I've spent some time looking at wheels/tyres and clearances, etc, so for what it's worth:
1) The Focus wheels have a 52.5mm offset, as opposed to the 37mm or so for the Fiesta/Escort. So you are nearer to a 15mm spacer, which will make the bolts very long. Suggest that you look at different wheels, with a better offset. Clearances for big wheels tyres are very marginal, I've found, and starting with the wrong offset will not help. 2) My 2+2 won't accept 7x15" rims on the front without 3mm spacers. Ditto my coupe. That's with a 37mm offset, so add or subtract spacer thickness accordingly. The first foul is on the track-rod end., but the strut is pretty close. (check for brake hose fouling, too, as mine were worn through the stainless braiding....!) 3) My 2+2 won't accept 7x15" rims on the back without 10mm spacers, which then mean that the tyres hit the edge of the wheelarch (again 37mm offset). Full droop wasn't a problem, it was full compression, where the N/S wheel tucks in and hits the shock absorber. HOWEVER, I suspect the drilling for my panhard rod bracket on the shell, as the n/ s rear wheel is 10mm further inboard than the o/s when stood on the wheels. The positions of the anti-roll bar brackets on the anti-roll bar echo this, as the n/s is 10mm nearer the end of the bar than the o/ s. 4) I was advised that 195/45x15 tyres on 6.5x15" wheels were the maximum that would fit the 2+2. I would suspect that to be the case. Mine had 195/50x15 on 7x15" wheels and was fouling everywhere. The fronts had 3mm spacers on, and I suspect that the rears also had them on originally, but they had been left off at some point. The N/S rear tyre had no lettering left on the inside, where it was eating its way through the inner arch! Oh yes - mine was the factory demonstrator, as still seen on the Quantum Heritage website. With the same wheels fitted! 5) I now have 185/55x14 on 6x14" wheels with a 38mm offset, and 3mm spacers on the back, with no fouling issues. Hopefully, sorting out the back end by moving the panhard rod mounting 5mm to the o/s will get rid of the spacer issue. 6) The coupe has 185/60x14 on 6"x14" wheels with a 37mm offset. Appears not to have a foul, but on heavy braking the front wheels come back far enough to touch the wheelarch. That must be down to compliance in the bushes, but it has just had an MoT, so they shouldn't be that bad. There's 10mm or so of clearance when stood, so make sure you have PLENTY of clearance. I may get a look at this over the weekend. (185/60x14" is bigger in diameter than 195/50x15", by the way) 7) I realised that it's not just the size of tyres, or the rim width that is important, but also the combination of the two. With my 7" rims the walls of the 195 tyres were pulled outwards more than they would be on 6.5" or 6" rims. Therefore, I might have had more clearance with the same tyres on narrower wheels. We are talking 5mm or so clearances on the inside of the wheels, as I suspect you have found, so small differences are important. I have a spreadsheet that calculates the different rolling diameters for wheel/tyre sizes if it's any use to you. I'll mail it if you like. Hope the above is some use. Best of luck. Dave. On Nov 18, 8:31 pm, barnacle <[email protected]> wrote: > Today's fun and games... > > In spite of yesterday's optimism, when we tightened up all the nuts > and bolts on the front suspension, the wheels locked. Turned out to be > a combination of things, but mostly the brake carriers wanted to be a > part of the discs when the hub nuts were tightened up. That required > some careful tickling of the hub and the carrier but that's now > resolved. Fitting the wheels with the spacers - they're too thin to > have hub centres - is a pain but we managed, and the Focus wheels self- > centre on their cone washer bolts. > > At the back we discovered the panhard rod which controls the rear > track was fractionally short; it meant the passenger rear wheel jammed > against the trailing arm on full droop. This hadn't been an issue with > the narrower tyres, but with 195s it's a problem (and possibly with > the 185s I'm planning on using) so we fixed it by cutting the rod and > TIG welding it back two(!) millimetres longer... Now it's clear, and > using 185s will give another 5mm clearance all round. > > We've fitted the gearstick and cables; it takes quite a while to get a > hole-saw through half an inch of fibreglass... > > And finally, we've made a test fit of the dashboard; the instruments > will go in with a little persuasion but the steering wheel still has > us scratching heads; it's the same length as the Ford item but starts > three inches nearer. We thing we have a solution but will consider in > daylight when we've had a chance to sleep on it. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Quantum Owners Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/quantumowners?hl=en IMPORTANT NOTE: All information presented herewith is provided on an "As Is" basis, without warranty or the implication thereof. 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