Shorter rear with with stock TA

denpo

denpo

Carburated Nihilist
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Messages
2,523
Location
Montreal, QC
If everything goes as planned, my '76 will be sporting 10" wide 15" diam rims.
With the relocated emergency brake bracket, they fit in, it's tight but they fit.
Since I'll probably gonna lower the car a little, I'm concerned about the spring hitting the tires.
So, I thought I could maybe offset the sprint bolt hole on the TA (welding, bracket...) to the inside and use a shortened spring.

I know that's what they do for a double offset TA, but since the suspension force are not applied on the rotation plane of the TA anymore, wouldn't it force the wheel to change its camber, or the force is negligible?

Sorry for the typo in the thread title....
 
Last edited:
WHY?? would anyone want 15" rims anymore, on a 'sports car'.....makes NO sense with all the decent upgraded rubber is not available in 15" anymore, what you driving, a Honda??

17+ rim diameter is what you need.....

:drink::gurney:
 
mrvette said:
WHY?? would anyone want 15" rims anymore, on a 'sports car'.....makes NO sense with all the decent upgraded rubber is not available in 15" anymore, what you driving, a Honda??

17+ rim diameter is what you need.....

:drink::gurney:
Click to expand...

Gene, I'm addicted to the turbine wheel, the dish, the shape, it's an complete obsession.

Only BWM still make turbine-styled rims, with a pityfull amount of dish, but still some dish.
I've tracked BMW every style version, some are not too bad, but nothing close to the real thing.
Why no one ever had the idea to do a 17" version?:huh:
If I had the financial means I would have had them made, pretty sure it costs an arm.
 
I looked up "turbine wheels" on Google Image one more time, and guess what, the pic of my car rims are showing up on the first page.
Looks like I'm one of the few that still care about those rims :lol::rofl:
 
So you care so much you want to run rubber from the 70's?? sorry,, but reality is a bitch some daze....

even IF I had to go buy something similar aftermarket and pay a grand or so, I"d do that, but I got by a lot cheaper with C4 rims....

best of luck.....:smash:
 
Gene - So Ok - any 17 x11s or 12 out there with a decent offset -- not your average c5/6 non-deep dish wheel? Yes, and I'm looking to stagger too.
Man I've been looking - and would like to find - oh forgot to add AFFORDABLE" wheels that are in that range-- every shop wants a pound of flesh. Any leads? I got a set of ZRs - cheap as chips - but bent as chips too!
Maybe just buy Karsten's if he still has them, I guess?

Cheers - Jim
 
mrvette said:
So you care so much you want to run rubber from the 70's?? sorry,, but reality is a bitch some daze....

even IF I had to go buy something similar aftermarket and pay a grand or so, I"d do that, but I got by a lot cheaper with C4 rims....

best of luck.....:smash:
Click to expand...

Gene, I run 15" tires on the street, and I'll bet my car is as fast as anyone else's on the street (assuming I gave a crap how fast it was "on the street").
 
69427 said:
mrvette said:
So you care so much you want to run rubber from the 70's?? sorry,, but reality is a bitch some daze....

even IF I had to go buy something similar aftermarket and pay a grand or so, I"d do that, but I got by a lot cheaper with C4 rims....

best of luck.....:smash:
Click to expand...

Gene, I run 15" tires on the street, and I'll bet my car is as fast as anyone else's on the street (assuming I gave a crap how fast it was "on the street").
Click to expand...

Guys, the single largest thing we can change on any older car to improve handling is the tires, that got demo'd to me with ditching the old 15" crap I bought it with and putting on C4 17" rims with VBP adapters....first change out, even before the suspension shit....night and day....just wish I had the Bilstein shocks right off the bat, instead of the KYB's.....

Tall sidewalls are for trucks....and non performance cars....them old rubbers are what 75-78 in height ratio? got that on the Motor Home....

