[DeTomaso] llignment specs 17x8, 17x11Campy clones

[John Bentley (jab)]

News to me......

If you change the center of the wheel location relative to the mounting
surface, your alignment will change.  When you remove your 15x8 campi's
and put on 17x11's, the center of the tire moves inboard.

I don't see how that will not effect the alignment.

JB



 

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]
On Behalf Of MikeLDrew at aol.com
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 2:14 PM
To: tbaranek at earthlink.net; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] llignment specs 17x8, 17x11Campy clones


In a message dated 1/8/07 13:32:29, tbaranek at earthlink.net writes:

<< I think the 17x8 and 17x11 may throw some measurements off? >>

>>>How would that be?

Remember--wheel alignment has NOTHING to do with wheels.  The only thing
you 
are aligning are the various parts that the wheels *attach* to.  Big
wheels, 
small wheels, short wheels, tall wheels--the angles will remain
unchanged.

Okay, admittedly, if you radically changed the height of the front
wheel/tire 
combo, and in so doing, lifted the nose, then because the overall
attitude of 
the car would be different, you would wind up with minimally increased 
caster.  But camber and toe are unchanged.  

Having said all that, recognize that the factory developed different 
alignment specs for the widebody cars.  This is due in part to the fact
that the rear 
tires are so wide that they need to run at close to zero camber for the
tread 
to remain in contact with the ground all the way across.  The wider a
tire is, 
the less gain can be realized by increasing negative camber.

If you had radical aspirations for your car (i.e. turning it into a
dedicated 
open track car or something), then moving to the edge of the alignment 
envelope can give benefits.  Autocrossers in particular sometimes go way
outside the 
normally accepted practice, simply because they value rapid turn-in
above all 
else, and a car optimized for autocrossing can be borderline lethal on
the 
road at higher speeds--yet it is extremely effective in its element.

Presuming you just want to drive the car on the road, and perhaps do
some 
open track work, then something more conservative, i.e. perhaps 1/2
degree 
negative camber front and rear, a bit of toe-in front and rear, and as
much caster 
as you can achieve, would probably be perfect for your needs.

Cheers!

Mike
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