Hey all.

Looks like I opened up the entire can of worms with my new tires.

I recently got Copper Discoverer AT3 tires for my '15 JKU in 265/70R18 mounted on stock Sahara type wheels. I had previously installed a 3/4" front spacer "lift" to level the Jeep and I am also running steel bumpers at both ends but no winch.

The tires rub very slightly on the sway bar at full lock, on both sides but more on the left.

I understand the potential solutions to my problem are:

1. add washers to the steering lock stop bolt so it locks sooner.
2. wheel spacers.
3. lift.

1 and 2 are not really good options for me, so I have elected to try #3. I ordered a set of coil spacers, 1.5" rear and 2.5" front.

Questions:

1. Will I need longer sway bar end links on the rear with only a 1.5" lift?
2. Will a 2.5" front lift be sufficient to eliminate this rubbing without adding an adjustable track bar? Seems to me the lift will move the left tire closer to the sway bar and make it more likely to rub, not less likely.

Thanks-

 

LOL, this is always the issue with mods. You're not alone in that regard.

Why are a few washers in the steering stop not acceptable to you? It doesn't eat up you're turning radius really....not that noticeable.

1) you're sway bar links are going to shrink by another .75" in the rear it looks like, and even more up front. Ideally you'd want those sway parallel to just just a bit. certainly won't be the end of the world, but not perfect.

2) I think you've answered your question. the 2.5" puck will shift the axle just a tad to the driver's side without an adjustable TB, reducing the clearance between your tire and the sway bar. I think you'll still have a clearance issue that is brought on by the wheels having too much back spacing.

Unfortunately, the real solution is properly back spaced wheels.....or run spacers. It's understandable why you don't want the spacers, but there are some quality ones out there. I'd stick with brand name Spidertrax if you had to go that route. Even if you added an adjustable TB, you might still have a clearance issue.

 

Yeah, that's the big reason I didn't want to go down this road to begin with.

I need every last bit of turning radius I have just to park in my company's parking garage. I really can't tolerate losing any of it. This is a last resort but if there is any way to avoid it, I would prefer to avoid it.

Well that sucks. Maybe I should cancel my order for the lift parts.

This is where I will disagree. The factory wheels are properly back-spaced wheels. They fit the way Jeep intended, keep the tires within the fenders and put the steering axis where it should be. There are a ton of additional problems (a can of a different breed of worms) that you get by going with wheels with less back spacing.

The reason I don't want spacers has nothing to do with quality. It has a lot to do with a lot of other factors. So this is basically the only thing I won't budge on.

Anyway, maybe a temporary solution will be to use washers in the steering stops until I can get an adjustable track bar.

That brings up the next question:

With the front axle centered (adjustable track bar), will these tires rub the sway bars with 2.5" pucks?

I'm just trying to work out the conflicting information. Most reports are that "33s" (which is what these tires are) don't rub, or if they do at stock ride height, they don't rub at 2.5" lift. But there's no information about exactly what all ancillary mods have to be done to prevent rubbing at 2.5" lift.

 

Fair nough on the previous response. I missed it was a 33 and was thinking 35's mounted on those wheels. I think you're heading down the correct path. Surely someone on 33's and a 2.5" boost will chime in to confirm.

 

More lift is not the answer, it is the wheel back spacing. Add wheel adapters to the wheels to push them farther out.

 

Yeah, that's not going to happen. See above. The wheel's position under the fender and steering geometry are much more important to me than steering lock, which is the other way to solve this.

Are you saying more lift will not help at all?

 

You put wider tires on stock rims. That is why you have clearance issues. Lifting the Jeep will not help at all.

 

adding more bump stop will do the trick, lift height has nothing to do with the rubbing.

 

Yep, this is a wheel backspace/spacer issue. The factory wheels are properly backspaced for factory tires. They are not properly backspaced for larger tires.

Lift won't change anything, and if you do lift without using an adjustable trackbar then it will only make it worse.

That all said, it doesn't take much of a change in backspacing to eliminate the rubbing with that size tire. You don't have to go all the way to 4.5" or less if you don't plan on an even bigger tire down the road.

 

Just amazing that it can't tolerate tires that are 10mm wider. Go Jeep! Engineering at it's greatest.

Well my geometry tells me that the lift may help, at least in theory. But you are correct about the track bar for sure.

Seriously the suggestion is to change the wheels? Crazy.

If I could get a 10mm spacer potentially with longer studs I'd do that. But I'm not changing wheels.

We'll see what happens with the lift. All I have to deal with is slight rubbing at full lock so I can adjust the steering stop if I have to.

Still I have never heard of any car with so little tolerance in tire clearance that it won't handle +10mm. Insane. Jeep could solve this problem easily with slightly different bending of the sway bar.

It's a Jeep thing. You wouldn't understand. Because it's also idiotic.