A&Q about 350Z
Q:
I'm going to have to raise the ride height, I won't have any arches left if I don't by the looks of things
A:
Are you running G60 arches?
MG
A:
is this easier than hubcentric front spacers with longer wheel bolts? i dont get it. dont you have to fit longer drive shafts to? with all that extra metal wont it be heavier? couldn't you get different offset wheels to increase the track also?
A:
If my Mini was anything to go by, years ago - putting spacers on 'that' wide will more than likely wear the wheel bearings out As it is now, there's no more load on the bearings than before.
Yes you have to fit longer drive shafts, which are only marginally longer, we're only talking < holds thumb/finger a short distance apart> this much You could get lower offset wheels to increase the track, but I'd have to buy another two if not three sets of wheels.
A:
Are you running G60 arches?
MG
Not at the moment.
A:
Remember lower offset wheels will also have the same effect as adding spacers, and will put more load on the bearings.
So the widetrack gear knocks the track out about 10mm on each side yes?
A:
is this easier than hubcentric front spacers with
longer wheel bolts? i dont get it. dont you have to fit longer drive
shafts to? with all that extra metal wont it be heavier? couldn't you
get different offset wheels to increase the track also?
Further to what GVK said above, spacers will not affect the suspension
geometry; which to me is 3/4 of the point in doing it. Putting longer
drive shafts and wishbones on makes the front suspension geometry the
same as that on the Corrado - a car long respected for being very well
judged in the fwd handling department. The spring rate is also
affected, hopefully giving my rather taught (read 'fidgety') mk2 a more
suple ride and a lot of extra stability.
Plus it looks cool.
EDIT: I think it's closer to 18mm Smithy, from what Andy says.
Fordo!
Edited by: cforehead
A:
I'm afraid I dont understand this.
The passat will not be running about with -2 neg camber......so what bits
from the passat are missing ? (or is it that the strut tops in the passat are
wider apart ?)
-2 is no good for many race tyres, need -1 or less, and I really dont like
the sound of thinner bolts in the strut
Rob
A:
The corrado has a completely different upright to the Mk2 / passat so I'm
not sure its as easy as is being made out - shoving the lower wishbone
out by 15mm may not replicate this
Rob
A:
I'm afraid I dont understand this.
The passat will not be running about with -2 neg camber......so what bits
from the passat are missing ? (or is it that the strut tops in the passat are
wider apart ?)
-2 is no good for many race tyres, need -1 or less, and I really dont like
the sound of thinner bolts in the strut
Rob
I think the strut tops in the Passat are a little wider apart - but
Corrado is the same as mk2 strut top width (blatantly raping info off
of Andy 947 here) - Hence the Passat not running that camber.
Nowt wrong with the thinner bolts either. As prof says above - pre 89
cars had the thinner bolt as standard. They're not gonna have a car in
production for 7 years and then decide that the strut bolts are
dangerous. Get new bits and I'd have no worries.
Fordo!
Edited by: cforehead
A:
So what is the minimum camber achieveable (most +ve) with these
thinner bolts ?
Rob
A:
Haven't a clue TBQH, would imagine getting it back to stock would be do
able. Like Andy says, elongate the hole in the strut leg a little AND
use thinner bolts and I'd think you'd have all the adjustability you
need.
Fordo!
Edited by: cforehead
A:
So what is the minimum camber achieveable (most +ve) with these
thinner bolts ?
Rob
You'd easy get 0 degrees with a little bit of thought
A:
So let me get this straight - with a little bit of thought - you are widening
the track to presumably get better handling (i'm not considering bling
reasons here) so that means you are going to be loading the suspension
up more and what is being suggested is using thinner bolts (from old cars
that didn't weigh as much as newer ones) and also possibly elongating
the holes that fasten the strut to the upright. Dont sound that safe to me.
Especially when I use slicks.
Think I'll use wheel spacers and change the odd wheel bearing
Rob
A:
I'm going to have to raise the ride height, I won't have any arches left if I don't by the looks of things
A:
Think I'll use wheel spacers and change the odd wheel bearing
Rob
Why bother doing that? Using spacers is just for looks, you dont get the same effect.
Whats the deal with the thinner bolt worrying? If you are that worried, just source some other NON VW bolts.
Or how about you get the bottoms of the strut beefed up with extra plates
Like i said, a bit of thought. . .
You forget things such as ride height, adjustable top mounts etc etc can alter things too
A:
I'm going to have to raise the ride height, I won't have any arches left if I don't by the looks of things
TBH
A:
Wouldn't simply adding spacers start to do weird things with the scrub radius? Surely using longer control arms, driveshafts, etc. and moving the whole hub out is the 'better' solution to a wider front track. (Which is presumably why Gary, Andy, etc. have been doing it?)
A:
You forget things such as ride height, adjustable top mounts etc etc can
alter things too
Get away.....if you use adjustable top mounts to correct this situation (the
usual eccentric-type) then you will loose one of the major benefits of
them - increased castor. I have recently determined the scrub radius of
the std 16V setup (by observing the point of maximum load in the tyre -
heat gradient and also wear pattern - easy to see with a slick straight off
track) and I dont think what is being suggested here is going to help
handling in the way that you imagine
Rob
Edited by: RobT
A:
longer wishbones will also alter the scrub radius
I know that Trendy Tramp who tends do do things in a more scientific way than most of us, used longer wishbones but also moved the topmounts apart
A:
2p time....I think the original VW narrow bolts would be fine...the reason they changed was probably to do with getting their body pressings more accurate, and reducing tolerance stack up, so they didn't need the adjustable camber any more. I think the 'special' bolts can still be used on a late Mk2 if you can't get the camber right - certainly says so in the Haynes book of fibs.
But...what's all this fuss about 2 Deg of Neg camber... Sounds fine to me unless the thing sits completely flat (unlikely). I had a modded series 1 alfasud that ran 6 degrees of neg camber. Brilliant round corners, although it did tend to wear the insides of tyres a wee bit.
A:
Im running 2deg of negative camber on mine at the moment, handles great, and im not getting any dodgy tyre wear with zero toe
A:
End of the day chaps... What's £150? If you change the wishbones etc
and it does improve the handling then bonus! It also looks good. If you
get spacers then it's going to make f**k all difference to the
handling, you'll probably eat wheel bearings and you're never going to
know what the wishbones might've done.
Go and buy spacers if it makes you happy but the fact of the matter is
that none of us are bloody Micheal Schumacher so a couple of thinner
bolts here and not quite optimal camber there isn't going to make a lot
of difference.
Might as well give it a go.
Fordo!
A:
But...what's all this fuss about 2 Deg of Neg camber... Sounds fine to me unless the thing sits completely flat (unlikely). I had a modded series 1 alfasud that ran 6 degrees of neg camber. Brilliant round corners, although it did tend to wear the insides of tyres a wee bit.
Exactly, seems like pickin holes in the idea for no reason TBH
A:
Many race tyres are still crossplies - now I'm sure that all you experts
know this but to work right, they have to run at no more than 1 deg -ve
and -0.5 is better. I am not talking about road tyres or radial race tyres.
All I am trying to do is work out how this works (or doesnot as the case
may be). My sprint Ibiza will be getting some F2 arches this winter and I
will be filling them with some wider wheels (2" more space) - still trying
to work out how to do this
Rob