Astar tyres scraping body

Hi , i have upgraded my astar car tyres from the default(155/80 R13) to Yokohama 175/70 R13 a drives . At speeds above 40 kmph , and with 2 people sitting in the rear seat , the tyres sometimes touch the inner body of the car ,  hense, i feel scared to make 2/3 people sit at the back . I have also had the rims changed to 13 inch plati alloys .

  The guy who upgraded my tyres and rims says to add rubber coushins to increase distance between tyres and body . Is that safe ? I have heard the car can get unstable at high speeds.... and also its new (5 months old) .

       Please suggest the best and safest way of solving this issue. Thanks.

The body of the car can be lifted up by using rubber spacers between the body and suspension. Have a look at this thread as to how to do it. This is safe. No worries.

EDIT: But looking at what you have substituted, the issue appears more of offset rather than anything else. The wheel seems to be not centered in the wheel well the same way as the stock steel rims. This is because the alloy designs have weird offsets, and while it makes the alloys attractive looking (with the spokes nearly flush with the outer surface of the tyre, as if it is a wheel cap), this results in substantial negative offset.

The solution (non-ideal, of course) is to use spacers - Aluminium inserts that go between the hub and the tyre, to keep the tyre centered in the wheel well. The alloys dealer will have to do it for you, as he should have foreseen this.

Check what is applicable, and do accordingly.

Plus, be aware that adding lifters or spacers will affect the car's handling. Lifting especially will move the car's CG away from the road making it prone to greater roll while cornering at speed.

This is how the spacer would look like, and you can have more information on this page.

Note: This is an external forum page, but linking is necessary as it is the source.

Thanks for the useful info...you all.

 Mr Krishna , the spacers used to lift the body of the car , are there certain brands better than others , and does the size depend on desired increase in height of car ? Also , do they need to be installed on all 4 wheels ?    Also , i had noticed earlier that the alloy rims do seem a lot wider compared to the default ones , which, i think, is causing the tyres to spread and come under the car body , i suppose this is the negative(outward) offset .

    Rohit earlier mentioned the downside of using lifters . Please do explain at what speeds and to what extent the car will experience more roll . 

    Thanks again...

Hey Kunal,

After going through your post i think you should get lifters on your car as the problem starts only when there are people sitting at the back seat.

@Krishna & Rohit

Correct me if i am wrong - spacers as shown in the picture above - will serve the purpose when the tyre touches the the inner body(fender lining) of the car when taking turns.

Well - it will work provided the offset provided by the spacer cancels out the offset error caused due to the rim's shape/dimensions.

If the rim has caused negative offset then the spacer will cancel that (exactly or not depends on the spacer's width). In fact too thick and you end up with positive offset - the wheel will protrude out and the steering geometry will be affected (though the effect will be opposite that of negative offset).

Someone please explain at what speeds and to what extent the car will experience more roll by installing lifters .

Kunal, roll is a moment of centrifugal force exerted on the car's CG resulting in unequal load experienced by the suspension. With spacers (an inch or two, depends on what you got) the CG will get lifted by that amount, and tight corners will increase the force (in tight corners radius is less, so angular acceleration is higher)

But the upside is, the car stability would increase because of wider tyres giving it  a wider footprint - The roll will be more,  but it will not necessarily do harm. The end result will not be much worse from the original condition. Could also be better, specifics of the case matter.

Of course one cannot make anything foolproof, because fools are geniuses, and manage to mess any elaborate precaution. The only antidote is a measured attitude, and refusal to go to extremes.

Thanks Mr. Krishna , i am planning on having the rubber lifters installed over the weekend , any important things i should look out for ?

    Also , another query , if i later remove the lifters , would they have caused any permanent change in the suspensions etc...  which would not allow me to go back to default settings ?

    Thanks .