Club 80-90 Forums

Ok i've got a set of AMG copies that i want to fit to my "85" diesel pannel van.

The rears are18x9 fitted with255/35 18's and an ET of 35 they fit sweet as a nut no where near suspension components and the slider misses too .

The fronts on the other hand have a small problem, they are 18x8 fitted with 225/40 18's and when offered up the inside rim edge touches the upper wishbone. Now after reading pages and pages of wheel related threads on here i have heard people mention suspension mods to accommodate aftermarket wheels without actually going into details of those mods.My idea is to grind away the tip of the wish bone to achieve clearance (Ooooo i can hear certain members squirming in there seats now getting ready to post how dangerous this will be and how irresponsible i am lol ) but i recon that after removing the necessary amount (which incidentally will only be a few mill) i can then weld in a gusset in 3mm sheet steel that will more than make up any small loss of strength if any generated in the grinding proses.

Your views please................

Cheers Euan



"Heads down and wait for the flack"

Its a "potential" Mot fail.

A suspension component with an inappropriate repair or modification

Or

Deliberate modification which significantly reduces strength.

It would be down to the tester to decide.

Ian Hulley wrote:

I'm guessing that, that's not a happy face

put a spacer on um if its only a few mm much better than grinding stuff off!

Hmmm, planning on lowering it by 55mm and from the trial fit of the wheels not sure if spacers are pos 'cause of the proximity of the arch ? Will probably have to lower then trial fit again in reality then take it from there.

See what i mean........

And this is the little piece i want to modify. Most ofthe force exerted on this component would be in the triangular area defined by the upper ball joint and the upper arm inner bushes. i can't see this lip contributing massively in the strength of the component especially if i'm going to realistically replace any removed material but just a few mm further inbound

Have you fitted longer studs/bolts?

At that point there is considerable twisting force, when the wheel is being braked the steering spindle tries to rotate as the ball joint is a joint it tries to twist the wishbone.

R0B wrote:Have you fitted longer studs/bolts?

Not yet, had to do it before for first set of alloys but will have to go longer still with this set

bigherb wrote:At that point there is considerable twisting force, when the wheel is being braked the steering spindle tries to rotate as the ball joint is a joint it tries to twist the wishbone.

Point taken, will have to set it all up properly to find out exactly how much "Jigery pokery" needs to be done.

Bad Dog 13 wrote: will have to set it all up properly to find out exactly how much "Jigery pokery" needs to be done.

I should consult your local MOT man AND more importantly your insurance company before you go further .... be prepared to refit your steelies if I were you.

Ian

Bad Dog 13 wrote:Hmmm, planning on lowering it by 55mm and from the trial fit of the wheels not sure if spacers are pos 'cause of the proximity of the arch ? Will probably have to lower then trial fit again in reality then take it from there.

Surely you'd be better modifying the wheel arches than chopping bits of the suspension......
Just a thought

andisnewsyncro wrote:

Bad Dog 13 wrote:Hmmm, planning on lowering it by 55mm and from the trial fit of the wheels not sure if spacers are pos 'cause of the proximity of the arch ? Will probably have to lower then trial fit again in reality then take it from there.

Surely you'd be better modifying the wheel arches than chopping bits of the suspension......
Just a thought

Quite possibly. Thinking that 55 might not be that much of a drop anyway, and if the shocks are set quite firmly then there may not even be an issue