19" Snow Flake Alloys Fitment To 1.6Tdci Will They Fit?

[Lenny]

Hi all,

Ive been drooling over these 8.0J X 19 ET55 ford alloys since october 2012

My New Years Resolution is;

To purchase a set of these snow flake alloys aswell as some Eibach 30mm lowering springs Finis: 1358918 before the summer

Question is:

Would this combination work on my Mk2.5 1.6TDCi

I thought their were 40mm eibach's available too.

Also what size of tyres would a be able to fit on these?

[Mike77]

I'd say at the very least, tyre wise you'd be looking at a 235-35-19 possibly even having to go to a 30 profile, and they ain't gonna be cheap. And with the lowering aswell its gonna be quite a bumpy ride (mainly because of the tyres) the springs you mention come in a 'comfort' form also. Which are a little softer than conventional lowering springs.

[Lenny]

I'd say at the very least, tyre wise you'd be looking at a 235-35-19 possibly even having to go to a 30 profile, and they ain't gonna be cheap. And with the lowering aswell its gonna be quite a bumpy ride (mainly because of the tyres) the springs you mention come in a 'comfort' form also. Which are a little softer than conventional lowering springs.

Thanks for your response Mike,

Would the comfort form of the springs still lower the car and how do i tell the difference between the standard lower and comfort lower, is the comfort lower ones black and the standard lower ones blue?

Also i travel mostly on motorway or around town, i dont have many speed ramps or pot holes,

Would the ride still be hard?

This is my first time lowering a car, and id bare the cost of the rubber they should last me two years.

Maybe pay for the tyres with the sale of my existing 16" snow flakes with tyres and centre caps.

[artscot79]

Just make sure you have a dentist 30mm eibachs were blue no idea what black ones are with those tyres at such a low profile and tge springs yep it will be a bumpy ride

[Lenny]

Just make sure you have a dentist 30mm eibachs were blue no idea what black ones are with those tyres at such a low profile and tge springs yep it will be a bumpy ride

Thanks

Im starting to get the picture lol

Ok if i leave the existing springs in place,

Then replace the 16" alloys with 19" then that would do the job of filling the arches right?

And maximise the amount of space left for a tyre wall?

[Mike77]

If you fit 19's without lowering it, its more than likely gonna look like its on stilts, or a giant roller boot lol. Whichever route you take it is going to be a firmer ride. The comfort springs are a lowering spring, just a bit softer over the bumps, but still uprated from the standard ones. The tyres will be the biggest factor in making for a bumpy ride, and you can't make up the gap from not lowering it with a bigger side wall, the rolling circumference of the old wheels and the new ones should be as close as possible, hence why you would be going from say a 55 profile, to a 35 ish. So the wheels would be bigger but the lower profile tyre would make them roughly the same size as your old ones if stood side by side...

[Foci_st3]

Ford eibachs are 30mm from what I saw when I fitted them to my old st, you will need a 235/30r19 tyre which will be the best option as there only -1.5% difference where as a 35 profile is nearly +2.5% difference which is to much.

[TDCiST]

doing some research... you could use 225/30r19's on an 8 Inch Rim... this would give you a 0.47% change... or 3mm diameter lol

Worth checking with a tyre garage though... From what i could find ideal tyre width for an 8.0 is 225/235, minimum being 215, max being 245...

would be an incredibly harsh ride though... especially on the roads in this country!!! you may as well fit elastic bands to the rims ;)

[Foci_st3]

A 225/30r19 would be very uncomfortable and look to thin on the car, 235/30r19 is the way to go for having a bit of comfort still.

[TDCiST]

as much comfort as a 30 profile can give lol ;)

either way, bet its still bumpy

[Foci_st3]

Oh yeah it's gonna be hard either way, I had a Mondeo st200 and I first put full spax adjustables on it set to full hardness with the stock 17s but when I went to 18s with 2254018 it nearly broke my back had to adjust them to full soft to make it comfy again.

[TDCiST]

full hardness!! your mad!! lol

ive been in a track prepped fiesta with coilies set full hard... ouch!!

