Still rubbing after clevis lift - any ideas?

casm · **Joined:** Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:05 pm **Posts:** 694

A couple of weeks ago, I upgraded tyres from 225/75R16 Goodyears to BFG T/A KO2s in 245/75R16. Unsurprisingly, the KO2s were rubbing at both the front of the wheelarches at about 80% steering lock, as well as on the pinch seam.

In an effort to eliminate the rubbing, a clevis lift consisting of four conduit nuts as well as flattening the pinch seams went in this past weekend. The Jeep is now sitting pretty much level and while the problem has improved, it still continues.

I'm trying to figure out what to chase down next. Specs on the lift are:

- OME 1.5" HD lift
- JBA lifted upper A-Arms
- Four conduit nuts on the front struts

Nothing really exotic there. This is on a 2005 CRD Limited, by the way; wheels are TJ Rubicon Moabs.

There are a set of RRO strut spacers as well as an extra set of rear isolators sitting here in case I ever decide to use them, but for right now I'm not looking to go any taller.

The one thing I haven't been able to do yet is take it in for alignment. I don't know how much that may or may not help, but it is on the radar for when I can free up an hour.

Any ideas? It seems as though this formula should work based on everything I've run across in researching it, but for some reason it's not in my case.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Tue Mar 03, 2020 2:20 pm

casm wrote:

A couple of weeks ago, I upgraded tyres from 225/75R16 Goodyears to BFG T/A KO2s in 245/75R16. Unsurprisingly, the KO2s were rubbing at both the front of the wheelarches at about 80% steering lock, as well as on the pinch seam.
In an effort to eliminate the rubbing, a clevis lift consisting of four conduit nuts as well as flattening the pinch seams went in this past weekend. The Jeep is now sitting pretty much level and while the problem has improved, it still continues.
I'm trying to figure out what to chase down next. Specs on the lift are:
- OME 1.5" HD lift
- JBA lifted upper A-Arms
- Four conduit nuts on the front struts
Nothing really exotic there. This is on a 2005 CRD Limited, by the way; wheels are TJ Rubicon Moabs.
There are a set of RRO strut spacers as well as an extra set of rear isolators sitting here in case I ever decide to use them, but for right now I'm not looking to go any taller.
The one thing I haven't been able to do yet is take it in for alignment. I don't know how much that may or may not help, but it is on the radar for when I can free up an hour.
Any ideas? It seems as though this formula should work based on everything I've run across in researching it, but for some reason it's not in my case.

That is strange, I have 245/75/16 AT's on stock wheels and have never had a rubbing problem. :shock:

I do have 2.5's lift (Ironman Springs/Bilstein Shocks) and a 1/2" clevis spacer. Never done anything to the pinch welds.

Maybe the problem is the offset of your Moab wheels? Just guessing. :idea:

casm · **Joined:** Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:05 pm **Posts:** 694

WWDiesel wrote:

That is strange, I have 245/75/16 AT's on stock wheels and have never had a rubbing problem. :shock:

Yep, I can't figure it out either.

Quote:

I do have 2.5's lift (Ironman Springs/Bilstein Shocks) and a 1/2" clevis spacer. Never done anything to the pinch welds.

Only did the pinch seams because there was obvious tyre rub on the bubble in the wheelarch liner that covers them up

Quote:

Maybe the problem is the offset of your Moab wheels? Just guessing. :idea:

That's what I'm wondering, but others have run the same combination without issue. Kinda stumped, since 2.5" total lift should be enough for everything to clear properly from what I've read.

Did get the alignment done this morning, and it's made no difference other than the steering is much nicer.

iakj11 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 05, 2020 10:03 pm

I'm currently running basically the same suspension setup (2 conduit nuts and a 1/4 inch top plate). My wheels are 16s off of a JK. With the wheel adapters they are probably more similar to your moabs than stock kj rims in terms of offset. I get a little rubbing on the front inner fenders at full lock. Just enough to shine up the plastic.

I went to the 245/75/r16s and jk wheels when I was at 18.75 inches center of hub to fender flare. I had the inner fender rubbing then and also had to trim some of the lower air dam plastic.

With the addition of the OME HD springs, I am now at 21 inches and was surprised that the inner fender rubbing didn't change much after the 2"+ lift.

Those BFGs are more aggressive looking than my bridgestone revo2s, so your experience makes sense to me.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Thu Mar 05, 2020 11:32 pm

iakj11 wrote:

Those BFGs are more aggressive looking than my bridgestone revo2s, so your experience makes sense to me.

I have stated this before, but I will say it again, not all tires are the same even though they have the same size markings.
Some 245/75/16's have deeper tread and more square shaped shoulders which can attribute to tire rubbing at full lock.
Other tires of this same size that are slightly less aggressive and have rounded shoulders tend to do better on these vehicles as to tire rubbing issues at full lock.
Bottom line, pick your tires very carefully.... :wink:

casm · **Joined:** Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:05 pm **Posts:** 694

iakj11 wrote:

I'm currently running basically the same suspension setup (2 conduit nuts and a 1/4 inch top plate). My wheels are 16s off of a JK. With the wheel adapters they are probably more similar to your moabs than stock kj rims in terms of offset. I get a little rubbing on the front inner fenders at full lock. Just enough to shine up the plastic.

I went to the 245/75/r16s and jk wheels when I was at 18.75 inches center of hub to fender flare. I had the inner fender rubbing then and also had to trim some of the lower air dam plastic.

With the addition of the OME HD springs, I am now at 21 inches and was surprised that the inner fender rubbing didn't change much after the 2"+ lift.

Those BFGs are more aggressive looking than my bridgestone revo2s, so your experience makes sense to me.

WWDiesel wrote:

iakj11 wrote:

Those BFGs are more aggressive looking than my bridgestone revo2s, so your experience makes sense to me.

I have stated this before, but I will say it again, not all tires are the same even though they have the same size markings.
Some 245/75/16's have deeper tread and more square shaped shoulders which can attribute to tire rubbing at full lock.
Other tires of this same size that are slightly less aggressive and have rounded shoulders tend to do better on these vehicles as to tire rubbing issues at full lock.
Bottom line, pick your tires very carefully.... :wink:

Hmm. Appreciate the insights, folks.

OK, it looks as though my next shot at this is probably going to be installing the RRO front spacers and extra spring isolators at the rear, the re-evaluating where everything sits.

Depending on how the mood strikes me, I may remove the conduit nuts and go with RRO's Under-the-Top strut spacers instead. Not sure that's where I want to necessarily spend money simply because the spacers I already have plus the conduit nuts net more or less the same amount of lift, but it would tidy up the installation somewhat.

Mountainman · **Posted:** Fri Mar 06, 2020 12:20 pm

It's typical to have to trim the air dam

casm · **Joined:** Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:05 pm **Posts:** 694

Mountainman wrote:

It's typical to have to trim the air dam

Which was something I had completely forgotten about.

Took the Dremel to the air dam this morning; everything is now fine when moving forward, but reverse is still rubby though slightly improved.

Thinking my next step will be doing some reshaping of the wheel well liners per this post - I'm curious to find out how much dust the heat gun's going to burn off when I turn it on anyway :SOMBRERO:

Still rubbing after clevis lift - any ideas?

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