i have a 1991 Honda accord LX 4dr. i got a new set of rims and tires and when there’s a lot of weight in the car the shocks make a loud noise. i want to replace then before they go out but i dont know what kind to get. It’s the rear shocks and i want something good but at the same time affordable.
What size rims??
17 inch
If it only happens when there’s a lot of weight in the car, you could be overloading the car or simply have worn, sagging springs. This is a good possibility on a 20 year old car. If it’s not something else, like bad rear ball joints or broken sway bar links, you may want to look into new, variable rate springs. Do have your suspension checked out before replacing anything.
Be careful! That noise could also be your inner fender or wheel arch rubbing on those new, larger tires. If this is the case, you could end up cutting a tire, which could be dangerous and expensive. If it just started making noise with the new wheels and tires, I would suspect they are causing the problem. In that case, your options would be getting the car to sit up taller (new springs is the place to start, and may or may not work) or going back to stock.
17" wheels on a '91 Accord. New shocks aren’t going to help.
Shocks don’t hold up the car, springs do. Shocks just dampen the motion of the body. Your old springs may be sagging a bit. The noise you hear is probably the oversize tires rubbing against the wheel wells. New springs may help, but I don’t think new shocks or struts will make any difference.
After you’ve installed new springs and shocks, how much money will you have in this wheel and tire installation?
I agree with mcparadise that the noise is likely to be from a lack of clearance for those oversized rims/tires.
This is a case of “image” over practicality, and is likely to lead to a whole lot more expense in order to remedy the problem. You should have left well-enough alone, rather than going for “image”.
Ok, Well i thought it might have something to do with the size… and that damn tire salesmen at the place i bought them new told me they would be fine and i would have no problem putting that size on there. i wouldn’t have minded putting normal tires on but i want to sell it soon and all the ricers around here like tires. so im thinking my answer is that my tires are scrapping just because of the large size of the rims… is that right?
Yes, that’s the consensus. If you’re planning to sell to someone who’s interested in oversize wheels and tires they may be used to this and it won’t matter to them.
Let this be a learning experience. Sales people will tell you what you want to hear to sell you things. That doesn’t mean you should believe them.
“im thinking my answer is that my tires are scrapping just because of the large size of the rims… is that right?”
Your tires are doing the scraping.
You should be doing the scrapping–of those tires.
Maybe you can sell them to someone else.
Just because they’re 17" doesn’t mean they will rub. Tirerack.com list 17" for your '91. Tires would be 225/45x17
Wheels would be 17x7.5"
What do you have?
Your cars suspension was never designed to work well with the very low profile tires which transmit MUCH more road shock into the suspension. Part of the “benefit” you get is that your car rides like a fork-lift. New struts will help but not cure this problem…