Wide Wheels

[Nick H]

Hi,

I have ordered a CAV a few months ago from SA and it should be arriving in the UK in the next couple of weeks. It's a the complete component package and I'm looking at fitting a 400hp Ford V8 with a CAV supplied 6 Speed gearbox. The car is CAV #148 and it's gun metal grey with twin light silver stripes. I've been lurking on the site and learning slowly but i'm looking forward to getting started! I will start a build thread of course!

I was wondering if I could get a few opinions before I get the wheels! I am getting 17" Halibrands and I am thinking of having them widened from the standard 17" x 10.5" to about 17" x 12.5" at the rear and keep the front wheels at 17" x 8.5". The maximum I could fit with the settings on the CAV are 13" with 120mm backspacing due to the wide rear arches.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the pros and cons of widening wheels? How will it affect my handling or the ride? Does anyone know if it will affect my chances at passing the SVA? Is it dangerous in any way? I would be grateful for any opinions!

Thanks.
Nick.

[Jeff Mosing]

Don't know about any regs in UK, but as far as handling, it may induce a push in the car at the limit, but for just tooting around, would be fine.

[SteveB]

Nick

The wide rears will look great, I would only advise caution for when you get caught in a heavy downpour (common in the UK), very wide treads are prone to aquaplaning so careful tyre choice

Regards SVA you will need nuts that are not 'wing nut' type and the wheel rim must not be outside the bodywork. That is the rim not the tyre.

SVA Section 13 -3 / E ... check wheels 'which,above the horizontal plane passing through the axis of rotation, must not project beyond the vehicle body plan form'.

The arch flare normaly covers in the center but the front and rear may cut back to expose the rim in plan view. it will depend on which version of rear flares you have.

You can adjust for minimum rear track width for the test if it is a close call

Steve

[Cliff Beer]

Nick, as the wheel gets wider then proper camber settings become more critical. I'm guessing your car comes with the adjustable rear suspension (more easily adjustable than the early CAVs at least!) so that's good - plan on some fine tuning of the rear suspension.

There's another recent thread or two discussing wheel widening - best vendors for this, etc. Take a look for it and you'll probably find some helpful information in there.

Congrats on your new car - you'll love to quality of the CAV kit/car.

[Nick H]

Thanks for your comments guys....just getting to grips with the build at the moment!

I'll post some pics when I can.....

Nick.