Re: [DML] Low profile rims & tires

[wingd2@xxxx]

Walt,

Keep up the postings. You come up with some very interesting ideas 
sometimes :-)

As far as the original front wheels rubbing the front sway bar, it's a yes 
and no answer. Yes, on many Deloreans, the inside of the front wheels / 
tires rubs the sway bar, but No it's not supposed to. If the front end is 
aligned correctly AND the steering rack is correctly centered when this is 
done, the front wheels will not rub the sway bar, even at lock to lock. It is 
very close, but they will clear on both sides. And the steering rack has a 
stop built into it so you can only turn the wheel so far either way. The sway 
bar is not supposed to act as the stop for steering movement.
The biggest problem is most alignment shops just reset the toe in with the 
steering rack set where ever it happens to be when you bring the car in. This 
is OK for getting the alignment within specs, but it normally leads to 
allowing the wheel / tire to rub the inside on one side or the other. 

You also say you've got problems with your new rims hitting the sway bar 
on the inside ? I've been running Falken tires with my Konig custom rims for 
a while now and the Falken's I've got have a rubber strip molded into them 
which projects out past the wheel lip just for this purpose, to protect the 
wheel from hitting. I'm running Falkens new directional Z-IEX Hi Pro tires 
and I've been very happy with their performance. You are correct, I have the 
same problem you do, with the wider front wheels, there is a rubbing problem 
on the insides with the sway bar, but I have tire rub, not metal to metal. 
You might play with spacers on the front wheels also, to set them out just a 
little. It's a pretty tight fit between the outside fender lip and the inside 
sway bar clearance, so you can't go to far - 1/8 to 1/4" max, depending on 
the backspacing of your new wheels. I've just gotten used to not turning the 
steering wheel all the way lock to lock. If I feel the tire starting to rub, 
I just back off the steering wheel a little bit. 
Let me know if you come up with a new sway bar to fix this.

Marty