:rofl:
 
phantomjock said:
Gene - So Ok - any 17 x11s or 12 out there with a decent offset -- not your average c5/6 non-deep dish wheel? Yes, and I'm looking to stagger too.
Man I've been looking - and would like to find - oh forgot to add AFFORDABLE" wheels that are in that range-- every shop wants a pound of flesh. Any leads? I got a set of ZRs - cheap as chips - but bent as chips too!
Maybe just buy Karsten's if he still has them, I guess?

Cheers - Jim
Click to expand...

Jim, my mantra has always been 'affordable' how about 200 bux for a set of 4 17x9.5 C4 rims, nice and straight...got my '89s here off Craigslist....liked them better than the '92 rims from up north, so did the swap for even money, including remounting tires....can't help with staggering sizes....I just use 255 up front and 275 in rear 50 series.....but so it seems Nitto no longer makes 275/50/17 for my rear, so 255 it is, I suppose....damnit...

NOW, 15 years later, maybe a set of C5-6 rims??? not looked at them, Happy enough with what I got.....

:eek:
 
for a stock width body the 17x8 with 255-45 seems to be the best compromise between price and performance

I too like the looks of the turbine wheels and the stock aluminum rims but the 17" tires make such a huge difference....
 
denpo said:
So, I thought I could maybe offset the sprint bolt hole on the TA (welding, bracket...) to the inside and use a shortened spring.
.
Click to expand...

I cut a steel spring and drilled a new hole, this was when I had the 295-50 tires on the rear.
You don't have to relocate the spring bolt mount on the TA, the slight angle of the bolt is acceptable.... no problem...
I have a almost new 7 leaf spring that I could shorten but shipping to Canada will be a bitch....
 
MYBAD79 said:
denpo said:
So, I thought I could maybe offset the sprint bolt hole on the TA (welding, bracket...) to the inside and use a shortened spring.
.
Click to expand...

I cut a steel spring and drilled a new hole, this was when I had the 295-50 tires on the rear.
You don't have to relocate the spring bolt mount on the TA, the slight angle of the bolt is acceptable.... no problem...
I have a almost new 7 leaf spring that I could shorten but shipping to Canada will be a bitch....
Click to expand...

I tried going back to a steel spring, forget the count on layers, but just for grins, and just NO WAY MAN....the plastic is SO far superior, it's just NO contest.....my sensitive ass sets on that spring, and believe me, it's necessary....

:cool::lol:
 
mrvette said:
69427 said:
mrvette said:
So you care so much you want to run rubber from the 70's?? sorry,, but reality is a bitch some daze....

even IF I had to go buy something similar aftermarket and pay a grand or so, I"d do that, but I got by a lot cheaper with C4 rims....

best of luck.....:smash:
Click to expand...

Gene, I run 15" tires on the street, and I'll bet my car is as fast as anyone else's on the street (assuming I gave a crap how fast it was "on the street").
Click to expand...

Guys, the single largest thing we can change on any older car to improve handling is the tires, that got demo'd to me with ditching the old 15" crap I bought it with and putting on C4 17" rims with VBP adapters....first change out, even before the suspension shit....night and day....just wish I had the Bilstein shocks right off the bat, instead of the KYB's.....

Tall sidewalls are for trucks....and non performance cars....them old rubbers are what 75-78 in height ratio? got that on the Motor Home....

:rofl:
Click to expand...

You might see those standard on a '58 Biscayne, but not on a C3.

Gene, when I see a picture of your car on a track, and not loafing around on some boulevard then I'll take your tire handling remarks seriously. You don't need 17 or 18" tires if you're just doing 55mph and cornering at .5g.

I run 18" tires on the track, but I don't waste them for (as a colorful member here said) "just driving down to the 7-11 for beer and porn".
 
denpo said:
If everything goes as planned, my '76 will be sporting 10" wide 15" diam rims.
With the relocated emergency brake bracket, they fit in, it's tight but they fit.
Since I'll probably gonna lower the car a little, I'm concerned about the spring hitting the tires.
So, I thought I could maybe offset the sprint bolt hole on the TA (welding, bracket...) to the inside and use a shortened spring.

