V8 wheels and wheel arches

[ajb1967]

Guys,

Probably a question which has been asked many times.I hqave fitted V* AWI wheels to my 1990 SE and these wheels are much wider than the standard one's.

The front wheels seem to be rubbing the inside of the wheel arches when i put the wheel at full lock.

Two questions : Will this do any harm ?

Does anybody hqve a solution for this ?

rgds

Adrian

[rocket63]

The later cars has wider internal arches to accomodate the larger wheels. Not a huge amount you can do unless you do some modifications and im not sure how practical that is.

The rubbing is normally at its worst when on full lock. Try and avoid this and it will minimise the issue.

[espritmayhem]

Adrian,

May or may not be a problem.

One of my cars failed an MOT because of "wheel fouling on bodywork", due to inner arch rub.

Converted to studs and had spacer and passed.

Another one went straight though, non standard wheels, same rubbing !!

From a safety point of view, I guess long term not too good, not so much of an issue on Esprit, but when your suspension compresses it can rub too.

Regards

Nick

[Jonathan]

Sure there are end stops on the steering rack to limit travel which will cure this.

They move it to the new position and that gives you a new min turning circle.

[Riddlemr2]

Converted to studs and had spacer and passed.

Can you elaborate on this? What size of wheel spacer did you use and how did you convert to studs?

Thanks!

[Glyn Harper]

Mine did this when I fitted Sport 350 wheels. I ended up cutting a couple of sections out and re fibre glassing. Not a huge job really.. It still rubs slightly on the inner arch in another area now, but not as much.

I would be tempted to avoid wheel spacers as they may upset the handling, as the geometry will be different afterwards. You'll also put a lot more load on your wheel bearings doing that.

[Riddlemr2]

What about using lower profile tires?

[Glyn Harper]

If you can get the profile you need.. that would possibly help.

I doubt you would get a matching set though with the correct profile. Esprit tyres can be hard enough to get.

Be interesting if someone does manage that though.

[ajb1967]

Hi all,

Well,thanks for the comments.Conclusion is that there is not a lot to do.Using spacers changes the geometry of the car and that is not what i was after.Hmmm,think i will just leave it as it is and try and not use full lock on the wheel ;-)

The way the V8 rims look on the car is well worth the small hindrance of a wider turning circle

rgds

Adrian

[CBrownstead]

If you do the math, wheel spacers add almost no extra pressure on the wheel bearings.. . . no different than using 3 piece wheels made that are wider. The idea is you create a longer lever by using a wheel that sticks out further from the wheel bearing, and thus more pressure . . . but if you do the math, which I did, it is almost nothing.

And adding wheel spacers does change the geometry of the car, but again, very slightly. The extra track you get actually decreases your turning radius, thus quicker turn ins, and widens your rear track, which increases the ability of the body to apply pressure and stay square, a bigger square equals better overall handling. Plus wider tires will undoubtedly increase your ability to pull G's in a corner, or sticking power.

There are very few negatives to spacers, maybe weight, or strength . . . not sure. Marcus should weigh in, he races these cars, and sells the spacers . . . when you think about it, the spacers are no different than having a thick wheel . . . with longer studs connecting it to the hub. The force on the wheel bearings is directly related to where they wheel bearings sit in relation to the center of the wheel or fulcrum of the lever . . . that is it. Simple physics . . . .

If a wheel is attached to the hub at exactly the center of a 7 inch wheel, then equal pressures are being applied to both bearings, not really, this is over simplified, but for this example it works. By moving the 'center' of the wheel out, or basically by adding a 1 inch wheel spacer, you have moved the fulcrum towards the outer edge of the car, so you are applying a lifting force to the inner wheel bearing and an pushing force to the outer wheel bearing. This force is realized through torque on the bearings. Lets focus on the inner wheel bearing . . . the equation for class 2 levers is torque = force x distance to fulcrum x sin (90 angle) . . . so the distance here is very small, and a very small percentage of the total, given that the wheel bearings are actually 1/7th of the wheel size or larger . . .

Edited March 13, 2008 by CBrownstead

[Artie]

Yes, my sentiments exactly!! Chris, I fixed my rubbing problem exactly as you suggested, lower profile and narrower tire! Went from a 225/40/18 tire to a 215/40/18 tire and no more rub!

Artie