New Wheels!

[trekcarbonboy]

I finally had the chance to mount my new wheels, and I am quite pleased with the result. [:D]
205/50/15 Dunlop Direzza's mounted on 15x7 Rota "RB" Wheels, Gunmetal Grey.
I love the looks and the handling is so much better. The car is much quieter and the "55mph shake" is GONE! [:D] I will definitely be swapping the old wheels during winter storage to avoid flat spots.

The only negative is that with the extra width of the tires I am now able to notice that the rear axle sticks out the right side 3/4 of an inch further than the left. Any thoughts on how to fix this?

Here's a few before/after pics.





Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[trekcarbonboy]

Oops, made the pics a bit small.

Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[darrellw]

Looks great!

Not sure what could make the axle off-center, any previous damage where the links mount? Or previous fender damage?

Darrell Walker
66 TR4A IRS-SC CTC67956L
81 TR8 SATPZ458XBA406206
Vancouver, WA, USA

[trekcarbonboy]

Not that I know of Darrell. I'm 2nd owner and Uncle was 1st. Although the 5spd rear did come from another car, so that's an unknown.

Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[Beans]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by trekcarbonboy</i>

... The only negative is that with the extra width of the tires I am now able to notice that the rear axle sticks out the right side 3/4 of an inch further than the left. Any thoughts on how to fix this?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
That is pretty normal, all TR7 I have had (or broke for spares) so far had the same problem.
Only way to fix it is by making the rear suspension adjusable or by moving mounting brackets on the axle or body ...

b.t.w. the new wheels look quite good [8D]

<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, now restored and back on the road)
1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)</font id="blue">
<b>[url="http://www.tr7beans.blogspot.com/"]<u><b><font size="3"><font color="red">My full Weblog</font id="red"></font id="size3"></b></u>[/url]</b></i></center>

[trekcarbonboy]

Well that's a relief to know Beans. Thanks.

Resized




Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[Benzo]

They look great craig, if your going for looks, id have the car lowered more



Currently back to Basics with my BMW V8 Engined Build.

[trekcarbonboy]

Benzo, I did install 1" lower springs which achieved absolutely zero drop from original spec. In fact the front sits a tad higher. [V]
It's ok for now as I intend to lower the front by installing a V8! [:D]

Drove the car to work this morning and it has been absolutely transformed! The handling is great but the most significant improvement is the noise reduction. Before with my old multiple-flat-spot-tires the car rattled and shook like I was on cobblestones! Now it's nice and smooth and quiet. No dash rattle, no door rattle, and I went straight up to 85mph without so much as a twitch from the steering wheel. [:D]
Come December I will be swapping the old wheels back on for the winter lay up. Although I do take it out if the weather is nice so I'll just have to deal with the rattling till spring.

VERY PLEASED!![:D][:D]

Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[whitenviro]

Very nice! So how much of the better handling is from new tires vs the 15" wheel? I've always wondered why the larger diameter wheels help, other than let you buy "real" tires!


[/img]
1980 Pageant Blue DHC with removable hardtop.

[trekcarbonboy]

I'd say the fact that the new rims are 1.5 inches wider makes a bigger difference than the diameter. Much bigger contact area with the ground. The larger diameter rim and lower sidewall of the tire will certainly allow less lateral deflection, but I doubt that makes much difference with my driving. And for sure it's easier to get a quality tire at that size.


Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[FI Spyder]

It might be my used to seeing 13" tires but 15" seem a bit large. It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison of 13", 14" and 15" wheels using the same car.

Smooth ride has nothing to do with big tires but with the fact that you have new (good) tires. My 13" Kumho's are silky smooth. I run 30 to 32 psi so tires tend not to get a flat spot as if I was using lower pressures (I think).

While the first few winters where spent up on jack stands for various
projects the last few it's spent on the floor with no side effects.

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[trekcarbonboy]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by FI Spyder</i>



Smooth ride has nothing to do with big tires but with the fact that you have new (good) tires.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Indeed!

Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[trekcarbonboy]

Bonus! The speedo is now correct. It was of by 5 ever since I installed the 5spd.

Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[nick]

With such a large contact patch how much force is it taking to move the steering wheel when the car is stopped? No power steering I assume?

[img][IMG]http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt234/nickmi/TR7%201975/Yellow.jpg[/img]
nick
'79 TR7 DHC
'76 TR7 FHC

[trekcarbonboy]

Haven't had to yet, but I never thought it was that big a deal before. I do also have the roller bearings installed. I'm guessing with my big arms I'll not even notice. [:o)]

Craig '75 2.0 FHC