Bigger Wheels VS Lowering: A few Thoughts

[Candyman]

Hey Everyone,

Their always seem to be a few questions lurking around about lowering a PT, or putting bigger wheels on a PT, so I figured I might try to put together a few thoughts on both in hopes of not so much guide someone in making a decision, but rather to give some food for thought on both. Please add any more thoughts, advise, problems encounters in this thread so we can keep the next guy can make a good more educated decision hHere is what all I have come up with while checking on some wheels for my Beast!

Before we begin, when looking at wheels, Here are a couple of specs to look at.

Lug Pattern is: 5/100

Wheel width to look at: 7.5" to 8"

Offset: 30 -40 MM

And now a few facts.


Wheels:

1. No need to worry about what to do if you get a flat! You can go all the way up to 19" wheels, and the skinnier tires actually come up to the same overall stock dimensions. If you go 20" in the back, the overall height difference is less than an inch so your spare doughnut should work with no problem! The tires are a bit more expensive if they cant patch it, but not a whole lot more than a good performance tire so its not that bad.

2. Do watch out for pot holes more carefully. With less tire sidewalls, their is less of a tire to carry the shock, and with a heavier rim, you are more likely to bend a rim with a good hole which can get a bit expensive!

3. Tire sidewalls , along with shock absorershelp with suspension of your ride. The less tire sidewall the have the more rough ride you are going to get, and vise verse!

4. Unlike many vehicles, given the limitations as far as size goes, you are not able to change the overall wheel dimensions much outside of the stock specifications, so your speedometer should not need to be re calibrated.

5. If you worry about rubbing due to increased height, don't. I can put 19" wheels in front, and 20" wheels in back of my PT with my 3"/5" drop with a body height of only 4" front and back! NOTE: You can still run into rubbing issues if you go wider in some circumstances.

6. You do have more wight with larger tires, so you will put more stain on your brakes, and related components, so you may want to consider looking into more heavy duty braking components, and heavier rotors to compensate.
On the other hand:


7. One last thought, if you are going to at some point think about doing air bags, you may want to consider looking at keeping tire width to 7.5". as several aftermarket rims that are 8" wider, or more, have been known to cause clearance issues in front due to the Air Bag Assembly coming into contact with the wheel itself. The end result may be an un-level overall height with the front end being noticeably higher than the rear of the ride.

Lowering:

1. Lowering your ride also decreases suspension, therefore making for an equally rough ride by compressing suspension travel. You can compensate to some degree with aftermarket struts, and shocks, but it will still have a stiffer ride overall, and will increase the lower you go.

2. If you don't change your struts out at the time you install drop springs, you may not have to have your ride aligned. I dropped mine on a custom set of springs a full 3" in front, and 5" in back which is lower than the Goldline Super Slammers, and had it laser checked on the rack after completed, and was almost no difference off of speck. If you do change the Struts, or have a need for an alignment, their is a very reasonably priced Camber Kit on the market to help with any adjustment.

3. Remember that if you really lower your ride all the way down close to mine, you will have to be extra careful where you drive. It is more tricky to enter driveways at stores, or at some homes, I can touch dead center on speed bumps even if I angle it, and barely walk it over on some. If you have a flat, you best have roadside insurance, or carry a couple small blocks of wood with you to drive the car onto to get a jack under it. And the same goes to put your ride up on a rack at a Mechanic, as it may not clear the supports on the Hoist.

[lakersfan1]

Originally Posted by Candyman

2. If you don't change your struts out at the time you install drop springs, you may not have to have your ride aligned. I dropped mine on a custom set of springs a full 3" in front, and 5" in back which is lower than the Goldline Super Slammers, and had it laser checked on the rack after completed, and was almost no difference off of speck.

That doesn't make any sense. Just physics means a PT Cruiser will need a front alignment because of the way lowering affects the angle of the wheel to the tie bar. And that's just for toe-in. The camber will also require camber adjustment via camber bolts . But bad camber will just affect tire wear. Toe issues will not only effect tire wear, but also safety as it will affect turn in. The rear should never need one except as a result of damage.

[Candyman]

Hey lakersfan1,

I wish I had a better explanation of why. I bought, and expected to put the Camber Kit together, and do the alignment when we put the springs on. After instating them, we put it on the rack, and checked it, and it was still in spec. I didn't buy it, and actually had another tire shop put it on the rack again a month after, and still in spec with no camber kit, and no alignment. I had new tires at the same time as the drop which was done back in mid 2007 with no uneven wear. I do watch the tire wear very close, as well as pressure as part of my regular detailing process as I like to maimise my usage of tire dressing which includes polishing, and dressing the inner, as well as the outer tire as part of my prep before show, and unlike many dropped show preps I have done, after driving, the inside, and outside edge of the dressing is still level. I also had it checked by a third party back in OCT, 2008 while looking at wheels by a third different allignment shop, and told they are still within spec.

I have no idea why. Maybe it was due in part to the material we used, or how the material was coiled, or something else, but for whatever reason, after three separate alignment tests all done independently by three different Technicians who do not know each other, and come up with close to the same "within Specs" by laser sight, and give me the readout to verify, I am convinced that for whatever reason, my PT was dropped 3" in front, an 5" in back on custom springs, and the alignment, and camber are correct without any modification.

Take it easy.

Candyman