[Lenny]

Ford eibachs are 30mm from what I saw when I fitted them to my old st, you will need a 235/30r19 tyre which will be the best option as there only -1.5% difference where as a 35 profile is nearly +2.5% difference which is to much.

doing some research... you could use 225/30r19's on an 8 Inch Rim... this would give you a 0.47% change... or 3mm diameter lol

Worth checking with a tyre garage though... From what i could find ideal tyre width for an 8.0 is 225/235, minimum being 215, max being 245...

would be an incredibly harsh ride though... especially on the roads in this country!!! you may as well fit elastic bands to the rims ;)

A 225/30r19 would be very uncomfortable and look to thin on the car, 235/30r19 is the way to go for having a bit of comfort still.

as much comfort as a 30 profile can give lol ;)

either way, bet its still bumpy

Oh yeah it's gonna be hard either way, I had a Mondeo st200 and I first put full spax adjustables on it set to full hardness with the stock 17s but when I went to with 2254018 it nearly broke m 18s y back had to adjust them to full soft to make it comfy again.

Thanks for all the information guys,

Think ill look out for the comfort lower eibah springs and settle for the 18" rims instead of the 19"s

Wouldnt be so bad if it was just me driving around but ill have two kids in the back some of the time so aint worth the hard ride.

The quote elastic bands on the rims spelt it rite out for me lmao

18's should be better though shouldnt they?

And 40mm lowering springs...does this mean it lowers the car by 40mm or does it mean the car will be 40mm ground clearance when fitted.

[Mike77]

Lowers the car body towards the wheels, not ground clearance. You'll prob find it drops by a bit more than 40mm in real life terms, once they have been on a few days and settled, you'll be pleased with the way it looks.

[Lenny]

Lowers the car body towards the wheels, not ground clearance. You'll prob find it drops by a bit more than 40mm in real life terms, once they have been on a few days and settled, you'll be pleased with the way it looks.

Cool thanks,

Should be a good compramise then 18" rims with 40mm comfort springs.

[Foci_st3]

Look well into the springs and find out if there are specific set for the diesel as the 40mm drop would be quoted from taking off bog standard springs from a petrol zetec, the diesel would have a stronger spring aswell and maybe a lil lower to begin with like the st so when I fitted the Eibach I didn't get the drop quoted as it was already 10mm lower than a standard focus.

[Lenny]

Look well into the springs and find out if there are specific set for the diesel as the 40mm drop would be quoted from taking off bog standard springs from a petrol zetec, the diesel would have a stronger spring aswell and maybe a lil lower to begin with like the st so when I fitted the eibach I didn't get the drop quoted as it was already 10mm lower than a standard focus.

Thanks for advise,

Ive had a look and ill go for a set of these directly from ford, suppose i cant go wrong then

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150967970869?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Ive saw camber bolts available for the rear,

What would they do and would i need them aswell for lowering?

Also could i fit the 40mm springs with the existing rims or am i best wait to fit the 18's first.

[martyntdci]

if your lowering i'd do camber bolts to get your geometry etc... set up again. if your going to drop 40mm check the profile of the tyre doesnt catch the arch, i'd wait till ive swapped the alloys first tho... what tyres are on your atm?

[Lenny]

if your lowering i'd do camber bolts to get your geometry etc... set up again. if your going to drop 40mm check the profile of the tyre doesnt catch the arch, i'd wait till ive swapped the alloys first tho... what tyres are on your atm?

Currently on 205/55/R16 with 16" snow flake alloys

[martyntdci]

the common upgrade is what i have, the 225/40/18 snowflake... but roll on the 19's your looking at 235/30/19 thats your speedo out by 1.3%... i dont think that you could drop it 40mm on standards due to the depth of the tyre wall... the 30's are going to be a really rough ride, every slight little bump in the road you will feel... with lowered suspension, tracked, cambered, lasered up. check that you can fit the 235's on and you dont need spacers.. only reason im saying is i fooked up on the scoob doing this and ended up getting 10mm hub adaptors for my wheels

[Lenny]

the common upgrade is what i have, the 225/40/18 snowflake... but roll on the 19's your looking at 235/30/19 thats your speedo out by 1.3%... i dont think that you could drop it 40mm on standards due to the depth of the tyre wall... the 30's are going to be a really rough ride, every slight little bump in the road you will feel... with lowered suspension, tracked, cambered, lasered up. check that you can fit the 235's on and you dont need spacers.. only reason im saying is i fooked up on the scoob doing this and ended up getting 10mm hub adaptors for my wheels

Thanks mate,

Ive decided to go with the 18" snow flake due to the limits on tyre wall with the 19's

So im planning now to fit the ford eibah diesel springs but it doesnt say if they are 30mm or 40mm

Fit some focus eibah rear camber bolts

Then some 18"rims 225/40/18 sounds good and comfortable,

Have you got yours lowered mate?

