This isn't time critical by any means, but an interesting puzzle.
A few weeks ago, Phil Ethier suggested putting 165 tires on a midget and
having the time of your life while no one else noticed. So being in need of
tires anyway and noticing the significant difference in price between 145's
(stock for my 79) and 155's ( the latter being much cheaper) I decided to put
155's on instead.
The conditions were such that I had to do it in pairs - so I put the 155's on
the rear and then drove a few miles (20-40) with 155's on the back and 145's
on the front. During that time, I could hardly keep the car on the road at
speeds higher than 35-40mph. The slightest change in direction made me feel
as if the rear end was coming out around me.
The next day, I was able to put the new 155's on the front and all seemed well
again.
So the puzzle - what do you figure was going on? Were alignment and center of
gravity really affected enough by such a small change as that?
If Jim Muller's out there, I expect to see another of your excellent technical
descriptions of how I screwed up some alignment principle.
Steve
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