back tires rubbing on civic

[krz2fer]

92 civic lx...

I used to run on 205/40/16 tires but the treadlife was too short for my budget, so I upgraded to some BFG 205/50/16 that had a nice warrenty with them. And of course TireRack said they'd fit fine despite some hesitation on my end, so I got them. Anyway now with 2-3 people in the back seat the back tires rub on the wheel well lip on the outer edge of the tire. It's not a big deal right now but it's not something I can keep letting happen because I don't want to blow out a tire eventually.

I'm headed on a fairly long trip in about a week and I need a fix here since I'll be taking 3 people along. I've heard from a lot of people about those spring spacers you can jam in there to minimize give, so I got some today at autozone and found out that they cant be put in unless the springs are removed and uncompressed a bit - something id take to a shop to do since I dont have that kind of experience.

I've also had suggestions to get stiffer springs with minimal drop like H&R OEs or Sports or something, but I know new springs on stock struts can be bad. So any suggestions here.. ?

[pdiggitydogg]

The main issue is that the tires are too large. Yours are 5% too tall.
If you have adjustable shocks, just turn up the damping on them.

[krz2fer]

I've got the stock suspension still...

[thermal]

wow, stock suspension and it's rubbing? No drop? That is really odd...

[krz2fer]

Yeah, I almost feel like the back springs are sagging in the past 6 months because even visually it's obvious that the back tires sit much closer to the wheel well. Is that possible? 13 yr old springs just have had enough?

Also - the spacers - is that a decent fix?

[strikingaccord]

Do yourself a favor and upgrade the suspension as soon as you have the money. I've always had luck with Eibach springs and Tokico struts. In the meantime, put some masking tape on the outside of the rear fenders, and pull the wheels off. Roll the lip up with a rubber mallet, and spray it with some undercoating when you're done. You have to do this because the paint will chip off and you don't want it to rust. The paint on the outside of the fender won't chip because you put tape there. The tape also keeps any over spray off the outside of the car.