Lowered car

So I've got a 2 inch drop spindle kit on my car and im trying to figure out the best size tire to fit without looking too small. I've got 235/70/15 on the back i had 215/70/15 on the front but they seemed to rub a bit on the sharp turns. I im thinking 215/65/15 or I'd really rather do 225/60/15. Has anyone had experience with dropping the car? Thanks

There is a bolt that holds the wheelhouse to the fender just behind the top center of the wheel opening. It is often the place where dropped cars rub the fender. The drop spindles move the wheel out about 3/8 of an inch.

On a further note, You should check your shock end to ground clearance with the 15 inch rims. The prior owner of my wagon had a flat, and the shock hit the ground before the rim...it severely damaged the suspension arm on that side of the front, as well as bent the wheelhouse at the back. The easiest way to check it is to put a bare 15 inch rim on one side of the front, and allow it to rest on the ground. If the shock hits first, you have an interference issue. With the drop spindles, you may be able to jack the rear corner up, and the front may come off of the ground before the rear, if the jack will not fit under the frame at the front (I would be careful using the tire change jack for that purpose...you will be lifting 2200 lbs./1.1 tons).

As far as tire size, I used a 215/70/15 on the front of mine with 255/60/15s on the rear, and had little rubbing after removing the above mentioned bolt. The issue with front tire size vs. rear ones is that you can disrupt the antilock sensor outputs.

Since the wheel is moved out a little, you could get a wheel with 3/8 inch more backspacing, to bring them back to the original position. You could then use the original size tires. Before you do that, make sure the shock ends have clearance. I changed to 17 inch rims to solve that problem. I am running 255/50/17s on the rear, and 225/60/17s on the front. I have only heard it rub twice so far. I am considering 235/55/17s for the front, because they are the same diameter as the rears, and I can use one spare for any corner. These are all 27 inch tires. A 235/70/15 is a 28 inch tire, and swapping to the smaller 255/60/15 will change your speedometer reading, and you should change the computer reference for the different tire to correct it. A 255/55/17 would be a 28 inch tire, but only one manufacturer makes them...Bridgestone. A 235/60/17 is also a 28 inch tire.

As a last resort, you could do the old school baseball bat clearance method, where you allow a baseball bat to roll between the tire and fender. You have to be careful, because it can bend things you do not want bent, and you have to do both sides the same. Should you ever need to change wheelhouses, or fenders, you would have to reroll the new parts to match. Again, check your 15 inch rim shock to ground clearance before doing anything.

Never thought about the shock clearance. I put heavy duty truck shocks in the front and they're a bit bigger lower hanging than the original ill have to check that. I was thinking of switching to bigger wheels anyway.

I know the bolt you're talking about too i didn't even think of that lol. I'll be taking that out then. I do know the offset/back spacing of my wheels is fine. I'll check the clearance take that bolt out and hopefully i can throw 225/60/15 on.

Thanks for the help I appreciate it

The offset/back spacing of the wheel is not fine for the drop spindles if you want to keep your tire at the same place in the wheel well. It sticks further out, and is the cause of tire rub with drop spindles, because it makes the tire closer to the wheelhouse. The only cure for the difference is to have 3/8 inches of additional backspacing. It makes a lot of difference. You can use the stock diameter tires on the front without any interference.

The 225/60/15 is a 25.6 inch tire, and can mess with the anti lock when you are using a 28 inch tire in the rear. The 215/70/15 is a 26.9 inch tire, so you are going another 1.3 inches shorter for the tire diameter. It will probably look a little silly on the front. Tires less than about 27 inch look really small on these huge cars. Be careful with the load rating as well. You have 1100 lbs. of static weight on each corner, and when you go around a corner it goes up a lot especially the fronts. You can have over half again the load on the outside front corner in a tight highspeed turn.

I have Ar 23 wheels on there now not sure what the back spacing is but the only rubbing i was getting was on tight right and left turns in a parking lot.

I am going for a rake look on it but I definitely don't want the tires to look too small in the wells. Im not really planning on taking it on high speed corners im thinking more drag strip driving.

I do not know what AR 23 wheels look like, or what offset they have. If the only rubbing you are getting is under the above circumstances, the bolts may cure that. If not, the offset change would.

You already have a raked look if the rear springs are stock.

I have 1 inch drop with springs as well as the drop spindles. I also have drop springs in the rear. Mine has a little rake, but had more with 2 inch drop springs and drop spindles in the front. The tires I used in that configuration were the 215/70/15s. I had a couple of rubbing issues entering parking lots, and driveways at high steering angles, even with the bolts removed.

If you find that you need 17 inch rims, you might want to consider staggered ones, with a larger offset for the fronts while you are at it. The stock offset is +6 (about +1/4 inch), and you should consider +14 (about +1/2 inch) for the fronts. The rears can be between 0 and +1/4 inch, and work out fine. Rim width can make a difference as well. Stock width (7 inch) front rims with the 1/2 inch offset would be the recommended for fender clearance.

Im going to have to look deeper into how this car is lowered. All i know for sure is that it has drop spindles in the front not totally sure on how much of a drop. Don't know about springs front or back. Guy i got it from didn't know and I'm honestly not sure how to tell....

Measure the top of the rim to the top of the wheel opening. Then compare it to a stock car.