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i have icw tsunami wheels which are 18x7.5 with a 45 offset i believe it was had them for quite a while now. i got the tokico blues and eibach pro kit installed like 2 weeks ago.

has anyone had any problem with their car lowered and 18'' wheels. im asking because every time i make a turn to where the body of the car shifts to that end a bit i can here like a squeel/ rubbing noise or something like that only when i make turns.

when i check everything looks okay i dont see no rubbing marks or anything. im having the shop recheck their work to see if something was not set up right

just thought id ask to see if anyone is on the same boat. am i gonna have to go down to 17''

Yeah I had the same coils and similar wheels. I had to roll the back fenders and raise the coils a tad. Check the wheels to see if they stick out past the fenders, and look for melted rubber up underneath.

no they dont stick past the fender they are perfectly flush with it. ive checked to see if their are any marks and i dont see any everything looks just fine. ill have to wait till friday when they chack it again.

ill go down to 17x7 if needed to stop that noise.

i say the wheels are hitting your tension strut in the rear.

^ That too. Mine was about 1/4" away from rubbing on it.

no the noise is coming from the front, mainly the driver front more than the passenger front. but its deffinatly the front

the rear is fine no problems there.

The sound can be deceiving too. I thought mine was coming from the front but it wasn't.

Check to see if the tire is rubbing on the trans side cover (if you have an ATX). My 2000 rubbed there with 17x7s and pro kit springs.

okay just rechecked it and it is rubbing on the back maybe thats where the noise is coming from. ill see if anything can be done when they check on friday.

maybe someone will want to trade 17'' for 18''s straight accross on here .

any takers

Wheel diameter is probably not the issue. The issue is either the offset or the tire size, or both. What size tires do you run? Also, if you were running these wheels/tires successfully before lowering the car, then that eliminates the suspension components as being an issue. The only thing that changed is the body's relation to the tire. Tokico struts are externally identical to the stock ones; the difference is the internal valving. I'd say you're probably rubbing on the fender.

I'm on TSW Lagunas 18x8 and nothing has ever rubbed, and I BELIEVE they are 35mm offset. I can't remember. Can anyone confirm this?

im running 215/35/18 toyo proxes yeah before the lowering had no issues at all. in the back its right up against the tention rod i think it is but it seems fine. and i cant find any place where its rubbing anywhere else .
first two pics are cell pics. but this should help you guys see what type of clearance i have. im just not sure where the issue is.

okay yeah im pretty sure its the back now lol its hitting that black rod you can see it on the 4th pic its from the center of the wheel and it goes towards the body.

think 3mm spacers will do the trick?

just to try to help out with a pic...

talkin about this stabalizer bar? (this is a pic of mine, looking from the front of the tire, towards the rear( (I'm only running 16" rims with 205/50's..and this is how close I am...)

Yeah that's the bar.

That's the strut rod, not the stabilizer bar. It attaches to the spindle below the strut mounting points and to the frame of the car. It is used to prevent fore and aft motion of the rear suspension.

What I don't understand is how it wasn't happening before... Lowering the car doesn't change the distance from the tire/wheel to the frame, and the strut rod is basically fixed to the frame. Unless the bushings on the strut rod failed recently allowing excess play, I can't think of a reason why this would rub all the sudden.

The loading on the bushings is slightly different now, possibly causing distortion during cornering. I'd recommend upgrading to urethane bushings for the strut rods if this is the case, they will stand up to more abuse under these conditions. Also, the camber has changed relative to the frame, and might have been enough to cause your issue. If this is the cause, an alignment would do the trick, but you'd need camber bolts or slotted struts. A very small wheel spacer would help too, but there are risks involved there.

yeah that pic Pablodragon posted is what i was trying to show on my pics thanks for that pic. yeah its rubbing on there im guessin thats where the problem is.


was thinkin of using 3mm spacers from modern think that will do the trick?

im not too sure how the offset works can someone explain it to me? mine are 45mm offset what if i get 35mm offset wheels do you think that will bring them out a bit so it doesnt rub against it?

thanks again been helpful

Basically, offset is the measurement from the wheels mounting surface to the actual centerline of the wheel. The stock offset of a Neon is +40mm (the mounting surface is 40mm towards the outer face of the wheel). Here is a link that has more detail:

viewtopic.php?t=16337

Your wheels have a high offset, which isn't a very good idea clearance wise. Offset is relative to wheel width, so two wheels with the same offset that are different widths will have different clearances. Let me know if you have any other questions.

so by that link it sounds like getting some 18x7.5 with a smaller offset such as 35mm instead of mine 45mm offset it will bring the wheel out and will solve my problem right?


i want to keep my tires so i would just change out the wheel and not the whole setup. id rather do this than get spacers.

That would be a better idea for sure. Spacers are sketchy and should not be used if you can avoid it. A 10mm reduction in offset would get your wheel away from the tension strut, but it would also push the wheel out 10mm on the fender side. I recommend getting a 7" wheel with +35mm offset. It is known to be the best fit on the Neon, both clearance wise and aesthetically. Wider wheels than 7" will just complicate things.

does anyone know if the width of the wheel affects the tire you use.

i have 215/35/18 now on a 7.5'' width wheel if i go to a 7'' wheel will i need a diff tire or will mine still work?

It will work just fine. Your tire is not very wide. I run a 205mm tire on a stock 6" wheel with no problems at all. You could put those tires on a 6" wheel with no problem if you had to, though 18's rarely come smaller than 7" wide.

thanks guys looks like ima do some wheel shoppin today

How about SRT rear knuckles? They move the tension struts inboard, not sure if they work with drums though.

^, no they don't work, You have to do a full rear srt brake swap

You can get a bent tension strut from modern or mopar.