wheel spacers and longer studs

[wonkey eyed barmaid]

as the topic suggests, Im interested in comments regarding the fitting of wheel spacers to my '99 Classic Vx.

 

Ive seen these on a motorsports stall at a welsh rally event. cast alloy shims 6mm (or 10mm) in thickness. Im thinking that if fitted in pairs to the front and rear hubs on my 7 I will benefit from:

 

slightly wider track, so perhaps improved handling.

increased clearance to the clamshells, and less rubbing.

wider track may bring more stability under braking.

 

comments??

 

also, do I need to fit longer studs? I'd likely go with the 6mm spacers, but as a precaution would it be wise to replace the studs at the same time? how easy is this?

 

thank you.

Grant

 

p.s any downsides? increased wear on cv joints, wheel bearings or anything?

[Graham Sewell]

To emulate 'wide track' suspension you would only put the spacers on the front as they currently have a narrower track than the rear. However 6mm each side is not likely to affect the geometry that much but will:

 

1. require longer studs

2. cause additional wear to the bearings as you are moving the wheel offset

 

Generally, I would not recommend it. Leave these gadgets for the hot hatch brigade who care more about posing than about handling.

 

Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

[wonkey eyed barmaid]

the same points echoed by simon lambert @ caterham...

 

thanks graham.

 

back to the drawing board. 🙆🏻

 

incidentaly, on the subject of handling and body roll, at 3 years old could my 7 benefit from a fresh set of suspension, ARB and A-frame bushes...?

 

anyone know the approx price of a full set? are there uprated items available from any 3rd party at reasonable cost?

 

cheers.

[MikeW]

grantuk

You should check the A frame bush regularly. Depending on use they can go fairly quickly. Unless the above bushes are showing signs of ageing I wouldn't bother too much. You can change the ARB for a stiffer one if you think you need it ( I think red is 'standard')

Are you having some handling problems?

 

MikeW

1600 VX Black/Ali

Membership No 6582

[wonkey eyed barmaid]

hi mike

 

when you say "showing signs of ageing " concerning the suspension bushes, how would you clarify signs of ageing?? what should i be looking for? (as i didnt build/buy the car new, I dont know what they originaly looked like)

 

how can i change the front ARB when my chassis uses the ARB as part of the top wishbone, and has ally blocks behind the rad to carry said ARB. i thought this was not possible

 

what parts do i need to allow fitting of different ARB? (i would prefer not to have to fit new dedion spec top wishbones)

 

Im not having handling problems as such - but the car does feel incredibly twitchy recently, and Im losing my confidence in it. it could be the crap michelin tyres, or it could be the VERY greasy road surfaces we suffer in scotland at this time of year...

but after reading comments on 'snap oversteer' caused by poor tracking and/or dodgy bushes, Im verging towards changing the bushes. and the tyres.

[rgrigsby]

Michelin tyres!!! definetly worth changing those, but as mentioned before the bushes go regardly and make a huge difference to the way the car handles. It's not a huge job to change them so it's worth doing fairly regularly depending on how you drive the car (a few hard track days can wreck a set!)

 

Cheers

 

Rob G

www.SpeedySeven.com

[Graham Sewell]

Cutting to the chase, if the Michelins are the MXT's as fitted to the Classic around 1995, they are absolutely useless after two years of not being worked. They start to slide like crazy almost as if they are glossed. A bit like trying to use a 2 year old pencil eraser that has been lying around....

 

Change them for a nice new set of Yoke A021Rs in 185/70R13 (same size) for about £40 per corner from George Polley and you will not recognise the car. I did this about 4 years ago (from 3 year old Michelins) and have never regretted it. Even in the wet they will grip - unlike old Michelins that refused to retard the car in even mild rain.

 

Suspension wise, there is not a lot you can do with ARBs whilst you have the old style top link rather than double wishbone. But the conversion is about £200 before adding anything else. It may be better to start with a set of Freestyle shocks/dampers and live with the existing ARB.

 

But do the tyres FIRST!

 

Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

 

 

Edited by - Graham Sewell on 26 Feb 2003 12:40:40

[wonkey eyed barmaid]

Hi Graham,

 

thanks for the comments - Iam well aware that the Michelins are crap, and beleive me, Yoko 21's are definately high on my 'to do' list...

But I think just blaming the tyres for the twitchy handling is taking the easy option, and may provide a quick fix without actually getting to the root of the problem.

Ive cracked it now though - having just replaced the front ARB bushes, and A-frame bushes with fresh ones yesterday. Something else discovered while servicing the A-frame was that the frame2chassis mounting bolts at either side had been fitted the wrong way round, thus the bolt head securing the inner edge of the A-frame bush did not have a big enough surface to properly locate the frame, it was just fixed against the metal sleeve of the bush. Having this incorrect setup on both sides was I believe allowing the A-frame and axle to slew sideways quite freely. Having rectified this by refitting the bolts the correct way round with the correct large diameter washers and new bushes the car feels transformed!! even on crappy michelins it suddenly feels planted, and I can tickle the throttle in first/second without sticking the arse wide at every juntion...

 

now that the handling problem is actually fixed, I can get on with upgrading the tyres and reaping the real rewards...

 

cheers all who helped.

 

Grant

p.s the tyre/clamshell rubbing problem has been solved as well (not by the bushes, but my own hand...) more on that later when its been properly road tested.