Tires rubbing inner wheel well, help!?

[tool1970]

I actually was THINKING about putting lowering springs on my 2007 mazdaspeed 3, but after my installer showed me my tires i was like what is causing this wear. And now I have stumbled onto this thread which is exactly what my tire shows. Geez what if you were doing 75 on the highway with your wife and kids in the car and this tire blows.

If you go out and look at your mazdaspeed 3, you can see in the front that the tire will wear on the shock bottom if you take corners hard. I know this because Costco moves the front tires to the BACK when you rotate, i work there. This proves there is a problem houston.

 

[magicka]

The MS3 has excessive negative camber in the back, even stock. If you lower the car, you'll gain even more negative camber. Adjustable rear camber arms will let you dial out excessive rear camber, improving handling and preventing inner tire wear. If you're still on OEM shocks/struts, you should seriously consider replacing/upgrading when you do springs. The stockers are likely long gone at this point.

I think you need to look at your front suspension again. I assume you think that the tires will make contact with the bottom of the spring perch under load, which is not the case. the entire bottom of the shock (the yellow part on the Koni below) moves with the wheel, so the bottom of the spring perch is always in the same position relative to the tire. If it clears at rest, it's clear.

Also, OP was running non-stock wheels and tires. Gen 1 MS3s come with 225/45-18 tires on 7" wide wheels. OP's 235/40-18 on 8.5" wheels sit ~15mm further inboard. A combination of adjustable camber arms and spacers are necessary to make that setup work.

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