rigez Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 The RS Watanabe's I bought need the barrels redone. Some road rash and some dings. So I was thinking about going bigger either 17s or 18s. Then I was thinking about 17s up front and 18s in the rear. My question is for those of you that are running a staggered set like this. Do you have a raked front end or running it level? Doesn't have to be 17s/18s can be 14/15, 15/16, 16/17....whatever. Just would like some feedback good or bad on the idea. Pics would be great if anybody has them and or any comments on how the car handles like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 For a street car a staggered setup will handle fine - you really never get to the traction limits driving on the street. For a track car a square setup handles better. FYI... keep your overall tire diameter under 25" unless you're planning on relocating suspension mounting points. Too big a tire and too low a ride height and the car will handle poorly regardless of staggered or square. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rigez Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 John, When you say "square" are you referencing equal width on wheels and tires front to rear? Just want to make sure i'm understanding this correctly. Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 FYI... keep your overall tire diameter under 25" unless you're planning on relocating suspension mounting points. Too big a tire and too low a ride height and the car will handle poorly regardless of staggered or square. Sorry to high jack a little is there another way to improve suspension besides relocating everything if you are in the 25" range? My tires are about 25.1 in the front and exactly 25" in the rear and I also estimate a 3" drop. Is this to much? (picture for reference): Im not running a staggered setup size wise (17" all the way around). I am running one width wise however 8F and 9R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 When you say "square" are you referencing equal width on wheels and tires front to rear? Equal width. My tires are about 25.1 in the front and exactly 25" in the rear and I also estimate a 3" drop. Is this to much? Yes. If you're not willing to relocate the suspension mounting points you need to raise the car up. In your case I would go up 1.5" in front and 2" in rear at the bare minimum and add front "bumpsteer" spacers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 When I went with my staggered setup. 315/35/17 Rear, and 235/40/17 Front (My tire OD's are not the same due to the differences in width vs sidewall ratios.) I found I had to increase the ride height of the car to get a balance between ride height and tire clearances. Mine is primarily a street car, and when I do get it on the track, I am not able to drive the car to 9/10ths of its limits, so I have encountered zero issues due to the different tire sizes. It looks good with the wide meats out back, but I can't rotate my tires around. It is a bit of give and take if you catch my meaning. Scott. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Sorry to bring back this thread (but after further thought about my current suspension, this topic came back to mind). After taking actual measurements of my tires, it turns out they are only about 24.1" tall, Not 25" like tire rack claims. I was wondering if that would help the height issue. Also John by "relocating mounting points" are you referring to the modification in the JTR book regarding the bump steer modification? Basically what the book describes as re-drilling the hole where the control arm mounts to the cross member so its higher (making my control arms level instead of pointing up)? I also have bump steer spacer already installed on the car if that helps my situation at all. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Yes, yes, and yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Yes, yes, and yes. And this would allow me to keep the car at its current height (if I wanted to)?. I have no intention of keeping it like this on the street (for obvious reasons), but when i get to take the car to the track I would like to be able to lower like this if i needed to for whatever reason. Sorry for the obvious questions. Just want to do it right the first time and you would probably be the guy to ask for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I have no idea. Are your front and rear control arms pointing down (from inside to outside)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Ill look at it and post what I find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Sorry for the delay. The control arms are pretty much parallel to the ground at the height I want it at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 So is that an "ok" angle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 No. You want the arms pointing down from the inside to the outside. Parallel means you don't get any camber gain in bump. If the car rolls 3 degrees you essentially lose 3 degrees of negative camber, which means if you start with 1.5 degrees negative you'll end up with about 1 degree of positive camber in a hard corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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