Picked up my superlite wheels yesterday and I love them, they are 13" by 6J and they have 175/50/13 tyres. They look awesome but as the volvo is lowered 2" (according to the previous owner) I have been having a bit of trouble with the bottom of the leaf springs scraping on the ground quite badly over speedbumps and even slight bumps in the road. I cant possibly drive with more than one other person in the car which could be a problem.

So what are my options?
I dont really want to get higher profile tyres as they look really good as they are..I dont really want to take the lowering blocks out as it wont look as good.. Is there anything I can do? Or just put up with it? haha

the leafs are grounding!!!!!?
Exhausts, Gearbox and sump'd surelt touch before the leafs did?
New shocks ftw man. If you didnt change them when you lowered it.
Maybe replace the leaf springs or even double-leaf it for more support.

Badger wrote:Picked up my superlite wheels yesterday and I love them, they are 13" by 6J and they have 175/50/13 tyres.

and you wonder why it's scraping? They're the jumbo size for Minis which are a bit bonkers.

If you love the wheel / tyre combo, then it's do something about the springs and get them off the ground. It may look fantastic, but there is the tiny wee practicality of actually getting about the place.

Errm.. fit sensibly sized wheels/tyre combo?

volvosneverdie wrote:the leafs are grounding!!!!!?
Exhausts, Gearbox and sump'd surelt touch before the leafs did?
New shocks ftw man. If you didnt change them when you lowered it.
Maybe replace the leaf springs or even double-leaf it for more support.

Well i'm no mechanic and I havent had a proper look, only a glance under the car. Looks like the bottom of the leafs have some bolts coming out of them and they are only a matter of inches off the floor.
Well I noticed when we put the new wheels on that the shocks are bright blue so I am assuming they are after-market but they dont seem very stiff. Are landrover rear shocks the ones I want? If so, what land rover? haha

Cheers

SteveP wrote:Errm.. fit sensibly sized wheels/tyre combo?

But they look awesome! haha
And they tyres were on them when I bought them, not my choice..

Was gonna say I think you'll find it may be the U-Clamp threads catching rather than the leafs, i'm sure my 16V used to do it, but I lived with it lol!

griffo20022 wrote:Was gonna say I think you'll find it may be the U-Clamp threads catching rather than the leafs, i'm sure my 16V used to do it, but I lived with it lol!

Haha I'm used to having low cars so I could put up with it, as long as I knew it wasnt going to damage it or make anything fall off haha!

griffo20022 wrote:Was gonna say I think you'll find it may be the U-Clamp threads catching rather than the leafs, i'm sure my 16V used to do it, but I lived with it lol!

300's don't have U-Clamps But yeah, Griffo has a point... maybe the bolts you used on the leaf springs when you lowered it are too long?

Hacksaw ftw.

Yeh but guys even if the bolts are too long, in their position there if they are touching the floor then you ave a problem as they are part of the unsprung weight of the car. If they are touching then either the tyres are a bit flat or they will be permenantly touching.
I would sooner bet its the exhaust catching.....
Adam

Im on 195/5015s with new shocks and good strong leafs, and MY exhaust knocks on bumps, so unless you have a custom/side exit, Id guess thats gonna touch before the bolt-ends.
Should be apparent whats lower by eye when you look under the car like.

volvosneverdie wrote:Im on 195/5015s with new shocks and good strong leafs, and MY exhaust knocks on bumps, so unless you have a custom/side exit, Id guess thats gonna touch before the bolt-ends.
Should be apparent whats lower by eye when you look under the car like.

You need to fix your exhaust then...

I rally mine on those tyres, and dont scrape anything unless I'm offroad.

Badger, you'll have to look under the car and see what is scraping tbh, Adam's right, it won't be the bolts as they go up and down with the wheel.

Chris_C wrote:You need to fix your exhaust then...

I rally mine on those tyres, and dont scrape anything unless I'm offroad.

Ben's car is lowered... yours isn't!

Ahhhhhhhhh... forgot that!

Bring back the days when Ali got his lowering springs, and found he was 2" higher than the rest of us with sagged OEM suspension