And would any mechanic do camber alignment with lazer stuff?

[martyntdci]

mine is factory lowered suspension same as the st (i think) but i could if wanted to drop the front a extra 20mm more, any more than that i recon tyres will scrub. the rear maybe 30mm. tbh as it is now i carnt drive up any ramps nor fit a jack underneath as its quite low. ive had to buy these

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/car-ramp-extensions?da=1&TC=SRC-ramps

so i can do oil changes etc..... when it comes to taking a wheel off i have to drive up a kerb/on a brick so can get the jack in..

As for a spanner, anybody can tracking etc.... but i had to take my scoob to a suspension specialist to set up the camber and 4 wheel allignment...

[Hassen]

Lenny, I personally think 18'' rims are the best compromise between style and comfort. As for the lowering springs, I had my old Renault Megane on springs that were a 40 mm drop and it was not the best of ideas. Going over any speed bumps or potholes, I had to slow down completely so as not to damage the car. Some speed bumps even scrapped the underside of the car. I would suggest playing it safe and going for the 30mm drop. The car will look ace, still retain all the functionality and not look totally daft. When I got my Focus, which is sitting on 17" rims, I was tempted to get it lowered but I reckon I will hold off on it...for now.

Also, remember that your speedometer will be off by a couple of percents once you change the tyres and rim. This is a nifty calculator to keep the wheel diameter as close to the original setup so that the speedo is not way off.

http://www.kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator

And here is how my old car looked with a 40mm drop and 16" rims. Thought it still looked quite cool. Reckon you could get away with your car and the current set of alloys.

[Lenny]

mine is factory lowered suspension same as the st (i think) but i could if wanted to drop the front a extra 20mm more, any more than that i recon tyres will scrub. the rear maybe 30mm. tbh as it is now i carnt drive up any ramps nor fit a jack underneath as its quite low. ive had to buy these

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/car-ramp-extensions?da=1&TC=SRC-ramps

so i can do oil changes etc..... when it comes to taking a wheel off i have to drive up a kerb/on a brick so can get the jack in..

As for a spanner, anybody can tracking etc.... but i had to take my scoob to a suspension specialist to set up the camber and 4 wheel allignment...

Thanks mate,

Ill have a look around for some place to get the lazer alignment done,

Just purchased the Eibach blue springs from ford today for the 1.6 and 2.0TDCi aswell as the steering rack limiter kit and Eibach adjustable rear camber bolts.

Just gotta save up the cash now for the 18" alloys and tyres.

Its becoming difficult to find some genuine ford ST facelift snow flake alloys on eBay, their slightly different to the mk2 ST ones and catch the light better due to the extra fold line on each of the five spokes.

Loweing the car on bigger rims sounds like an easy task but ive come to realise its an expensive move, i may purchase alloys and tyres seperate in order to keep the ball rolling on the progress and piece by piece purchase the tyres as funds allow.

[Lenny]

Lenny, I personally think 18'' rims are the best compromise between style and comfort. As for the lowering springs, I had my old Renault Megane on springs that were a 40 mm drop and it was not the best of ideas. Going over any speed bumps or potholes, I had to slow down completely so as not to damage the car. Some speed bumps even scrapped the underside of the car. I would suggest playing it safe and going for the 30mm drop. The car will look ace, still retain all the functionality and not look totally daft. When I got my Focus, which is sitting on 17" rims, I was tempted to get it lowered but I reckon I will hold off on it...for now.

Also, remember that your speedometer will be off by a couple of percents once you change the tyres and rim. This is a nifty calculator to keep the wheel diameter as close to the original setup so that the speedo is not way off.

http://www.kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator

And here is how my old car looked with a 40mm drop and 16" rims. Thought it still looked quite cool. Reckon you could get away with your car and the current set of alloys.

Hi mate,

Ive got the mind set on some facelift ST 18's now,

My speedo is currently reading 5kmh higher than actual speed according to the tomtom XL so i should be ok with the slightly bigger wheel,

Thanks for the link to the wheel estimater i will make good use of it, and your old megane looks good lowerd on the 16's doesnt look like it would have scraped neither, so im surprised to hear that it did.

Ive got my front 0.5" lower already due to the TripleRcomposites front splitter, so i think ill wait until i have the 18's before fitting the springs just in case lol

I dont want to split the splitter.