I have recently noticed rubbing on the inside of my right front rim. I had the annual safety inspection and the tires rotated and balanced several weeks ago. Since my wife drives this car, it was a week before I drove it again. The car still vibrated above 60 mph so I thought a wheel weight may have come off. When I pulled the right front, there was indication that the inside of the rim was rubbing and about half of the weight was rubbed off of the rim. I took the car back to have the tires balanced and now noticed that the same thing has occured again. I pulled the wheel and there is no indication of what the rim could be rubbing against. I rotated the wheel slowly with the steering wheel in the straight ahead and fully turned to each side and I could fit my finger between the rim and all other components. Something must be moving once there is weight on the front end. The wheels are factory rims with original size tires and have not done this before. It is a 2004 Sebring Sedan with around 96,000 miles. Has anyone else experienced this? I was thinking that some wheel spacers would eliminate the rubbing, but I would like to solve the problem. I really don't want to randomly replace parts to see what fixes the problem.

 

Never heard of such a thing. The thought occurs that some car washes have steel guides to keep the car in line. Could it be something like that?

 

It is definitely not caused by a carwash, curb, or anything other than the car itself. The second time I had the tires balanced we were out of town so I waited for the car. After they were done, I checked the weights prior to leaving and they were fine. After driving approximately 350 highway miles home, I pulled the car into my garage and checked the tires. The weight was partially worn off. So I pulled the tire and inspected the front end, no wobble or excessive play and no indication of rubbing on any front end part. I am going to rotate the tires to see if this happens with a different rim? I don't know where else to start since there is no indication of where the rim is rubbing.

 

If it's rubbing, it must be rubbing against something. You can't clap with one hand. Try putting some pink bubble gum on there and see where else it winds up.