Discussion
I have changed the front springs on my 350i to slightly increace the ride height and have changed all the bushes over to Poly jobbies at the same time.
I still have an issue with the front tyres rubbing on the front wheel arch / lower splitter on full lock.
My next thing is to change to a slightly lower profile tyre on the fronts.
I have 205/60/15's all around at the moment. I was thinking about keeping the 205/60/15's on the back and going for something like 205/50/15 on the fronts.
Any other thoughts, cures???....What tyre's have everybody else got on their 350i's - I know this has been asked before.....
Mike B
I still have an issue with the front tyres rubbing on the front wheel arch / lower splitter on full lock.
My next thing is to change to a slightly lower profile tyre on the fronts.
I have 205/60/15's all around at the moment. I was thinking about keeping the 205/60/15's on the back and going for something like 205/50/15 on the fronts.
Any other thoughts, cures???....What tyre's have everybody else got on their 350i's - I know this has been asked before.....
Mike B
wedget said:
i have a 280i conv and run borbet 225 45 16 and my front wheels are seriosly into the arches with no rubbing i am considering going to 205 60 16 as i am pi55ed off with the judder you get from bumps.
I wouldn't do that because that is a very big dia. for a 280i. 205/55/16 would be better and allow you to use UHP rubber.
njhucker said:
Mike
I run 205/60/vr15 goodyear nct eagles as per original spec, and they are fine.
Star man. Not many people even know that that was the original spec. but are you never tempted to use the higher performance rubber that has been developed in the last 20 years? For Goodyear that has been NCT, NCT2, NCT3, F1, F1GSD, F1GSD2, and now F1GSD3.
mikeb said:
My next thing is to change to a slightly lower profile tyre on the fronts.
I have 205/60/15's all around at the moment. I was thinking about keeping the 205/60/15's on the back and going for something like 205/50/15 on the fronts.
Any other thoughts, cures???....What tyre's have everybody else got on their 350i's - I know this has been asked before.....
Mike B
Yes, this allows you to use UHP (ultra high performance) rubber. Try a 205/55/15 as per the Griff.
John Ravenscroft told me that the 205/50 15 would be too big a deviation from standard and that the suspension wouldn't work properly but 205/55/15 would be OK.
Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 is my tyre of choice (although many like the S03PP but this is generally for historical reasons because the S02PP was very good.)
19560 said:
i have a 280i conv and run borbet 225 45 16 and my front wheels are seriosly into the arches with no rubbing i am considering going to 205 60 16 as i am pi55ed off with the judder you get from bumps.
I wouldn't do that because that is a very big dia. for a 280i. 205/55/16 would be better and allow you to use UHP rubber.
I run 205 60 16 on rear recently and much prefer the ride and i was going to change to 205 60 16 on front as i preffer a smother ride rather than grip( taller side walls, my speedo does not work at mo when i get it fixed i would presume it would be way out what other implications are there for going large.
So, does anybody who owns a 350i run 205/50/R15's ??.
or is the 205/55/R15 the way to go to stop the rubbing?. - I don't know if the 55's will give sufficient extra clearance.
I ask as the tyres I got at the moment seem awfully close to the wheel arch still after changing the springs and bushes etc.
I changed the tyres quite a while ago, like for like and they were close then, but as the car has been standing for a considerable time I assumed that the springs had gone soft and had dropped the car a lllittle causing the rubbing.
Changed the springs for new RT (Uprated ones) and the tyres still just about or very nearly touch.
Mike B
I have the 'standard' Lattice 350i wheels as in the pics on the Wedgepages site welcome page.
or is the 205/55/R15 the way to go to stop the rubbing?. - I don't know if the 55's will give sufficient extra clearance.
I ask as the tyres I got at the moment seem awfully close to the wheel arch still after changing the springs and bushes etc.
I changed the tyres quite a while ago, like for like and they were close then, but as the car has been standing for a considerable time I assumed that the springs had gone soft and had dropped the car a lllittle causing the rubbing.
Changed the springs for new RT (Uprated ones) and the tyres still just about or very nearly touch.
Mike B
I have the 'standard' Lattice 350i wheels as in the pics on the Wedgepages site welcome page.
The drivers side front wheel is very close to the lower front splitter/front wheel arch on a right hand lock, the other side has a little more clearance but not much.
I definately rubs under driving and any sort of 'load'.
I was working out the difference that changing tyres would make and reckon that the 205/50's would give around 102.5mm tyre height, the 205/60's I have at the moment would be 123mm and the 55's around 112.75mm (I think).
Therefore (please correct me if I have worked something out incorrectly) the extra clearance from my existing 205/60's would be 20.5mm for the 205/50 and 10.25mm for the 205/55's ???.
I am thinking that if I am going to spend the loot on changing the fronts over to something a little lower I might as well ensure that the problem is cured by going for the 205/50's - thoughts anyone....
Mike B
I definately rubs under driving and any sort of 'load'.
I was working out the difference that changing tyres would make and reckon that the 205/50's would give around 102.5mm tyre height, the 205/60's I have at the moment would be 123mm and the 55's around 112.75mm (I think).
Therefore (please correct me if I have worked something out incorrectly) the extra clearance from my existing 205/60's would be 20.5mm for the 205/50 and 10.25mm for the 205/55's ???.
I am thinking that if I am going to spend the loot on changing the fronts over to something a little lower I might as well ensure that the problem is cured by going for the 205/50's - thoughts anyone....
Mike B
mikeb said:
The drivers side front wheel is very close to the lower front splitter/front wheel arch on a right hand lock, the other side has a little more clearance but not much.
I definately rubs under driving and any sort of 'load'. Mike B
I think that your main problem is that your springs are too short. What is the height above the tyre to the top of the wheel arch? I should be 35mm +/- 15mm. Also what rate are your springs? 140lb/in should give about 50mm clearance, 275 should give 20 IMHO.
mikeb said:
I was working out the difference that changing tyres would make and reckon that the 205/50's would give around 102.5mm tyre height, the 205/60's I have at the moment would be 123mm and the 55's around 112.75mm (I think).
Therefore (please correct me if I have worked something out incorrectly) the extra clearance from my existing 205/60's would be 20.5mm for the 205/50 and 10.25mm for the 205/55's ???.anyone....Mike B
Your maths is correct but it doesn't work like that in practice. The ride heights and therefore clearances need to be multiplied by about 0.6 to 0.75. Go and measure your 205/60s; do they have a tyre wall height of 123?
wedget said:
I run 205 60 16 on rear recently and much prefer the ride and i was going to change to 205 60 16 on front as i preffer a smother ride rather than grip( taller side walls, my speedo does not work at mo when i get it fixed i would presume it would be way out what other implications are there for going large.
Have a look at www.toyo.co.uk/index.php?fuseaction=tyreconverter.table8b&pId=1 the 205/45/16 or the 205/50/16 (speedo would be correct) may be better.
"Going large" will give you marginally better fuel economy and slower acceleration, less feel and turn-in and there is the possibility of rubbing.
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