my Mirage almost 2 weeks ago. At the time of purchase, I did not realize the tires and wheels on this car are larger than factory size. Wheels are 17" and tires are 205 40 17. They look like this:


People on here advised me of possible rubbing. I had heard rear noises that could'd been rubbing a few times before but I just experienced a full one yesterday. I was driving at night and it was dark so I did not see a dip on the street. I went over it without slowing down (I wasn't driving very fast though since it was a residential area, maybe 20-25mph). I heard a very loud noise in the back. I knew a rubbing just happened. When I got home, this is what I found


The rear passenger fender got pulled inside out. Driver rear side seems ok. Of all the times I heard rear noises, it's always the passenger side, not sure why. This is definitely concerning. Also my personal driving experience with these tires and wheels is I feel they make the car bumpier. I had a mechanic test drive the car and he said the tires seem noisy. MPG suffers as well. The best I was able to get on highway is 35, according to the car's mpg screen. I'm now on a mission to swap these out for factory size ASAP. I'm going to call the dealership tomorrow to see if they'd be willing to do it at no cost, but I doubt they will since it's an used car dealership and not a Mitsubishi one. If you're thinking about getting 17" wheels, my advise is DON'T, unless you live somewhere that has good and even roads.

Do you think it's still safe to drive with this fender?

[Top_Fuel]

That seems like an odd area for a rear tire to contact if the rear end bottomed out in a dip in the road. You can take a small block of wood (with a hammer) and massage that metal back into place. Do you see any damage or rubbing marks on the outside sidewall of the tire? What about the inside of the tire?

If you're going to get rid of those wheels/tires, don't rush out and buy anything in a hurry. You don't have to go back to a completely stock setup (165-65-14 tires on 14x4.5" wheels). There are other wheel/tire options out there that look good and still maintain decent fuel mileage. You just happen to have a wheel/tire combination that is an extreme example for a Mirage.

[newtomit]

That seems like an odd area for a rear tire to contact if the rear end bottomed out in a dip in the road. You can take a small block of wood (with a hammer) and massage that metal back into place. Do you see any damage or rubbing marks on the outside sidewall of the tire? What about the inside of the tire?

If you're going to get rid of those wheels/tires, don't rush out and buy anything in a hurry. You don't have to go back to a completely stock setup (165-65-14 tires on 14x4.5" wheels). There are other wheel/tire options out there that look good and still maintain decent fuel mileage. You just happen to have a wheel/tire combination that is an extreme example for a Mirage.

I tried to bend it in with a plier and cloth for padding, ended up scratching pretty badly I really shouldn't try doing any repair on my own...

Do you think it's safe to drive with the fender bottomed out like that? I'm concerned it's going to get worse

[dspace9]

Do you think it's still safe to drive with this fender?

I'd be more worried about the safety of driving with those tires, if they're doing that kind of damage. Scary really. They are like prop tires, makes your Mirage really pop in those photos, but they're a poor fit, causing damage to your fender, and on top of that peeling like an orange.

I've had Dunlop 14" tires twice, and Bridgestone Potenza 14" once. All gave me great MPGs and handled the same. Winter tire 14" is my big next purchase.. for what will be my 7th winter driving my Mirage.

Stay safe cheers! Emphasize safety concern and legal and they might fix stuff for free.

[Top_Fuel]

I tried to bend it in with a plier and cloth for padding, ended up scratching pretty badly...

You're probably going to have to remove the wheel from the car and beat that part of the fender lip back into position. Don't hit the metal of the car directly with a hammer. Hold a piece of 2x4 against the bent fender lip and hit the 2x4 with the hammer. That should move the fender lip back into place without doing any more damage to your paint. Keep the pliers and vice grips in your toolbox!

Do you think it's safe to drive with the fender bottomed out like that?

I'm still trying to figure out how the wheel/tire moved forward in the fender opening to contact that part of your car? Normally you would expect the tire to rub near the top of the rear fender opening...not the front of it.

As long as you don't unexpectedly bottom-out the rear of the car, you should be OK. Remember that carrying rear passengers makes you more likely to experience rubbing issues in the rear.

Be sure to carefully examine the tire sidewall to make sure it didn't get cut/gouged in the process.

[newtomit]

I'd be more worried about the safety of driving with those tires, if they're doing that kind of damage. Scary really. They are like prop tires, makes your Mirage really pop in those photos, but they're a poor fit, causing damage to your fender, and on top of that peeling like an orange.

I've had Dunlop 14" tires twice, and Bridgestone Potenza 14" once. All gave me great MPGs and handled the same. Winter tire 14" is my big next purchase.. for what will be my 7th winter driving my Mirage.

Stay safe cheers! Emphasize safety concern and legal and they might fix stuff for free.

Scary indeed. I'm contacting the dealership tomorrow and even if they don't agree to swap them, I'm going to get it done somewhere else ASAP. I don't feel too good driving it now that this happened.

[newtomit]

I'm still trying to figure out how the wheel/tire moved forward in the fender opening to contact that part of your car? Normally you would expect the tire to rub near the top of the rear fender opening...not the front of it.

