Corsa-B.uk - Vauxhall, Opel and Holden Corsa B Owners Club

Hi guys and gals, this is a bit of a follow on from my last post about fitting my new alloys.

Got hold of some 5mm sapcers and tried fitting the first of the two front's today. Tightened up the bolts and started to hear some creaking. When i lowered my car a flake of the rim flew off from the back of it. Took the wheel back off to find i had taken two junks out of the poly chrome finished brand new rims i had just bought! (Although on the back of the rim i was how you say pretty p****d off!!)

Now the previous wheels i had on were multi stud fitment with an offset of 38! These new rims have got an offset of 49 (proper vauxhall offset) i lowered the car roughly 40mm on coilovers and didnt have this problem before. When changed the wheel back to the old one i tried putting my finger between tyre/alloy and coilover and it was very close if not slightly touching (with the 38offset on).

Any ideas?? I really like my new wheels and they are going to finish off the look of the car (once the other bits are done!)

Cheers Matt

sorry mate sounds like a job for a professonial if u ask me unless some smarty pants nos his stuff

well i spoke to rimstock yesterday who i bought the wheels from and all there comment was: It sounds like you've lowered your car.!

Not much help there!!

hi bud it sounds like you have done the right thing with getting the right offset wheels as when its wrong ive found your car tram lines and find all the bumps in the road. where abouts has the rim chipped actually on the rim or the hub face ? is the problem appearent on both sides of the car ? if i were you firstly before you spend anymore money id get a tape measure out and measure point to point on the components in you suspension to establish if anything is bent like the struts and if you measure from the outside edge of the disk back to the strutt you should be able to see roughly if you have more camber on 1 wheel than the other. hope this helps, but with this problem and without seeing the car and exact problem as you see it i can only guess . regards simon aka jarjar

Cheers simon,

Very useful info. When the weathers a bit better better (not raining) i'll try and post some pictures up so you know what i'm talking about.

The scratches are actually on the lip of the inside of the wheel.

Lets just say it is camber is it something that can be adjusted?? The rears are on fine no problems there. It's just the fronts!

Cheers Matt

it can be adjusted to a point but in 2 ways, 1- where the hub joins the strut there are 2 bolts yes, well with them loose there is a little and i mean a little adjustment basicly the closer the top of the disk is to the strut the more negative camber you have. negative camber is good if you want make a car handle better, but not really if you want to put big wheels on, if you imagine the wheel runs more on its inner edge when you turn 1 it turns easier (slightly less resistance on the road) and two when the car rolls, it rolls onto the full face of the tyre rather than the outer edge. 2-the camber can also be adjusted by using differant top mounts but i doubt this will apply to you unless you have eccentric rally style top mounts.

Would putting 10mm spacers on be a bad thing/effect the handling etc??

yea...dont do it.

you should need only 5mm spacers max to get past the coilover problem...

what width are the wheels ... what type are they actually?? im assuming you have gone for the mesh or other such if you have a chrome finish?

what are the overall wheel and tyre dimensions...we can go from there.

Cheers for the response Chris,

What do you mean by (im assuming you have gone for the mesh or other such if you have a chrome finish?)??

The wheels are team dynamics monza's, they are 15" and are 6.5j.

The tyre size is 195/50/15.

Hope this helps with the info you need!!??

Matt

i work at a tyres n exhausts place, ive dealt with this a few times...the way to solve this is...get some proper spacers...7-10mm these spacers should also insert into the back of your alloys, so that they sit firmly, then while the car is in the air, lock it fully both ways, and check with your hands for any touching...if there is none, slowly let ur car down, then go get ur tracking done. Regards John

Cheers for the response John,

Where can i get these 10mm spacers that slot into the wheels your talking about?? As all the one's i've seen are flat spacers that are a right pig to fit!

Cheers Matt

best bet is your local alloy dealer, if not ur gunna have to try the internet, or ur local car part dealer. Hope all goes well, John

the above is an option but, it will ad strain to you wheel bearings and make them wear prematurely and doesnt tell you if something is bent as i mentioned before. if im honest i think the wheels are too wide even tho there the correct offset personally id have gone for a 6j wheel i think you wheels would be better suited for an astra or cav something that has bigger wheels as standard fit. i used to work for vauxhall and the bodyshop there did no end of work due to so called experts at wheel shops actually selling the wrong wheels and it being a cheaper option to change the body rather than the wheel. sorry bud dont mean to be a stick in the mud but just bare it in mind.

regards simon

wheel bearings prematurely wearing...with any wheel bigger than a 13" corsa wheel its gunna happen, prematurely dunt meen 3 weeks either it means years still, plus wheel bearings are cheap, "the above" is an option commonly used rather than any other bright idea mentioned earlier, so ermm...yeahh im ryt ur rong

Well in that case, you shouldnt have any problems.

i have got et45 Pro Race 1.2's, and they are 15x7J. They are on fine with no problems at all.

I would avoid spacers as much as possible, but if you have to use some, dont use big ones. 10mm would be way too much for the car...and would put the wheel offset toward citroen territory.