Front wing clearance 15 in wheels

[7 number 4]

I have a 2004 R300 which since I bought it has worn Avon ZZR !95/55's on the front on 13in wheels.  Having got through the trackday/hillclimb part of the year I want to swap to the 15in wheels which came with it too, for a bit of touring presuming the larger wheels were the original factory fitment.  The 15in wheels have 185/45 CR500's but the front wings are so low that they foul the outer edge of the tyres when the 15in wheels are introduced.

I have swapped wheel sizes on other Caterhams previously and never had an issue - are there different/modified front wing stays out there?  Solutions that occur to me are removing the wings (looks like a lot of rubberised adhesive under there) and packing them up to raise the height or heating/bending the wing stay up to give about another inch clearance on the outside.  Any thoughts?

 

 

[Jonathan Kay]

This has come up before, but I can't remember exactly which sizes of tyres were possible.

Might they fit if they were moved laterally a bit... so that wheels with different offset might do the trick?

Yes, there are different sizes of stays but I've never seen a description of all of them in one place. 

Lots of us have wings that are kept in place by adhesive alone. But it has to be done right to prevent them making a bid for freedom. Packing them away from the stays might increase that risk. If I were exploring that solution I'd fix the packing piece to the stay using eg nuts and bolts and then adhesive around that.

Jonathan

[7 number 4]

Thanks Jonathan for the the previous reference links - you're searching is better than mine!

It looks as if at some stage my car gained the shorter stays (there is not huge clearance even with 13in fitted).  if I was going to pack them out I would do bolts and adhesive as at present. 

It seems my options are to get some longer wing stays or swap the 15's for another set of 13's with harder compound tyres for road use.

Thanks

[Piers300]

I too have a 2004 R300 and the clearance is absolutely minimal on the front wing stays.

The R300 had 15” wheels as standard fitment and 195/45/15 CR500 tyres. I recently bought some used 15” wheels (Antracite 10 spoke R300 std) and they were fitted with 195/50/15 Yoko tyres and they fouled the wing stays. It is that tight.  However, new 195/45/15 CR500 are still available and would make a good touring tyre.

Piers

[7 number 4]

Thanks Piers - useful to confirm that 195/45/15's were the original kit and that it was tight to start with (though it is the outer edge of the wing itself that is my problem, rather than the stay).  In my case I already have 45 profile CR500's, so I have no options beyond modifying the stay to give a bit more breathing space.

I'm beginning to think the issue is the wheel offset because the car has a few Freestyle bits and I think has had some set-up work done in the past which may mean the original wheels no longer work (certainly the previous owner told me he had never put the 15's on with the car only being used on track).  I think I will check the offset of the 13's, find another matching set for some harder compound tyres and sell the 15's to someone with a normal car.

It certainly helps to kick these things around when deciding the next move.

Cheers

 

[SM25T]

Toyo T1R is available in 195-45-15 and not as broad-shouldered as the CR500. Made a big difference to side clearance on the wing stay for me.