As long as you don't unexpectedly bottom-out the rear of the car, you should be OK. Remember that carrying rear passengers makes you more likely to experience rubbing issues in the rear.

Be sure to carefully examine the tire sidewall to make sure it didn't get cut/gouged in the process.

Yeah, strange indeed. I did not expect something like this to happen. I thought it'd be just normal rubbing against the fender, not popping it out. It definitely did not look like this before and I did hear it happen. I also did not even have any rear passengers at all, only myself and a front passenger. Each of us weights around 160-170lbs, and was not carrying anything in the trunk

[Top_Fuel]

...I'm going to get it done somewhere else ASAP

Don't rush out and buy something. If you find something, post about it and we'll give you some feedback before you spend any more money.

[Mark]

Also my personal driving experience with these tires and wheels is I feel they make the car bumpier. I had a mechanic test drive the car and he said the tires seem noisy. MPG suffers as well. The best I was able to get on highway is 35, according to the car's mpg screen. I'm now on a mission to swap these out for factory size ASAP. I'm going to call the dealership tomorrow to see if they'd be willing to do it at no cost, but I doubt they will since it's an used car dealership and not a Mitsubishi one. If you're thinking about getting 17" wheels, my advise is DON'T, unless you live somewhere that has good and even roads.

I wouldn't trust a used car dealership to suggest the best wheel/tire package. Unless you know what you want, I wouldn't even approach a dealership. You need to indicate what you are looking for in a wheel/tire package first. I wouldn't go into this without a good understanding of what you want.

Looking at what you have 205/40r17 -

205 is wide, & 165-185 are better (don't hear of rubbing issues).

40 is low profile (rougher ride), & 55-65 aspect ratio would be better.

17" rims are quite large, & 14-15" would be better.

Your rims also appear to be wide, but that's hard to tell in a pic.
I wouldn't go over 6" wide rims for a Mirage, & 5" - 5.5" may be better.

5" wide rims are recommended for 155-185 tires (these are not an easy aftermarket option to find, however).
5.5" wide rims are recommended for 165-195 tires
6" wide rims are recommended for 175-205 tires

Personally, I'd prefer 4.5-5.5" wide rims for a Mirage, but others do use 6" wide rims.

14" rims & matching tires sizes
165/65r14 (22.4" diameter) are factory size tires, but 175/65r14 (23" diameter) tires would give you more tire options. These are the two most commonly used 14" tire sizes used by Mirage owners.

15" rims & matching tire sizes
175/55r15 (22.6" diameter) are factory size tires, but 185/55r15 (23" diameter) tires would give you more tire options. These are probably the two most commonly used 15" tire sizes used by Mirage owners.

Aftermarket small rims are not as common/popular. You will have fewer choices/options than someone shopping for Corvette rims.

14" wheels may give you a better ride (higher profile tire)
15" wheels may give you better handling (lower profile tire)
The difference between these two wouldn't be that great, however.

I would shop on-line before approaching a local tire shop or dealer. Find something you like first, & see how close they can match that along with price.

Example of shopping on line for 14-15" rims that are 5-5.5" wide -

https://www.fitmentindustries.com/st...4x3.94%2C4x100

There are others like tirerack.com & discounttire.com. Just search for rims that fit your car.

Example of shopping for 165/65r14 tires -

https://simpletire.com/catalog?width...rice&order=asc

Example of shopping for 175/65r14 tires -

https://simpletire.com/catalog?resul...m=14&zip=53581

Example of shopping for 175/55r15 tires -

https://simpletire.com/catalog?resul...m=15&zip=53581

Example of shopping for 185/55r15 tires -

https://simpletire.com/catalog?resul...m=15&zip=53581

These are examples. I used the same vendor to show the difference in selection when looking at different sizes. I would check out tirerack.com, discounttire.com, tires-easy.com, walmart.com, etc..... when tire shopping. Then I would see what my local tire shop can do for me. It's not a crime to be informed when shopping for something.

[Mark]

Scary indeed. I'm contacting the dealership tomorrow and even if they don't agree to swap them, I'm going to get it done somewhere else ASAP. I don't feel too good driving it now that this happened.

I realize my previous post may be overwhelming. You need to decide what you want first. I will use myself as an example. I prefer narrow 14" tires for my Mirage.

Thus, I use 165/65r14 tires. I now have two sets (summer & winter) of steel rims. My 14" steel rims are are 4.5", 5", & 5.5" wide.

I will never buy a Dunlop Enasave tire (@ any price new or used) due sidewall issues. So far, I have bought -

165/65r14 Federal SS657 tires (approximately $42/tire @ simpletire.com)
165/65r14 Nokian Nordman 7 snow tires. (approximately $80/tire @ tires-easy.com)
165/65r14 Nexen N'Priz AH5 tires (approximately $50/tire @ tires-easy.com)
All prices above include free shipping and tires were received within 4 days.

Some day I may try the 165/65r14 Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires. Since 165/65r14 tire options are limited, nothing else interests me.

If I decided to start buying 175/65r14 tires, I would go back to buying Cooper tires. I would try the Cooper Evolution Tour, & I could easily use 175/65r14 tires on my existing rims.