19's damaged suspension?
 

I went to Cosco to purchase michelin ps2 tires for my new XIX x05 19" staggard. The guy there said that the 19's were not original equipment and will damage the suspension. Is there any truth to that?

P.S. I am getting tein cs

Well everyone has there own opinion.. 19's will be fine as long as you don't race the car on a race track LOL.. I have 19's and CS's also and the ride is great.. Yea the bushings may have a little more stress with the diameter of the wheel but so do stock 17's.. Just replace those parts at 70k and you will be fine..

I'm sure more knowlegdable suspension gurus will chime in UMMMMMM Ed, LOL... Just wait.. :D GL..

T

Putting 19's on the car should not wear out the suspension any faster...as long as you keep the stock ride height. However, we all know that's impossible for anyone that frequents this forum because as soon as you post up pictures of the car with new rims...everyone will tell you to "lower that B".

Lowering the car puts a lot of additional stress on components that were not designed to cope with that in the original factory spec. You will wear out bushings and ball joints a LOT faster when you lower the car. I just replaced my lower ball joints and a few bushings on my car recently. It has 20k miles, with 10k of those miles being on a lowered suspension. I'll admit that I do drive the car a bit hard ;)

I havent heard that, but have heard lots of opinions from others. Like TMF said, if your not racing the car and your prepared to maintain the car, I am sure you would be fine. It seems that we would be hearing about suspension issues constantly with this group if it were a big issue.

Is there a general rule of thumb when it comes to lower ball joints/tie rods and aftermarket suspension? I had my lower balljoints/tie rods changed when I bought the car. Shortly after, I added Tein CS. Just wondering how many more thousand miles before I might need to change the balljoints/tie rods again.

i don't think there's a rule - you just gotta be more attentive to slight changes to how your car behaves.

Mechanics say that to get you to upgrade sooner than you need too. Drive it til they're worn

thanks tony


there are 2 factors at play here, there is some truth as to what was said to you


if the 19' in are cast wheels and heavier then stock then you have unsprung weight affecting the bounce and jounce of your susp and supporting parts , hence they will wear at a accelerated rate

part 2 of that is rotational mass that can put a tremdous amount of stress on your braking system

ways to prevent premature failure

get the toms front lower brace or trd brace , get a front strut tower bar, get the toms 6 piece rear links and hopefully the rear lower control brace , these items help to strengthen the susp as it relates to the unibody

lastly try and upgrade your brakes to at least supra brakes

Jeff I think that's the main reason you had to replace them.

I know here in Alaska there are legal issues for tire shops putting on other than stock sized rims and tires and many won't do it, including our Costco. They will mount them up for you but you have to take them home and put them on the car yourself. A court battle was lost because a customer claimed they were the professionals and should have informed the owner that his front tires would wear out in 500 miles and blow thus causing the accident. There's more to it than my simple explanation, but you guys get the message, the tire shops just can't afford any lawsuits due to customers going beyond the factory specs.

that sucks...

By coincidence, I went today to Sears tire shop and the salesman told me that 20" could cause vibrations, shimming and car unspected handling.
After she looks into the specs book she said that 18" is the biggest by manuf. recomendations.
I can add to this as a mechanic oriented man, that this is logical and also the suspencion parts will received more stress.
This is a matter of opinions and facts that many people will never notice.

Thanks for all the info! I am only going to drive with these 19's only during warm weather months. How many miles should I expect out of the tein cs?
And how bad am I going to wear my brakes out?

Hmmm to tell you the truth ... In order to achieve lifetime loads of the equipment dont lower the vehical ... but if you do and you are alot like us. the drop it.... new cs's should be a problem for along while..... like years




tein is a great company and they are like stock for the cs's If you like to drive hard then maybe get the tein Has. ? I have had them and they are great for lowered cars and give you better handling

When you guys say drop do you consider the l-tuned suspension anything of real drop or do you mean more than that? Since the l-tuned comes stock I don't why it would be affected by larger rims. Can anyone clear this up for me?