Steering, Suspension, & Brakes

"I've been dreaming about BBS RS like those for years. Did you happen to weigh them without tires?"

Carl,

Haven't weighed them yet as I left the old Dunlops (hard as rocks) on so I can roll the sled around the garage when I need to. When I swap tries in the spring, I'll weigh them and see what they come in at (already made a note on my MGB "to do" list for you). I'm also curious as to what they weigh but judging from how easy the tire/wheel combination is to heft up and on the hubs, not much.

DT

Quote from Art Gertz
Meanwhile, back at your garage, you mention possibly/purposely changing toe and chamber on a live axle rear end. How is this possible without relocating the opposite ends of the axles ? With ball splines on full floating axles, this readilly accomplished. Seems to me, welding the ends on crooked, will mostly affect how bearing and retainer seats and bolts up. Tire/wheel alignment and drum/rotor wear patterns, should be minimally affected, because the axle shaft alignment determines these. A bent axle housing will more likely affect wheel alignment, up to and including binding on the axle splines. Nice work. roverman.


Art

You are correct. All I was trying to do (and Jim B as well) was to get the outer bearings to run without binding and to not apply bending stress to the axle. What the circle track guys do is to bend the housing up next to the pumpkin to give a slight camber at the wheel similar to what a swing axle VW looks like if you push down on the car in back. The axle splines aren't happy running at an angle so they generate heat and wear out quickly, not something you want to do with a daily driver.

I wonder if ball spline configuration is available for semi-floating axles ? Seems to me, the carrier will need to be offset downward, as the ends of the axles will, during decambering, to get negative camber without the binding. Cheers, roverman.

"I've been dreaming about BBS RS like those for years. Did you happen to weigh them without tires?"

Carl/Floyd,

I just had the front tires swapped and, while I was at it, took the opportunity to weigh one of the rims - 14.7 lbs without the knock-off and center ring. Also just found another pair on e-Bay that I'm going to pick up as spares.

They're damn hard to find in 16 x 7. Tons of 15s out there taken off, it seems, every Firebird that ever lived but the 16s are very scarce and when do find a set, they want an arm and a leg for them. Who knew? Back in the late 60s, early 70s when these were popular, I bet every other kid in my high school had them on their car.

DT