[DeTomaso] llignment specs 17x8, 17x11Campy clones

[John Bentley (jab)]

Mikey,

Here's all you have to do.......  Call your buds down at Custom
Alignment in Mt. View (or any other reputable shop), and pose the
question to them.

Ask them if you can bring down your car and do an alignment with (4)
15x8 campi's, and then ask them if they will guarantee the alignment
with different wheels and tires.  Let's say 17x8's in the front and
18x11's in the back.  Aw heck, see if they will guarantee it with any
tire/wheel combination that will fit.  By your description, they
shouldn't have any issue.

Let me know how that goes.... :)

JB

 

-----Original Message-----
From: MikeLDrew at aol.com [mailto:MikeLDrew at aol.com] 
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 3:55 PM
To: John Bentley (jab); tbaranek at earthlink.net; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] llignment specs 17x8, 17x11Campy clones


In a message dated 1/8/07 14:18:57, jab at cisco.com writes:

<< News to me......

If you change the center of the wheel location relative to the mounting
surface, your alignment will change.  

>>>No, it is unchanged.  Handling characteristics may be changed, but
the 
alignment is mechanically fixed.

>When you remove your 15x8 campi's
and put on 17x11's, the center of the tire moves inboard.

>>>True--and irrelevant.

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

>>>If the HUBS were set up to have 1/2 degree negative camber, three
degrees 
of caster and 1/8" of toe-in with your 15x8 Campy wheels, what do you
think 
the measurements would be if you installed 17-inch wheels?  In fact,
they would 
be exactly the same.  This is simple nuts-and-bolts stuff.  You add a
few 
shims here, turn the tie rods a bit there, and you come up with X
specifications.

The hubs don't care what's bolted to them--they are what you are having 
aligned, not the wheels.

Now, I'm not arguing that the car would handle exactly the same with
both 
sets of wheels--in fact it's quite probable the handling characteristics
would 
change, since you are introducing so many new variables (different tire 
compounds, different ration between front/rear tread width, etc.).  What
I'm saying is 
simply that the alignment measurements (which, again, are measurements
of the 
locations and angles of the hubs, but measured off of the wheels simply
for 
convenience) are not dependent upon the wheels that are subsequently
fitted to 
the hubs--except in the extreme case I mentioned earlier, and even then
the 
difference is trivial.

Mike