245's on all 4's

[teamrope]

Valley man wanted me to post these so everyone could get an idea of how they would look. My MM is on the left, Valleyman is on the right.

http://www.yelmtel.com/~teamrope/pics/245s.jpg

IMHO the upside, you can rotate tires. The down side, you loose the "hotrod rake".

[teamrope]

Untill Valleyman pointed it out, I didn't even notice he was running the same size tire on all 4 corners..

http://www.yelmtel.com/~teamrope/pics/vm.jpg

[BUCKWHEAT]

Is there any tire interference or limit on steering travel with the 245's in the front?

[valleyman]

Is there any tire interference or limit on steering travel with the 245's in the front?


Absolutely none. Of either.

[TripleTransAm]

Now, the REALLY interesting thing to watch for, is how the front tires are going to wear. Of course, the aggressive alignment on the MMs will tend to favour inside tire wear, but I wonder if the wear will show more across the tire, given that the 245s wear on the center when installed in the rear. It's all part of my theory of having two different sizes of tires on the same sized rim.

As for the rake, I suppose some 'extra' rake can be dialled in via the adjustable rear suspension height sensor?

[Captain Steve]

Now, the REALLY interesting thing to watch for, is how the front tires are going to wear. Of course, the aggressive alignment on the MMs will tend to favour inside tire wear, but I wonder if the wear will show more across the tire, given that the 245s wear on the center when installed in the rear. It's all part of my theory of having two different sizes of tires on the same sized rim.

As for the rake, I suppose some 'extra' rake can be dialled in via the adjustable rear suspension height sensor?You could lower the front end by cutting the stock spring or going for an aftermarket spring also.

[427435]

How about a picture showing the whole side profile of the car. I would like to see how it looks without so much rake.

Thanks

[cyclone03]

You could lower the front end by cutting the stock spring or going for an aftermarket spring also.



I ordered 245's last weekend from Tire Rack (linked from mm.net of course) and had them installed yesterday no problems at all.

My front coils are cut -1, the top of the fender opening is 29" from the ground,the rear is 29 1/4 one small rub issue on the right front,fixed with 2 drilled holes and a tie wrap.

I've wanted to do this from day one but waited for the stock tires to wear out (32,743 Miles). IMHO the car rides much better and has lost nothing from the seat handling wise.

[valleyman]

I also much prefer the ride with the 245s in the front.

[ckfleming]

I have 16,000 miles on my MM and the front tires look like new. The rear tires are badly worn at the two center treads as though there were over inflated. They were not. I did find the tires at Sam's Club (special order) for $136.00 for rear and $132.00 for front. There are advantages at Sam's such as free tire repairs, free rotation and balance at 7,500 miles (balance only for the MM) and a road hazard warrant which the manifacturer does not provide.
Any suggestions on how to get more mileage or even wear on the rear tires.

[jgc61sr2002]

I have 16,000 miles on my MM and the front tires look like new. The rear tires are badly worn at the two center treads as though there were over inflated. They were not. I did find the tires at Sam's Club (special order) for $136.00 for rear and $132.00 for front. There are advantages at Sam's such as free tire repairs, free rotation and balance at 7,500 miles (balance only for the MM) and a road hazard warrant which the manifacturer does not provide.
Any suggestions on how to get more mileage or even wear on the rear tires.

Welcome aboard. The Tire Rack a supporting vender of this site has a better price. Check it out.

[valleyman]

Any suggestions on how to get more mileage or even wear on the rear tires.[/QUOTE]

Yep. 42 psi in the rears. I got the idea from somebody else on the board who said it worked, and it does. I don't know why. It is totally wrong but it works. My tires are living proof. They have none of the dreaded center wear problem that I had when I ran them at 32. I can't explain it but the proof is, literally, where the rubber meets the road.

[David Morton]

Any suggestions on how to get more mileage or even wear on the rear tires?
Yep. 42 psi in the rears. I got the idea from somebody else on the board who said it worked, and it does. I don't know why. It is totally wrong but it works. My tires are living proof. They have none of the dreaded center wear problem that I had when I ran them at 32. I can't explain it but the proof is, literally, where the rubber meets the road.Thanks for the heads-up about the rear pressure. I ran mine from new to 4000 and it looked like the centers were half worn out so I did what seemed common sense and let them down to 25. I wound up replacing them at 7000 miles ($81 a piece). Now, I like to stab the throttle when I leave the light, especially when there's a ricer with a big fart-pipe and stickers on the fenders next to me, and I like to pull out into traffic with a nice little fish-tail squirmy every now and then, but only when my lane is clear. It's nice to see the looks from some of the performance car owners trying to see what it is that they expected to pass and only managed to get beside. So I figure it's just part of the price for having a car that has this much raw ability.

Now as for the "rotate-able" redesign being discussed here, I'd like to make a few observations.

One, the BFG G-Force tire we use has molded on the inside "mount this side in" and the manufacturer recommends the tire be kept rolling in the same direction once it is broken in. So, with this redesign, same side rotation is the best you can do anyway.

Two, there's nothing about the factory camber specs that's especially "agressive" in my opinion. If it's wearing out the insides, that means it's overstressing that part of the tire and that's not good for handling. I believe it is so negative because it helps minimize the "lane line grab" that wide tires suffer from, the pulling effect from uneven surfaces like the raised painted lines that don't wear out as fast as the unpainted road surface. I had my front end camber set to -0.1 L&R and I'm seeing even wear across the tread. Even wear means best handling. My car feels very good in the turns, especially under acceleration.

Three, the smaller front tires in the original design also weigh less, so in addition to having better braking advantage (smaller diameter tire) there is less gyroscopic resistance to quick steering maneuvers. I'm upgrading the brakes as it is now, because I think this car needs more stopping power. Why would I pay to take two steps forward and then pay more money to take a half step backwards in the braking department?

Four, because I don't rotate I don't have the additional expense of rotating, let alone paying somebody to cut or install springs on a suspension that's fine as it is, at least in the spring department. I want to upgrade by getting better sway bars, not downgrade the front by making it stiffer cutting off coils. Stiffer isn't better for handling when it means bouncy, a bouncy I have no doubt you aren't noticing with that bigger meat up front.

And five, I like the way it looks stock. This car is way too cool to mess with the way she sits.

The tested and true-to-style way to mod the tires on this car is to get the widened rear rims and go with the Nitto's. Something I plan to do soon.

I know your proud of your mod, teamrope. Try not to take it personally, but I cut my teeth on suspension and steering and have been to a *****load of factory schools from which I have drawn these observations. I make them not to critcize you, but to inform the rest of the guys about some of what my experience tells me are the shortcomings of your redesign of this cars great suspension.

I don't recommend anybody do this to their car to make it better, because it won't. This one's :bs:

But if you like to rotate tires and you like the way it looks, hey, knock yourself out.