My wheel is sticking out from the fender on one corner

[Modded]

I think I have a way you can test the offset w/o looking for the stamp on the rear of the wheel and w/o waiting to take it to a shop.
1. Find a straight stick/rod around the house that is as long (or a bit longer) than your wheel and tire setup.
2. Then get some measuring tape (or a piece of string/wire you can measure afterwards).
3. Starting with the drivers side, line the rod up with rim/tire surface and measure the distance from the back of the brake rotor (part of the rotor closest to the engine bay) to the rod/stick that is against the outer part of the rim/tire. Make sure you are accurate.
4. Now measure the passenger side that sticks out (the exact same way) and check for consistency with the drivers side that is not sticking out.

If they measure the same from back of rotor to outside of the rim lip/tire shoulder, the issues is from your Suburban.

If they do not measure the same, the issue is from the wheel offset.

 

[yates ™]

Modded for Nobel peace prize 2013

 

[NORCAL SS]

pass side sticks out more on my escalade also. normal thing but didnt know 1 inch more. I would check offset of wheel first thing.


swap drivers side wheel to passengers side wheel also and check. If drivers side sticks out then you know for sure its the wheel.

 

[soulsea]

I actually haven't been too many places yet, just trying to collect information before the labor bills are tucked up my pooper. Some say it's no problem, and some say I'll be ruining my car any moment, so I'm trying to cover all bases. I'm a busy fella with a lousy schedule and no second car so simple becomes complicated pretty quick.

A 3 ton jack and a couple of stands is a worthwhile investment.

 

[07Burb]

pass side sticks out more on my escalade also. normal thing but didnt know 1 inch more. I would check offset of wheel first thing.


swap drivers side wheel to passengers side wheel also and check. If drivers side sticks out then you know for sure its the wheel.

By how much more does your pass side wheel stick out?

 

[yates ™]

A 3 ton jack and a couple of stands is a worthwhile investment.

Never thought I would hear those words come out of your mouth...

 

[NORCAL SS]

prob 3/8s to 7/16s

 

[07Burb]

Never thought I would hear those words come out of your mouth...

Serge is a wrencher

 

[Modded]

Modded for Nobel peace prize 2013

 

[yates ™]

Serge is a wrencher

I knew he bought wrenches but I though they were still unopened to this day

 

[soulsea]

Mr No0bwrench.

 

[yates ™]

Mr No0bwrench.

I am proud of you buddy.

 

[Donovan]

TBSS 22's

I have checked with 3 different replica places I can only find the tbss in one offset and one 22" size 22x9 6-139.7 +22 .... Anyone find anything different.

 

[NORCAL SS]

i sell pretty much all the replica tbss 22s. there is only one offset but who knows maybe something happened. i woudl swap wheels from side to side.

 

[VTburban]

Today's results: I took Neo's advice and measured from a number of different locations (rotor, upper control arm bushing, frame etc) and found no differences in distances to the edge of the front wheels. To be sure, I took it to a mechanic who confirmed my findings, thus ruling out the possibility of a wheel offset problem. He did not feel the axle nut was a problem since I would have noticed something coming loose by now.

His opinion, which was basically an educated guess, was that the wheels were aligned to "highway" spec, so the camber of the two front wheels is different to account for the crowning of the highway, versus a more gradual crown of "in-town" driving. His suggestion was to take it to another alignment shop and request alignment for in-town driving and to be provided with all details of the process.

I told him I was planning on installing drop struts for another 1/2 inch or 1 inch drop, along with a camber kit, and he then said I would be fine to wait until all those parts were installed since I'd need a new alignment then anyway. I didn't ask him about the possibility of a bent control arm, but I have another appointment tomorrow for an engine issue, so I'll have that shop take a look while they're all up in my business. Thoughts?

 

[soulsea]

Man matt, you get some funky explanations in your neck of the woods.
Hard to imagine an alignment being so way off from one side of the truck to the other, especially after the alignment has been done.

Bottom line is that there's no good reason for this to be happening to you.

And I sure as heck would not be adding extra parts or doing extra mods before this is fully resolved.

Buddy, you've gone through a boatload of trouble doing everything but swapping wheels from side to side.

You got to start eliminating the simplest possibilities and then go to the complicated stuff.

 

[Modded]

An offset issue was my main guess. Since that was resolved then you are clear there. It is very slim that it is a suspension issue also.
It is undoubtedly an alignment issue then. From your pics, it is hard to tell if the wheel was sticking out more on the bottom than top (negative) camber issue. Or if the top is sticking out more than the bottom (positive camber issue). From your pics, yours should be a positive camber issue if it is camber causing it.

---------- Post added at 09:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 PM ----------

This car has never been in a front end accident right?

 

[VTburban]

I hear ya Serge, I just figured that by doing the math of rotor to wheel that I had eliminated the need to change the wheels over. I forgot to mention that I did get different numbers when I checked from inner wheel well to outer wheel, but that's obviously not a number I can trust. As far as adding new parts, I agree. It's kindof a crapshoot, since either way I'll be getting a new alignment. The question is, if I get a good shop to put in the struts, camber kit and proper alignment, will the issue be resolved, or do I just get the alignment and hope the problem is fixed that way? If so, I'd put the parts in anyway. If not, well, then maybe I'm screwed. I already bought the camber kit and will have credit towards the struts by next week, so hopefully I'll have some answers before too long and have to make a choice. The work tomorrow is being done by a certified GM tech so I'm crossing my fingers. And yes, everything up here seems to be harder to do, since no one is doing it. I'm a stranger is a strange land. I kinda feel like a pioneer. I also kinda feel like a really drunk guy at a work party who just realized he's the really drunk guy at his work party.

 

[soulsea]

Btw guys, as you know I'm no expert on this stuff, but looking at the pic on the right, unless I grossly misunderstand how camber works, they whole wheel is sticking out.

Isn't camber the angle of the wheel relative to the truck and the road?

Meaning the top will lean in too much or too little and conversely the bottom will do the opposite?

To me it looks like the whole wheel is off ... almost as if someone installed a 1" spacer.

 

[VTburban]

An offset issue was my main guess. Since that was resolved then you are clear there. It is very slim that it is a suspension issue also.
It is undoubtedly an alignment issue then. From your pics, it is hard to tell if the wheel was sticking out more on the bottom than top (negative) camber issue. Or if the top is sticking out more than the bottom (positive camber issue). From your pics, yours should be a positive camber issue if it is camber causing it.

---------- Post added at 09:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 PM ----------

This car has never been in a front end accident right?

That's what Carfax told me, plus an inspection, plus my own observations. I have no reason to believe it's ever been involved in an accident involving the front end. So I'm hoping you're right and it's a simple camber issue.

---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 PM ----------

Btw guys, as you know I'm no expert on this stuff, but looking at the pic on the right, unless I grossly misunderstand how camber works, they whole wheel is sticking out.

Isn't camber the angle of the wheel relative to the truck and the road?

Meaning the top will lean in too much or too little and conversely the bottom will do the opposite?

To me it looks like the whole wheel is off ... almost as if someone installed a 1" spacer.

The mechanic looked at the front end today the same way the photos were taken, and his immediate response was that the driver's side (left photo) camber was more negative (bottom sticking out). It doesn't really explain the huge amount of tire sticking out of the passenger side, and I agree it seems fairly even, but no spacer involved.