Front tire height

[72bluNblu]

....

?

Seriously, if I'm missing something let me know. I know on my car the only clearance issues I have to keep me from going to even bigger tires are the frame and the fender. Unless the coilover swap limits the turning radius, it won't help with either of those. And if it does limit the turning radius, well, I would say that's a disadvantage. Plus there are easier ways to limit the turning radius than installing a complete coilover conversion, if that's the solution.

 

[roccodart440]

?

Seriously, if I'm missing something let me know. I know on my car the only clearance issues I have to keep me from going to even bigger tires are the frame and the fender. Unless the coilover swap limits the turning radius, it won't help with either of those. And if it does limit the turning radius, well, I would say that's a disadvantage. Plus there are easier ways to limit the turning radius than installing a complete coilover conversion, if that's the solution.

I don't think the turning radius has changed on mine.

The only thing I can see that would have changed is track width, upper and lower control arm dimensions. I'm not sure what in regards to suspension gets in the way of the rim or tire.

 

[72bluNblu]

I don't think the turning radius has changed on mine.

The only thing I can see that would have changed is track width, upper and lower control arm dimensions. I'm not sure what in regards to suspension gets in the way of the rim or tire.

I know that the offsets required are a little different, but that depends on which one you go with too, RMS, HDK, etc. But that doesn't change the position of the wheel in the relation to the car if you set the offset correctly.

As fas as suspension parts getting in the way, if you're talking about an 18" rim almost nothing does. An 18" rim clears the ball joint and outer tie rod. With a stock UCA you do have to check the rim to UCA clearance at full steering lock and full suspension droop, but that's really only an issue for 18x9's unless you're running a lot of offset. And if you have tubular UCA's, you can run 18x10's up front, which allow tires far larger than will fit on the front of the car. I know on my car I'm only limited by the frame and the fender, nothing else interferes.

So, I really don't see how converting to coilovers gets you anything in the way of improved tire clearance. I'm running 275's on 18x9's, and I couldn't run anything wider without doing more bodywork on the fenders or substantially raising the ride height. I could probably manage a little taller, but the next step to a 275/40/18 is too big. 255/40/18's would be no problem at all.

I'm not saying there's no reason to convert to coilovers, I know what they can and can't do, and for a lot of folks there are advantages. But tire size really isn't one of them.

 

[roccodart440]

With a stock UCA you do have to check the rim to UCA clearance at full steering lock and full suspension droop, but that's really only an issue for 18x9's unless you're running a lot of offset. And if you have tubular UCA's, you can run 18x10's up front, which allow tires far larger than will fit on the front of the car.

It's a good idea if you are running the stock front end stuff to switch to the tubular UCA's. Proper castor, weight, looks, strength and added clearance.

 

[72bluNblu]

It's a good idea if you are running the stock front end stuff to switch to the tubular UCA's. Proper castor, weight, looks, strength and added clearance.

No argument here, I run tubular UCA's on all of my cars.

But they aren't mandatory either. If you're staying close to the factory ride height, or even just slightly lowered, and running 15" rims then you can run the stock UCA's with offset bushings and still have plenty of adjustment for a decent alignment.

If you're going significantly lowered (say 1" or more) with 17" or larger rims and wider tires I think the tubular UCA's just make good sense, same with 1" or larger torsion bars and good shocks. That will allow for a more aggressive alignment, which will work better with softer, modern compound tires. But it really depends on what you want out of the car, a lot of stuff I've done to my car is overkill if you just want a decent handling street cruiser.