General 17" alloys - suspension wear

[lanciaman]

Hi all, looking for an opinion. A prospective buyer of my B was told by DTR that the 17" alloys on it "massively accelerates wear on the suspension and wheel bearings".

Aside from being able to fire round corners at a higher speed than with standard 15", if driving normally, on generally good roads with few potholes, is there any reason for this to be the case?

cheers

No hardship if it doesn't sell btw, just finding it hard to justify existence of it and the Lancia Coupe!

 

[Nino_1975]

Had 17"'s on my car for years and no problems. You do have a harder ride but not by much.

I have never had any probs with them.

I would not trust everything DTR say. Anyway it's all preference. You mess with something that is none factory standard then be prepaired things may get worse or may get better. And it all depends on how you drive. Drive like a boy racer and accept the fact yoru car will not last. Drive well, service it and it should treat you well.

 

[afroking]

Hi all, looking for an opinion. A prospective buyer of my B was told by DTR that the 17" alloys on it "massively accelerates wear on the suspension and wheel bearings".

Aside from being able to fire round corners at a higher speed than with standard 15", if driving normally, on generally good roads with few potholes, is there any reason for this to be the case?

cheers

No hardship if it doesn't sell btw, just finding it hard to justify existence of it and the Lancia Coupe!

They are right, to an extent. It will increase wear having larger diameter wheels but not, "massively".

 

[docorangepeel]

I think it's more to do with the tyres then the 17" alloys. Even if it's true and the shocks last 20% less, the Barchetta rear shocks can be changed in 20 mins and the front in just over an hour with a basic tool kit and a jack, so it's not the end of the world is it.

 

[barchetta_97]

:yeahthat:

 

[lanciaman]

I aint worried about it, as you say, easy to change so basically, so what! I think he was looking for a "credible" way out of going for it! DTRs recommendation - nay strong advice - was to get a set of 15"s and tyres..at £200 a corner! Whether this was a thinly vieled attempt at getting cash off I dunno, but it sure wasn't going to wash!!!

 

[Mad Matt]

Changing anything on a car with a part which isn't standard can have a good or bad effect, obvious really.

In this case I'd be asking why and how. If they can't answer then it's so much hot air......

They could be right if, for example, the overall diameter is changed slightly, or if the new set-up leaves you with heavier unsprung weight, or if the geometry is put out a little and so on.

I reckon they could be right but only by a small margin. On the other hand I think the assumption that bigger wheels are better isn't true either (not saying that this applies in your case but you see it a lot these days).

 

[docorangepeel]

When I changed my shocks and springs a few years ago, I had the geometry alignment done on a computer system and it never came up as a problem at all.

 

[Lima]

Definite answer coming up (well, kind of...)

I bought my B 6 years ago
It had 25,000 kms
Soon after I changed the wheels to 17s, shod them with 35 section 225 rubber and lowered the car 35mm. The car also has spacers.
So, I must be some way off the factory settings, and the guys at DTR should have seen me for much servicing since...

However, after all these years, and an additional 125,000 kms of spirited driving I have only replaced the o/s/r bearing... the one that gets the least abuse as it doesn't go through the drains and doesn't have an engine sitting over it... so I do not attribute this to the 17s. I still have the original dampers etc and in fact the only thing that has tired on the car are the gas struts for the roof - surely not related

 

[docorangepeel]

Thank you Lima, a bit of fresh air for this thread.

I have seen lots of people looking at starting to mod the Barchetta a little on this forum lately who are getting bogged down worrying about what can go wrong if one bolt is changed or what will go wrong if ....

Sure it's good to look into a mod and see if anyone else has done it but going over and over possible issue after issue only makes you end up doing nothing at all. The best mods are the ones you do that no one else has done and then posting then up for everyone to see.

I have broken things while attempting mods and have ordered the wrong parts now and again but that's all part off it.

Just my ten pence worth.

As a wise man once said "He who dares wins Rodney"