I know that's what they do for a double offset TA, but since the suspension force are not applied on the rotation plane of the TA anymore, wouldn't it force the wheel to change its camber, or the force is negligible?

Sorry for the typo in the thread title....
Click to expand...

Are you going to shorten a steel spring? Moving the hole inward 1 inch might be difficult. If I recall, the spring has a 1 inch hole in there already. You might need 1 1/4- 1 1/2?

You shouldn't have camber issues. The twist (caused by the spring) is countered by the lower arm and axle shaft (acting as an upper arm)
 
At last someone who's not there for the sole purpose of derailling the thread :lol::mobeer:
MYBAD79 said:
denpo said:
So, I thought I could maybe offset the sprint bolt hole on the TA (welding, bracket...) to the inside and use a shortened spring.
.
Click to expand...

I cut a steel spring and drilled a new hole, this was when I had the 295-50 tires on the rear.
You don't have to relocate the spring bolt mount on the TA, the slight angle of the bolt is acceptable.... no problem...
.
Click to expand...
Do you remember how much you removed? The angle is always how slight you want it to be :amused:
MYBAD79 said:
I have a almost new 7 leaf spring that I could shorten but shipping to Canada will be a bitch....
Click to expand...
Why the need of a new spring? Can't I shorten the stock spring? Maybe the existing holes would cause trouble?
you know shipping isn't a problem anymore with my shipping at the border trick, but it'd better be for a good reason.
As always, thanks for your kindness.
 
BBShark said:
denpo said:
If everything goes as planned, my '76 will be sporting 10" wide 15" diam rims.
With the relocated emergency brake bracket, they fit in, it's tight but they fit.
Since I'll probably gonna lower the car a little, I'm concerned about the spring hitting the tires.
So, I thought I could maybe offset the sprint bolt hole on the TA (welding, bracket...) to the inside and use a shortened spring.

I know that's what they do for a double offset TA, but since the suspension force are not applied on the rotation plane of the TA anymore, wouldn't it force the wheel to change its camber, or the force is negligible?

Sorry for the typo in the thread title....
Click to expand...

Are you going to shorten a steel spring? Moving the hole inward 1 inch might be difficult. If I recall, the spring has a 1 inch hole in there already. You might need 1 1/4- 1 1/2?
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's what I was understanding from Kastern answers. At that point I wonder if ordering a composite springs (which can be adjusted in lenght at purchase) wouldn't be the quick and easy way. Hell, it's been a while I haven't bought something for the car, and no epoxy doesn't count.

BBShark said:
You shouldn't have camber issues. The twist (caused by the spring) is countered by the lower arm and axle shaft (acting as an upper arm)
Click to expand...
Good.
 
69427 said:
... You don't need 17 or 18" tires if you're just doing 55mph and cornering at .5g.

I run 18" tires on the track, but I don't waste them for (as a colorful member here said) "just driving down to the 7-11 for beer and porn".
Click to expand...

Car won't do neither track nor pornhunt, but for sure I'll take it to some place I can safely learn its limits, and possiblity learn to handle them, and no I don't mean mall parkings at 3am.
 
I got the shortened lower leaf only from Guldstrand, removed every other leaf from the stock 9 leaf and was able to lower the height, use the stock bolt and still have the end of the spring line up with the inside of the 15" rim.
Trick is to keep the length of the bolt.

Guldstrand3.jpg
 
I relocated the hole so that there was just as much material between the hole and the end of the spring as before... measure for example 3/4" between hole and the tip of the spring then i moved it so that there was again 3/4" between the new hole and the new tip of the spring...

For now, I'd just drill a new hole in the old spring and call it good enough for now.... you can always buy a shortened fiberglass spring later. Then at least you get a good comparison between the old and new spring....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top