Increasing front / rear track width bad/good?

[A20A1]

Okay so I was wondering if I could use wheel spacers to increase the wheel track... never mind rubbing the fenders, I should be able to take care of the front.

I'm just wondering if it's worth it.
I'm thinking with the pivot in the same place and the wheel pushed out it could have a bad effect.

Jim?
... Anyone?

[POS carb]

umm only adverse effect I can think of is that your camber will change less while you turn. If you move the wheel out your leverage changes and therefore for a given bump (say 2") the suspension will move less and then your camber won't change as much while the car leans.

or maybe this leverage will affect the springrates to an extent? Changing suspension geometry causes lots of weirdness. I don't know how you will manage the fronts, my 215/40/17's rub up front when I hit a bump cornering.

[Justin86]

Well it might have some negative side affects. What is the purpose of doing this besides getting wider wheels?

[AZmike]

Track is the distance between the centers of the wheels on the same axle (width).

Increasing the front track using spacers will increase the scrub radius.

This will increase both steering effort and steering feedback.

Increasing the track either front or rear will slightly increase your corning ability for that end (front, rear or both).

The loads on your wheel bearings will also change (probably increase significantly).

I don't see how spacers can affect camber.

What do you hope to accomplish?

[POS carb]

-=() no spacer
-=|() with spacer

now the pivot point is the same (the upper and lower control arms, all the way on the left)
however the leverage is different. With a spacer the wheel is farther out. If you raise the wheel up on a curb, say 4 inches, the longer lever (wheel with spacer) will move less at the pivot point (@ the control arms). Camber on this car changes at these pivot points based on a geometrical formula created by the positioning of these pivot points. If you leave the points alone and change the lever you have a different formula, in this case the camber would change less

[AZmike]

You're right POS. The camber will change more because the wheel's lever arm on the spring/damper is increased. Adding spacers makes both the springs and dampers act a little softer for this reason.

[mugenprelude86]

i think i'm gonna be gettings some spacers, big ones for the front, and medium ones for the rear

[A20A1]

Let me know how it turns out.

[Justin86]

You could also achomlish it my getting wider wheels with the right offset. I'm looking to get some 16x7.5 or 16x8 wheels the trouble is finding some. I managed to find some 16x7.5 with 42mm offset but they are not the style I'm looking for.

[DDRaptor]

http://www.kingmotorsports.com/category.aspx?cat=14

Has anyone ever used any of these on a 3gee looks like a cool way to get those 225/60 R16

Curious if they would really work for us.

[A20A1]

I don't know DDRaptor... but after I ran a search I decided to merged your second thread this month to another age old thread which just so happens was also started by me.

You're making it too easy.

[DDRaptor]

lol dude i did'nt know you had this thread obviously because of me starting another thread. lol about the track it be cool to get those 215/xx R16 on the 3gee but I would only be the small one no more than like 5 or 10mm to get the tires into the 200mm range. maybe around 205-215max. but it would'nt turn as much but don't you wish we could use the 4ws system from the prelude than we would'nt have to worry so much about the turning issue.

damn a20a1 got me again I also started a thread on canards on the roofline cause I found it on it ebay and did'nt know you had just discussed it already. Damn our minds are working together lol to bad your so far.

[A20A1]

well this was years ago

BTW: the 4WS was also discussed, but I think POS carb or some other member got that one.

[w261w261]

You'll want to be careful about using spacers, because you will change the offset, which could load up the wheel bearings in a way that they're not designed for. If you get a wider wheel with the correct offset, you only have to worry about clearance problems.

It used to be fashionable in some groups to have a small Jap pickup truck with the wheels waaaay out there. God knows what that was doing to the wheel bearings. I always thought it was unsafe.

[Secondaries]

Jap is a racial slur... And, the lowrider fad of putting high negative offset wire wheels on vehicles was not limited to Japanese trucks. Actually, it was more common on older American sedans.

Increasing track, in a nutshell, will cause the springs on that end of the car to act softer, as well as increase roadholding for that end. Adversely, it increases scrub radius (increased steering effort) and adds extra load to the wheel bearings.

And track width cannot be increased simply with wider wheels of the same offset, as was stated earlier. The effective offset MUST become more negative, otherwise the wheel width centerlines stay the same and track width does not change.

[2drSE-i]

i disagree with jap being a racial slur...it is used mostly as an abbreviation for japanese, but anywho. wheel spacers = no go. wheel bearings go so much quicker with those...been there done that to a buddies car...

[w261w261]

Jap is a racial slur...

Really? I've never heard of referred to in that way before. Now, Jewish-American Princess, that's another story. Definitely a slur there, and well-deserved, I might add.

[A20A1]

It is a racial slur... people that have used it to abbreviate Japanese don't know any better, I'm not saying don't use it but I wouldn't continue using it on here it could get taken out of context.

[w261w261]

It is a racial slur... people that have used it to abbreviate Japanese don't know any better, I'm not saying don't use it but I wouldn't continue using it on here it could get taken out of context.

Well, being that you're in Hawaii I guess you would know. So if you were speaking to a Japanese person, and you asked him if he owned a Jap car, he would be insulted? IOW, is there no use of the term that is now acceptable, or is it context-related?

I remember months ago, that someone used the term "jew," as in "jew" someone down in price, and I pointed out that "jew" in that context is generally offensive to Jewish people, referring to a stereotypical and insulting image. So "Jap" refers to some kind of stereotype like that? I guess I don't know enough (any) people of Japanese ancestry.