Help me Obi 1 - Help or a Swap!

[RussMan]

Hi,

Need a bit of assistance of with a set of alloy wheels.
I'm running the setup 215 / 45 / 17's with GoodYear Eagle F1's.

Upon several hours inspection yesterday it is evident that my alloys won't fit my setup so i need to either get a lend of 2 17' inch alloys for half an hour to try on my front to see whether my suspected castor issue is correct.

I'd like to offer my alloys up for a swap for some half decent 17's with tyres. Mine our white. Curb marked but seriously highend deep dish alloys... Maybe someone on here has a picture otherwise i'll upload one later

Cheers
Russ

[Myfeckin FTO]

Hi,

Upon several hours inspection yesterday it is evident that my alloys won't fit my setup .............Russ

Russ - What have your alloys got to do with suspension setup? What width are the rims? Are you saying you have increased castor on your existing rims?

[RussMan]

I fitted Apex Lower springs and was getting rubbing on the arch liners. I removed the arch liners yesterday and saw the work the Paul had carried out on the chassis - i.e hammer the sh*t out of them but there isn't enough clearance as i suspect after talking with Shane yesterday that the castor is non standard on the wheels and will therefore only fit a car that isn't as low as mine. Note that i had no problem running 215 /40 / 17's the issue has happened since i increased the profile 5mm's, I need to keep this profile due to the comfort aspect for my son. So i'm open to any set of alloys as a swap pending that they are of standard castor to the fto... is this approx 30? Wasn't sure?

[Muad_dib77]

Eh - I'm confused - where's the tire hitting.. Inside of the wheel arch? Top? or on The Wing itself?

I have 18s with 225/40 and mine hit EVERYWHERE.. Inside on full lock - and the edge of the wing if I hit a pot hole..

Would you not consider getting 16s? I mean if you're going for comfort for the sake of keeping Toby a happy child..

[soc]

I was talking to Russ about this on Sunday (didn't get a chance to have a look cause, sorry man - that garden needed some serious work...). Anyway from the conversation we had I think the offset is too high on Russ's wheels and they're clipping the wheel arch itself (outer lip).

Russ, did you get a chance to check the offset on the wheels when you had one off? AFAIR the offset needs to be around 32mm - 35mm

[RussMan]

Unable to check this as the little adapter i got for the wrench to fit the new socket broke.... I really just need to get hold of 16's or 17' i guess then to sort this out.

I'll check out the castor when i get a chance and update the thread.

Does anyone have 16's or 17's that they even want to sell worst case?

[Myfeckin FTO]

Russ - if may be the offset of the rims thats the problem - a set of motorsport spacers that bolt onto the hub will help (don't use a halfrauds type universal spacer) - perhaps 5-7mm. Find out the offset of your current rims and calculate accordingly.

JayVR has a set of standard FTO 16's with tyres that we sprayed black - look well and are going cheap if you would consider these.

[soc]

Russ - if may be the offset of the rims thats the problem - a set of motorsport spacers that bolt onto the hub will help (don't use a halfrauds type universal spacer) - perhaps 5-7mm. Find out the offset of your current rims and calculate accordingly.

I think the wheel is rubbing on the outer edge, i.e. on the outer lip of the wheel arch so won't fitting spacers just make this worse as it'll push the wheel even further towards the wheel arch

[Myfeckin FTO]

Russ - if may be the offset of the rims thats the problem - a set of motorsport spacers that bolt onto the hub will help (don't use a halfrauds type universal spacer) - perhaps 5-7mm. Find out the offset of your current rims and calculate accordingly.

I think the wheel is rubbing on the outer edge, i.e. on the outer lip of the wheel arch so won't fitting spacers just make this worse as it'll push the wheel even further towards the wheel arch

What! Rubbing on the wheelarch liner AND on the the wheel arch itself! Would have thought it would have been one or the other.
Never seen that before - I suppose you could get a bodyshop to roll your wheelarches - would look cool as well. Just make sure that the bodyshop has the relevant machine to roll the arches. Or change rims i guess - seems a shame as you have nice rims.

[soc]

Russ - if may be the offset of the rims thats the problem - a set of motorsport spacers that bolt onto the hub will help (don't use a halfrauds type universal spacer) - perhaps 5-7mm. Find out the offset of your current rims and calculate accordingly.

I think the wheel is rubbing on the outer edge, i.e. on the outer lip of the wheel arch so won't fitting spacers just make this worse as it'll push the wheel even further towards the wheel arch

What! Rubbing on the wheelarch liner AND on the the wheel arch itself!

I could be wrong, but I think the wheel was never rubbing on the arch liner in the end - Russ can confirm though

Would have thought it would have been one or the other.
Never seen that before - I suppose you could get a bodyshop to roll your wheelarches - would look cool as well. Just make sure that the bodyshop has the relevant machine to roll the arches. Or change rims i guess - seems a shame as you have nice rims.

I initially suggested getting the arches rolled as the alloys look really well on the car...

[RussMan]

I think Myfto's referring to Muad's rubbing on the Arch's .. mine don't come close at all. The whole problem is the wheel is sitting to far back due to the castor and lowering combination. i totally don't want to buy new alloys just so i can get the NCT so i'm foo 'ed unless some generous soul can help me out!!! ????

[kevinod]

I think Myfto's referring to Muad's rubbing on the Arch's .. mine don't come close at all. The whole problem is the wheel is sitting to far back due to the castor and lowering combination. i totally don't want to buy new alloys just so i can get the NCT so i'm foo 'ed unless some generous soul can help me out!!! ????

There's bushes on camskill that add a small bit of positive castor to your wheels, dunno if it'd be enough but sounds like you only need a little? http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m3b0s10p1348

[soc]

I think Myfto's referring to Muad's rubbing on the Arch's .. mine don't come close at all. The whole problem is the wheel is sitting to far back due to the castor and lowering combination. i totally don't want to buy new alloys just so i can get the NCT so i'm foo 'ed unless some generous soul can help me out!!! ????

I wonder how the castor could be out - as Kev mentions - it could be worth getting those bushes from camskill - I had them on my FTO and it transforms the handling for the better

But to be honest I'd be asking the question how the castor is off that much or does the vR have different settings to a GR/GPX? I don't remember mine being that tight (although I did have 16's with 205's).

[kevinod]

Just a thought - could aftermarket pillow mounts adjust the castor? i.e. at the top of the shock struts? not sure if you have the standard ones or adjustable ones?

[Myfeckin FTO]

Russ - From what I can remember when you got the car the dealer changed the dampers - do you know what he used?

[RussMan]

I'll look into the bushes thanks...

Re: Dampers i originally had Coil Overs but they were fooked so i got replacement dampers from the dealer which were in crap condition so i bought new kyb's from camskill and they were fine. I really only noticed the problem when i got the larger profile tyre but on close inspection it would appear that the wheels are sitting too far back which i assume can only be castor related?!?!

Soc, Where can i get the inner lip rolled out or does anyone else know? It might not be a bad idea doing this alongside the bushings and see whether that will get me through the NCT!

Thanks
Russ

[soc]

I'll look into the bushes thanks...

Re: Dampers i originally had Coil Overs but they were fooked so i got replacement dampers from the dealer which were in crap condition so i bought new kyb's from camskill and they were fine. I really only noticed the problem when i got the larger profile tyre but on close inspection it would appear that the wheels are sitting too far back which i assume can only be castor related?!?!

Soc, Where can i get the inner lip rolled out or does anyone else know? It might not be a bad idea doing this alongside the bushings and see whether that will get me through the NCT!

Thanks
Russ

I'm not sure who'd be able to roll the arches, you'd have to ring around a few body places.