Quote:
Originally Posted by WSSix
wow! That's pretty bad.
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Aggressive driving with 275 40 17 300 tread wear front tires. Gotta remember when the frame and suspension for these cars was designed in the late 60's radial tires weren't even offered yet. The tires we're running now offer sooo much more grip than the standard 6" wide or optional 7" bias ply tires offered in the early 70's. My 70 bird left the factory with 6" wide E78 14 bias ply tires with a fairly hard rubber compound and 45 years later I'm running 18" 285/295 DOT R radials almost a foot wide with a 40 tread wear. That puts a lot more force into the LCA mount cornering above the point the original tires would have lost grip and started sliding.
When Pontiac started putting the "radial tuned suspension" badge on the gauge panel they hadn't changed the basic suspension geometry, just altered spring and sway bar specs a bit to work better with 7" radial tires.
Increased braking ability with our combined aftermarket brakes and tires also far exceeds the original cars capabilities before skidding and puts force on the LCA mounts in the same manner as bumping into parking blocks.