# LTZ Wheels Rubbing/Scraping on my LT



## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

Hi everyone, I have the LTZ wheels with the LTZ stock size tire installed on my LT and they are currently rubbing but I have no clue where. It's not the tires themselves as I can easily see there's clearance and the sound does not change when turning the car in either direction or when going over dips and bumps.

Its mainly noticeable at speeds under 40, it's not scrapey sounding it is dull and "radiating" sounding, like it travels through the car and surrounds you in the sound. 

Also the sound does not seem more noticeable with windows down which makes me think the rim is probably barely touching something.

My car IS lowered with the eibach pro kit, but people with LTZs lower them all the time, and it's very obviously not the tire touching anywhere so that leaves me to believe it's the rims. 

Please any help at all would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## Christopher_2 (Jul 31, 2012)

An LT has rear drum brakes and a LTZ should have rear disk brakes. Do the LTZ wheels rub on something to do with the braking system?


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

Christopher_2 said:


> An LT has rear drum brakes and a LTZ should have rear disk brakes. Do the LTZ wheels rub on something to do with the braking system?


Actually I have a feeling it comes from the front, cuz I did think of the rear drums but there's actually tons of clearance back there for the brakes.

Up front however is a different story, there maybe 1-2 mm of clearance between the rims and calipers in like 3 different spots. I can't fit my fingers in between those spots. 

I did take the wheels off and check for signs of scraping and there's no marks or shavings on the rims or calipers so I'm kind of at a loss.


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## 170-3tree (Nov 4, 2014)

I'd check your dust sheilds they could have been bumped during the swap. Although I'm still kinda leaning towards minor wheel bearing noise. 


Ummm. Tire noise comes to mind as well. If they aren't brand new tires, rotate them front to back and re try


Kinda a jack shot without hearing it myself.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

170-3tree said:


> I'd check your dust sheilds they could have been bumped during the swap. Although I'm still kinda leaning towards minor wheel bearing noise.
> 
> 
> Ummm. Tire noise comes to mind as well. If they aren't brand new tires, rotate them front to back and re try
> ...


I will try and record the sound cuz I'm sure that'll help. And they're not new tires and do need replacing soonish, but the person I got them from said he didn't have any issues with noises, and he seems pretty honest so I take his word for it. The tires are directional, so does that matter if I get them rotated? When we installed them to my car from his we put them in the corresponding locations.

And the wheel bearing thing makes sense, but I feel like it'd be a huge coincidence to happen when I swapped the wheels. Like I drove almost 7 hours to get them on my silent 16's and the moment I pulled out of the parking lot with the 18's on, I could hear the sound. So I'm not trying to knock on your guess, I just think it'd be highly coincidental.

I'll try my best with the video.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

170-3tree said:


> I'd check your dust sheilds they could have been bumped during the swap. Although I'm still kinda leaning towards minor wheel bearing noise.
> 
> 
> Ummm. Tire noise comes to mind as well. If they aren't brand new tires, rotate them front to back and re try
> ...


Okay I got a video, it must be listened to with headphones or bass-y speakers to detect the sound, it's most prominent towards the end as I slow down. And it's not the brakes themselves cuz it does it when I coast to a stop too, the sound gets louder the slower I go.

http://youtu.be/PhmUtfTXRYo


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## 170-3tree (Nov 4, 2014)

That, on my phone, sounds an awful lot like a bearing or tires. 

It's very rare, but the act of loosening and tighten lug nuts can actually cause a bearing to get worse. So if it was going before but not making noise yet, now it could be. Like I said, its rare, but I've seen it once in the last year at my shop. 

As far as tire noise, I'm not doubting he didn't have issues, but maybe they started making noise so long ago and so slowly that he hadn't noticed? Much like people don't notice a bearing slowly going bad until someone else brings it up. 

You can examine this all in one shot really. 

Raise the front of the car up, have someone spin the tire on one side while you hold the spring. Any roughness in the bearings can be felt this way. It will also give you the chance to, possibly, isolate a side of the car if its something rubbing. If you don't feel or hear it, raise up the back and rotate the tires (you COULD do one side at a time). Drive and see if anything changes. If that doesn't find you your noise, it might be worth having a technician drive it.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

Okay I can do that simple test, thanks for your suggestions. Is it weird that a bearing/s would be bad at only 30,000 miles? I'm under warranty so if that's the issue I guess it's not a big deal, I just hope they don't try to say I have LTZ wheels so those caused my bearings to go bad lol. You know how they love to not honor warranties.

Im hoping that maybe it's the tires themselves, cuz they are low on tread, and I went from 60 to 45 sidewalls so maybe I'm not used to the fact that there will be more road noise, and since they're low on tread it could be excessive noise? Idk, I'm just hoping it's not mechanical part failure cuz I know the dealer will fight me on that.


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## 03glgold (Jan 26, 2016)

Rotating directional tires you rotate back to front and front to back, with the tires staying on the same side of the car.


