Ansen slot wheels - standard set up -lessons learned

tjrvp

Club Member
Having seen a few other 240's recently with Slot type wheels and I really like the look so I thought I would try them on mine. I have a nice set of 15x7 Konig rewinds with Toyo TR1s which I will keep for now.

I initially brought an old set of genuine Wolf Races to refurbish. They looked ok and not too corroded, I got to work and they polished up well.
But .... a visual check showed a couple of surface micro cracks i hadn't spotted spotted before they were refurbed, so decided to use a set of ultrasonic and eddy current flaw detectors we use at work to check them over, I was disappointed to see that they were actually in very bad way with corrosion gotten into the cracks, and some readings that did not give me the confidence to fit them and repair did not seem an option, that and the 14 wheel size restricted what tyre to be fitted so I ditched them.Other forums have similar stories around old alloys, lessons learnt

So I bit the bullet and got some new Ansen 69 15 x 7 slots. They are actually a very nice piece of kit well polished with some sort of proprietary coating to protect them and not too bad a value.

They Claimed to be a direct fit.
Trouble is that my car has larger hilux calipers which rubbed on the front wheels, that required me to machine off about 7mm of material along the edge of the inner mating surface which is a lot larger in diameter than the Rewinds that were on initially.

Still worth it in the end , I have a standard suspension set up (except for poly bushes). I dug up some old set-up data from a japanese colleague at Nissan and based on the tyre wall stiffness and the K&C data from the steel wheel days . I Selected Avon zx7 tyres 195/60/15 and 205/60/15. I some made a small alignment changes and the front will need to come down a tad but... the car feels a lot more pleasant to drive it does not have the grip or bite I got from the Toyos's, but for day to day spirited driving on UK bumpy back roads its great.

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datsfun

Club Member
They look good. I take it they rub due to offset as I believe the hilux caliper conversion will work on 14" alloys ?
 

Red7

Well-Known Forum User
I had a set of those on mine, I really liked them :thumbs:

Changed them for a set of Rota’s though
 

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tjrvp

Club Member
They look good. I take it they rub due to offset as I believe the hilux caliper conversion will work on 14" alloys ?

The offset is 0 like the rewinds, the main issue the diameter of inside mating surface for the hub is a lot larger on the Ansen, normally would not interfere with a standard 240z caliper but does on a larger caliper set up. Did involve a bit of tricky CNC machining
 

Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
Still worth it in the end , I have a standard suspension set up (except for poly bushes). I dug up some old set-up data from a japanese colleague at Nissan and based on the tyre wall stiffness and the K&C data from the steel wheel days.

I'd be interested to hear more about this. There's not much 'set-up' you can do on these cars when they are basically stock because nothing much is adjustable.

Kinematics and Compliance? Toe-in/out and tyre pressure, perhaps!?
 

tjrvp

Club Member
I'd be interested to hear more about this. There's not much 'set-up' you can do on these cars when they are basically stock because nothing much is adjustable.

Kinematics and Compliance? Toe-in/out and tyre pressure, perhaps!?

Best definition for Kinematics & Compliance (K&C) testing? K&C testing is a special type of vehicle suspension testing. The “K” stands for Kinematics – This is a fancy way of saying suspension geometry (toe, camber, etc.). The “C” stands for Compliance – This is a fancy way of saying suspension stiffness (i.e. how far do things bend when road loads come up through the tires).

We make these machines.

http://www.abd.uk.com/en/laboratory_test_systems

Correct There is not much you can do to the standard set I did fabricate some adjustable suspension struts, but it comes down to lowering and raising the suspension changes in roll bar thickness. Interestingly the poly bushes do stiffen the suspension but do little for suspension geometry under load. The tyres compensate for the lack of compliance which is why I believe side wall stiffness and height is key.
 

tjrvp

Club Member
I'd be interested to hear more about this. There's not much 'set-up' you can do on these cars when they are basically stock because nothing much is adjustable.

Kinematics and Compliance? Toe-in/out and tyre pressure, perhaps!?

My thinking is that if a modern tyre with poly bushes is used with the standard 240z set up then the sidewall is likely to be too stiff, the longitudinal contact patch will then change. Also the spring rate of the air in the tyre and the damping in the side wall married to an old fashioned damper set up will provide too harsh of a ride.

It explains why people need to employ quite radical suspension upgrades on their Z's to achieve significant improvements in handling dynamics.

btw these are only my thoughts i don't want the "experts" in the forum to come down on me like a pack of wolves. I am merely trying to see what can be done to the standard set up.
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
So a modern tyre with rubber bushes is fine ... ? Size as OEM etc. Should be if it left the factory that way.

These polybushes have a lot to answer for!
 

tjrvp

Club Member
So a modern tyre with rubber bushes is fine ... ? Size as OEM etc. Should be if it left the factory that way.

These polybushes have a lot to answer for!

possibly right. My real point is that wide modern grippy low profile tyres and wheels would most likely be too much for the old rubber bushes, so compensating with poly bushes puts a load into the suspension set which was not designed for. That said subtle geometry changes could work..... or go back to more compliant tyres and keep the poly bushes
 

Paul_S

Club Member
I really like the design of the Ansens but I'm not 100% sold on the full polished look. The thing is, I can't bring myself to import some new ones and then spend more money to get them 'refurbished' to my taste.

What I need is someone willing to sell me a used set I guess!
 
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