wheel well liners and 17" rims

[Brett Dikeman]

Well,

Just bought the Ronals that a Gary had up for sale, along with the
firestone SZ50 tires on em(no rollover/exploding SUV jokes please :-)
Universal sentiment among those at today's shindig(at a different
Gary's place) was that they look right smart on the car.  Traction's
great, the tires are quieter than the almost completely worn D60A2's
that were on the car.  Front end shimmy and high speed groan are
gone; looks like either the Dunlops were out of round, or the stock
rims are bent.  Mileage has dropped substantially(!) from a usual
22-24.5mpg to about 20.5 mpg.  I knew the larger wheels would equal
higher speeds per rev, and I know bigger/wider tires have more
rolling resistance, but I didn't expect such a drastic effect, I
guess.

There's enough clearance on both sides...or so I thought.  I
discovered that the driver's side rear tire was hitting something.

Pulled in tonight and took a peek with the flashlight.  It was
immediately obvious what was rubbing; little shreds of rubber pointed
the way.

Looks like it's the wheel well liner, front edge, almost by the edge
of the rear door.  Comparing the two sides, the drivers' side is
definitely different.  There's some sort of fold in it, and the fold
is sticking out and acting like a knife every time the car turns very
hard to the right or goes over a -large- bump when the car's
suspension is loaded on the drivers side.  Clearance is about one
finger there; at the top of the fender+wheel, two fingers clearance
both sides.

I'll post a pic later, but has anyone run across this before on a 200q20v?

B
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