I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your patience in reading my blog. It must be quite painful to read all about the things I do to Nickie because it seems I keep going around in circles. Well, this posting is not going to be any different. Before you start calling me names, I thought it is better I clarify, explain and reinforce the logic of the mods I do. Let's take this swopping from the OZ 18" back to the Rays 17" as an example. As much as I love the OZ rims, they are beginning to give me problems because of its size. The tyres rub against the coilovers when going over humps and we have this irritating knocking sound. Besides the sound, there is a possibility that the coilovers could be damaged from the knocking.
The OZ are 18" x 8J; which means spacers are necessary to prevent the rim from rubbing on the coilovers. It also means that camber adjustment is limited as too much negative camber means the tyres will also rub against the coilovers. This is applicable if you have a camber kit installed because in original form, the front camber of the Swift cannot be adjusted. That leaves me with 3 options; adjust the camber every time it runs off, remove the camber kit or replace the OZ with the Rays. I chose option 3 for simplicity and practical reasons. Having to replace 4 wheels is easier than having to remove the camber kit and most importantly, I can change the wheels myself. Obviously, the camber is misaligned and alignment would have to be done after I put back the Rays. Regarding the point about spacers, I would certainly not recommend having them on the car because it reduces the length of the securing bolt. Which essentially means the wheels cannot be tightened as much as you would want it to be. Although the chances of the wheels dropping out is highly remote, why would you want to take the risk?
I certainly hope I have clarified my actions. It all bothers on time and situation. Pictures will be posted once the replacement is done. Thank you for reading.
