Re: [DML] rim upgrades

["Walter Coe" <Whalt@xxxx>]

> I truely believe that the original rim design looks
> best and no other aftermarket look comes close to looking better.
> Have these or will these ever been created, or am I just living in a
> dream world?

Making reproduction rims in any size is easy to do for the person who has
the equipment. Some of the nicer aftermarket rims are made using CNC
equipment, so once the measurements are in the computer, a robot does the
work.

> Can tires be used to keep
> the original geometry of the overall circumferance?

Yes, I've done this with my car. The front wheels are OEM size except an
inch wider, and the rear wheels are just a gnats ass smaller -- not enough
to make any remarkable difference in wheel size. I haven't driven enough on
these rims to notice if they improve the handling. I still have issues with
getting the front rims to fit properly. There is a little machining left to
do to clean up where the front lug holes were welded shut & re-drilled.
(What a fiasco!) Then there is the problem of having the wider rims rub the
front sway bar. This is a problem even with the OEM configuration, but
wider rims only makes this worse. One thing I have noticed about driving on
low profile rims is that the rear camber does weird things. Sometimes the
wheels appear to lean inward, and other times they appear mostly vertical.
If I do some hard cornering, stop & get out & look then the wheels lean
inward. If I pick the rear up & set it down, then the wheels go back to
normal. I've only noticed this with low profile rims. I'm planning on
having my rear lower control arms modified to be adjustable like Don Steger
or Marty Maier offer.

At the rate things are going, I'm not going to have a front sway bar
prototype ready for the Memphis show. But since driving cross-country to
Memphis doesn't involve many sharp turns, I plan to have the aftermarket
rims on the car anyway. I posted some pictures of them in the Yahoo DML
photos section. Since then I have put lowered springs on the front which
improves the looks & handling remarkably.

Walt