Springs Touching both Tires.

[nineshadowsdeep]

First off, let me clearly that I have very little knowledge of cars. So my terminology might be a bit off.
Anyway, I recently had a flat on the driver side rear of my 2004 Pontiac grand Am. I drove appox 2-3 miles before noticing it was flat. I took the tire off the car, and took it to walmart where they put a new tire on the rim, and balanced it. (at least thats what the charged me for). After putting the tire back on and taking off I noticed smoke coming from that tire, I pulled over and noticed the spring above my wheel is touching the tire, it put a nice little gash in the tire. After parking the car I noticed my other rear wheel is touching the spring as well, although I saw no marks or smoke from that tire. The tires are the same save for the brand. I currently have a "doughnut" tire in place of my new tire, and the spring isn't even close to that. Any insight as to what is causing this would be helpful. Feel free to suggest photos that would help you guys better understand if these don't:

Driver's side rear shock with the doughnut. (New tire was touching spring)
Passenger's side rear tire.
Mark left by spring on new tire.
Close-up of the driver's side rear shock.

 

[melsg5]

Which model and body style do you have, coupe, sedan, gt, se, etc? What size tire do you have?

 

[nineshadowsdeep]

Which model and body style do you have, coupe, sedan, gt, se, etc? What size tire do you have?

four door sedan 225 60R16 tires

 

[melsg5]

assuming you have a 4 dr SE Sedan and you didnt make a typo the car did not come with that tire size. Did you mean 225/50-16? The next question is do you have the factory wheels on the car? The tire you have, if it's a 60 series, is about 26.63" tall, the tire you should have, a 50 series, is 24.85" tall.

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[nineshadowsdeep]

assuming you have a 4 dr SE Sedan and you didnt make a typo the car did not come with that tire size. Did you mean 225/50-16? The next question is do you have the factory wheels on the car? The tire you have, if it's a 60 series, is about 26.63" tall, the tire you should have, a 50 series, is 24.85" tall.

Yes, all four of my tires are 225/60R16s, and as for factory wheels I have no clue, the car was bought used. This was a problem that started with my rear tire going flat last week, ive drove the car for a year without any problems besides replacing some bald front tires about six months ago. But this is the first time Ive noticed the spring touching the back wheels.

 

[melsg5]

well you have the wrong tires on the car. Do you think if the tires were a little more than 3/4 of an inch shorter, would they still rub the springs? Looking at your second picture I would guess 3/4 of inch shorter would clear the spring pocket.