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## 170-3tree (Nov 4, 2014)

I'm going extremely unlikely. If I had to bet a dollar on it, I'd bet on tires. (I don't have a dollar so that's a huge deal)


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

170-3tree said:


> I'm going extremely unlikely. If I had to bet a dollar on it, I'd bet on tires. (I don't have a dollar so that's a huge deal)


Okay, well if the general consensus is most likely tires, that makes me feel better....they're not to the point where they're dangerous to drive on...so I'll get them replaced when I have the funds. It needs to be done anyways, whether they're the problem or not.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

If it was tires, I'd think it would change with the surface you were driving on.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

ChevyGuy said:


> If it was tires, I'd think it would change with the surface you were driving on.


I thought of that as well, and it does not change based on surfaces, so maybe it's not the tires....and with the hubs/bearings hypothesis, I've heard bad hubs (in my old malibu) and the sound never went away no matter how fast I was going, the sound just got faster. Whereas if I exceed 40-45 mph in my Cruze, the sound is completely gone and it's back to silent riding.

This is just really frustrating...I have a feeling it has to be tire/rim related just because it would seem too coincidental and too soon for the bearings to be gone already. And since the tires/rims are not making contact with anything maybe it just is bad tires....

One thing I noticed is they seem really hard. Not like "oh these have a lot of air in them" hard, but like "this rubber has no flex in it" hard, at least the tread it's like that...does that make any sense? I used to work in a tire place and the tread always felt like rubber, dense, hard, but still had a little play in it...this feels like an old bouncy ball that isn't bouncy anymore, dense and hard, but almost plastic hardness.

Maybe that's a sign the tires are done-zo?


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

anthonysmith93 said:


> this feels like an old bouncy ball that isn't bouncy anymore, dense and hard, but almost plastic hardness.


Just for kicks and grins, what's the date code on the tires? Just wondering if they're old.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

ChevyGuy said:


> Just for kicks and grins, what's the date code on the tires? Just wondering if they're old.


That I'm not sure of, I'll check when I get off work...at 7am haha
Don't know if this helps, but they're Goodyear Eagle F1's....if that helps determine their quality at all.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

To narrow it down to see if it is the bearing, I would put the old wheels back on and see if the noise goes away. It would be better for taking the car back to the dealer for warranty work also esp if it is bearings. Before I put money in tires, I would see if it is a mechanical problem first by reinstalling the original wheels and tires unless you sold them.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

Patman said:


> To narrow it down to see if it is the bearing, I would put the old wheels back on and see if the noise goes away. It would be better for taking the car back to the dealer for warranty work also esp if it is bearings. Before I put money in tires, I would see if it is a mechanical problem first by reinstalling the original wheels and tires unless you sold them.


Yeah if I still had the tires I would totally do that, but that's not an option unfortunately.


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## 170-3tree (Nov 4, 2014)

ChevyGuy said:


> If it was tires, I'd think it would change with the surface you were driving on.



I would typically agree, I'm actually experiencing similar noises out of my winter tires and it might change pitch on different surfaces, but overall it is the same noise and its wear related.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

Update on this issue I still have.....just got the first tire rotation after getting these wheels, the sound it still there but it definitely changed....less constant but still just as loud...so I guess it's probably tire/tread related and the sound changed because of tire position....hopefully won't have an issue anymore once I get new tires.


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## ChrisWorldPeace (Jun 24, 2013)

Installed LTZ rims with oem wheel size on my LS never had a problem have yet to lower it tho but 10,000 miles problem free


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## Boostedcruze403 (Apr 16, 2016)

Directional tires with low tread , changing to 18 inch from 16 inch . Definitely going to have excessive road noise compared to your 16s . I listened to the clip and would also bet a dollar if I had one that it's tire noise. My drivers side wheel bearing went in my cruze and it was an aggressive hum and scared the **** out of everyone in the car


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## Terryk2003 (Sep 22, 2014)

Just saw this thread but i was just going to mention i'm running LTZ wheels with stock size tires 225/45/18 and i'm also lowered on Eibachs with no rubbing issues. You may have something else going on. Have to by chance checked your sway bar end links? wondering if one may be broken and rubbing?


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

Boostedcruze403 said:


> Directional tires with low tread , changing to 18 inch from 16 inch . Definitely going to have excessive road noise compared to your 16s . I listened to the clip and would also bet a dollar if I had one that it's tire noise. My drivers side wheel bearing went in my Cruze and it was an aggressive hum and scared the **** out of everyone in the car


I'm worried it may be hubs, but considering the sound changed after the rotation I still think it might just be the tires....it just seems really loud at low speeds which wouldn't make since for rubber, but would for hubs....think the dealer will give me issues if I try to warranty claim the hubs? I'm still under 36,000 miles.



Terryk2003 said:


> Just saw this thread but i was just going to mention i'm running LTZ wheels with stock size tires 225/45/18 and i'm also lowered on Eibachs with no rubbing issues. You may have something else going on. Have to by chance checked your sway bar end links? wondering if one may be broken and rubbing?


All components are intact and connected as should be, and I don't see anything rubbing....it just sounds like rubbing I guess haha. Thanks for the suggestion though!


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