Wheels not fit for purpose: yes/no????

Infiltrator_2

tomstickland wrote: »

They're probably not that bad, like for like with similar cars.

**Warning** sense of humour failure:rolleyes:

BigAde

boyohboy wrote: »

I don't want to add to your problems, but has your son informed his insurance company about the wheels. He may not be covered if not. I hope you get your money back.

Absolutely. Unless he has told the insurance company about the mod he most certainly will have invalidated his insurance.

BigAde

tomstickland wrote: »

They'll never lock the wheel up, but the tyre will suffer.

Get the car to a tyre centre asap. Get them to examine the tyre for damage and replace if necessary. The last thing you want is a blowout at speed - very scary and potentially lethal. Any reputable tyre centre should be able to give you good advice about this whole area anyway.

quoia

It is quite possible that the 17" wheels are perfectly suited to the Fiesta (no reason at all they shouldn't be if the offset is correct) BUT they are fitted with the WRONG SIZE TYRES !!!!

simate

Boy racers :rolleyes:

vincenz

Adding wider and increased diamater tyres (which come with a bigger wheel) do change the handling charatcteristics of the car.
More surface area gives more grip and braking area is increased, however a greater rolling resistance means decreased acceleration.

In essence the wheels were not fit for purpose as they made contact with the suspension members and bodywork when fitted with spacers.
The problem is that your son has driven with them on and worn the tyres and most places wouldnt accept them back.

I know its a bit trivial but some items sold in these modification shops are for show and display purposes only like small number plates or external blue LED's etc.

As mentioned above a tyre with a smaller profile ratio may prevent the contact between tyre and arch and by the sounds of things the tyre has worn to the point where it needs replacing so maybe asking for a discount on new tyres with a lower profile ratio is a start.
Other than that you could put the rims on ebay and cut your losses and move to 16" rims. Or you could get the arches 'rolled' where they take more material away from the protruding edge.

As for the insurance and the wheels it is something that should be declared, I don't think the cover is invalidated as I once made a claim on my insurance with aftermarket wheels on.

Best of luck with sorting it out.

golddustmedia

When they were rubbing on the inside (against the springs) that was an indicator the new wheels were the wrong offset. They are most likely generic alloy wheels rather than made to the Ford offset value.

Now the spacers have gone the other extreme and the offset is too high.

More importantly the wheel size is a grey area of law. The important factor is that the external circumference of the tyre is the same as standard, otherwise for each revolution of the wheel the new size would be covering more (or less) of the road surface. The obvious impact of this is that if covering more road than the normal wheel per turn then the speedo is now inaccurate. So when the speedo claims he's doing 30mph he could well be doing 35mph for example. Go through a speed trap and hey presto £60 and 3 points. More so at higher speeds the inaccuracy would be greater.

If you want a definate fitment the norm is to buy manufacturer alloys, so for example buying the larger alloy wheels from another Ford model so you know the offset would be right, but still consider the peril of wheel circumference and the impact on the speedo, remember "not knowing" the speedo is wrong is no defence in court.


Also I forgot, re: insurance. I used to be into the car mod scene a lot and any change from standard (including alloy wheels) is classed as a modification and must be declared to insurance company for the policy to remain valid, otherwise legitimately the insurance company can refuse a claim since the car is not as stated when the policy was taken out. For example making the car more attractive to thieves (as it looks nice) or accidents arising from an inaccurate speedo as mentioned above.

quoia

vincenz wrote: »

Adding wider and increased diamater tyres (which come with a bigger wheel) .

But that is the point - THEY SHOULDN'T !!

Yes the hole in the middle changes size and gets bigger with a larger wheel size, 15" hole for a 15" rim, 17" hole for a 17" rim, BUT the outer diameter of the tyre SHOULD NOT CHANGE !!
Otherwise the gearing ratios of the car are affected and more importantly the speedometer is calibrated for a tyre of a specific circumference and if this changes the MPH reading is inaccurate.
Not so bad if you go the "right" way, so it reads 60 mph when you're actually only doing 50 mph, but do it the "wrong way" so you ARE doing 60 mph and it only says 50mph and you're going to get your picture taken or stopped by the men in blue.

Putting the old 15" tyre alongside the new 17" one there should be no or very little difference in size.

I've seen cars with 14" rims have them replaced with 18" ones and there is no issue at all with them fitting, because on the 14" wheels the tyres are about 5" thick making the outside diameter 24".
On the 18" wheels the tyres are only 3" thick making the outide diameter 24"

Less metal + more rubber = more metal + less rubber

If you tell me exactly what size tyres it used to have fitted (should be in the handbook if you don't know) and what is fitted at the minute, I'll confirm if it is correct.
The information I need is something like 195/65 R 15 or 195/55 R 17

tomstickland

As said, when you fit bigger wheels you put lower profile tyres on to keep the rolling diameter constant within a few percent.

More importantly the wheel size is a grey area of law. The important factor is that the external circumference of the tyre is the same as standard, otherwise for each revolution of the wheel the new size would be covering more (or less) of the road surface. The obvious impact of this is that if covering more road than the normal wheel per turn then the speedo is now inaccurate. So when the speedo claims he's doing 30mph he could well be doing 35mph for example. Go through a speed trap and hey presto £60 and 3 points. More so at higher speeds the inaccuracy would be greater.

The few percent difference is well within the general overreading tendancies of speedometers.

Adding wider and increased diamater tyres (which come with a bigger wheel) do change the handling charatcteristics of the car.
More surface area gives more grip and braking area is increased, however a greater rolling resistance means decreased acceleration.

Bigger wheels and lower profile tyres don't change the size of the contact patch, which is very approximately the force acting on the wheel over the pressure in the tyre.
They do change the shape of the contact patch, making it wider and shorter and this allows higher cornering forces. Less squish in the tyre will improve braking on smooth surfaces and does improve the quality of the steering feedback and control.

manda1205

fiesta ST's come with 17's as std so the diameter isnt an issue, he should have gotten the right ofset to stay away from spacers, they aint the end of the world but are a bit of a bodge, he deffo needs longer studs to go with em

he should really have 205/40's on them but no doubt hes lowered it so a bit of rubbing is expected, not many places roll arches but its worth a try, any tyre place will write off a tyre with a arch mark in it, personally ive never had a problem unless its gone too far and cut it to a puncture but its your call, £500 doesnt buy a very good quality wheel/tyre package, make sure he minds pot holes of he will soon 'egg shape' some cheap wheels

no dealer is going to let you swap for 15's tho, he bought the 17's it was really up to him, it was a week or less then maybe but not months, the tyres must be well used by now and the value will be around £200 give or take.
ive got a mint set of 17's with good tyres and have them in the shed cos i wouldnt take less that £200 for em even tho they were left overs from an rs turbo i bought and sold on as standard