1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Hello peter,
The team dynamics rims are cool, but lately i've been thinking about going to something a little less "flashy" and a little smaller...
...the rims i have are the "PHANTOM" model, in anachrite color...
They are made in france, but can usually be found anywhere, since the dual bolt pattern allows it to be fitted on SO MANY cars.
They are 17 x 7 with a +38 offset... so in order for them to not rub the INSIDE of the car on the rear, an 8mm spacer is needed, only on the rear though.
The spacers i have were actually bought on ebay, but are the same exact black soacers that are sold on the taliaferro website, hubcentric and all.
The tires are 205/40/17, which i was very dissapointed about, because i wanted a 45 series tire, not only for the better look but for the better RIDE< AND for the increased saftey to my rims.
The 45 series wouldn't fit because the subwoofer in my trunk weighs the rear end of the car down so much it's actually a few inches LOWER with the sub in there, however it still handles excellent! At the time i was living in a small apartment in florida and i had NO WHERE to keep a huge sub like that, i was forced to keep it in my car and go to a 40 series tire.
And... MUCH to my horror, the 40 series tire is NOT sufficient enough sidewall to protect the rims from any obstacles on the roads/highways...
For those of you not familiar with florida, they have the WORST road contruction projects in any state i have ever been to.
They choose a HUGE strech of highway or road and decide to start repaving it all at once. What you are left with is UNEVEN PAVEMENT EVERYWHERE.
So i'm going 65-75 MPH on the highway, and there's a ONE INCH RISE in the fresh pavement about 100 feet in front of me... like the newer pavement has just been paid over the old stuff and theres a ONE INCH BUMP OF PAVEMENT i have to go over at high speeds!!!
Not able to slow down because of traffic around me, i brace myself for impact, literally...
...BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM..........
luckily none of the tires blew out, however...
this happened about 4-5 times in the course of a few months.
It was my only transportation, and even though i tried to avoid the bad construction areas, even the streets i used to take to school were being worked on in a stupid manner much like the highways.
they would even divert the traffic off the road sometimes... it's absolutely REDICULOUS...
I moved back to New York when i completed college in may, however the damage has been done.
I noticed that a few of the wheels leak LARGE ammounts of air during a weeks time. They take 51 psi MAX, and on a week one will go down to around 30, another around 40, and the other two not so much, but a little.
I tried a few cans of fix a flat in the bad ones... i didn't have much choice, one day they were flat, so i had to in order to drive them to an air pump. it probably didn't help the situation much...
...so i i had them checked out by the litix group in PA when i visited them down there, about 5 hours away from my home in upstate NY...
On the way there, i was finally noticing some vibration above about 70-75 MPH... not BAD, just annoying. But i knew it was about time for an alignment, and some balancing and rotating...
Kevin the owner said... he tried to balance the tires, but the rims on the right of the car have been bent a little out of shape from the damage i incurred in florida.
He put the worst one in my rear on the passanger side, furthest away from me... so i don't feel the vibration in my seat now.
He said they could be repaired... but it would cost $$$, big surprize... and i didn't have anough to even attempt it...
...so...
Whatever he did, he did a good job... and on the ride home it wasn't so bad. Over 80MPH, the vibrations aren't BAD, but are noticeable... and to answer your question, before any of the damage was done... they were PERFECT...
back then, and even NOW STILL... the handling is AMAZING! You can make a 90 degree turn at STUPID speeds... like, i don't know, upwards of 50 mph... :)
the tires tread design is so awesome, you can just hear it "Fffffffffffffffff" pulling on the road... like i'm on train tracks.
Anyways...
I've been doing A LOT of thinking recently...
...i want to get rid of these rims. I want to sell the rims and the tires seperatly. I think i could get more money that way.
The tires for those of you unfamiliar with them are the NUMBER ONE RATED TIRE ON TIRERACK.com...
the GOODYEAR EAGLE F1 GS D3 tire! At the goodyear/gemini shop in florida...
I spent over $800 on the tires, road hazard warranty, and installation.
Over $150 per tire...
Now, call me stupid, but i've said this before and i'll say it again:
"the tires are the ONLY thing that come in contact with the road. Therefore i feel that they are the MOST important thing on your car, PERIOD! Each tire only had a small SQUARE of rubber on the road at any one time... so the tread design and water shedding capabilities of your tire will not only help with better handling, they WILL save your LIFE! IF you trust your LIFE to a $50 peice of RUBBER, then i wish you the best of luck on the road!"
My life is worth $150 for each tire.... especially after the accident i was in with my 1987 saab 900S. I lost traction on a winter night and slid at about 85mph into 300 feet of guardrail. of thr 5 people in my car, no one was hurt thanks to the superior saftey featrues of saab, and that's why i bought ANOTHER saab to begin with! I should have the full story posted in SAABS SAVE LIVES forum on here, but i've yet to hear from scott about it being "accepted"
anyways...........................................................
i got really off topic there, sorry to those of you who just want to know what i'm asking for my stuff...
So...
those tires have only been driving for about 5,000 miles MAX
They still sell for over $100 a tire, unless you can find them cheaper than that, and i'd say BUY THEM!
One tire has a nail in it, but i'm going to go have it fixed soon, the people at firestone down the street from my house didn't have the right tools for my wheels to do the job.
other than that, that have over 85% of the tread remaining. I could still sell them with the road hazard warranty included i think.
So, i guess $400-%500 for the tires is the range i'd be asking for them.
It's a shame that i can't use them on the new rims that i buy, but like i said i can't deal with a 40 series tire on my car anymore...
I want to switch to a 45 and also a 16" rim
SO my rims still sell new for almost $200 a rim... but in the condition they are in, i'd also ask for $400-$500 for them...
...it's only one of them that has to be straightened badly, but the other one will have to be done eventually...
The one in the front right incurred the most bending on the highways in florida.
SO...
i know i'm not supposed to "sell" anything on here, i'm just getting a feel for what i should do with them.
If i could trade them for a set of SUPER AEROS with tires on them i'd do a straight up trade in a heartbeat!!!
I'm pretty firm on those prices... so if those of you who have read all this could give me your opinions on if you think i could ever get this much money for my crap, please do.
oh yeah, and what's up with recailbrating the car after you install a new ECU? ;) it's never been done :)
-gavin
posted by 69.169.238...
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