15" alloys to 18" JCW alloys help!

[sarahnk]

Hi, this might sound like a silly question but last week i hit an island kerb at about 30 mph and burst the tyre and put quite a hefty dent in my front passenger side alloy (standard 15" 2004 cooper) Instead of getting the wheel/tyre repaired I bought 4 18" JCW alloys ( pretty good condition) with tyres for £240 (thought it was a good deal?) as i seen them new online for £1700. so anyway my mate came with the wheels and fitted them that night at the roadside. When i was driving home the car was all over the road and going to the left hand side constantly and going to the left when breaking...so, my questions are-

was it a good deal to buy the wheels?
do my wheels need realigned due to the bump or is it more likely to be the new wheels?
is it safe to fit these wheels to my car?

Sorry for the lack of knowledge and i appreciate any replys.

Thanks in advance

Sarah.

[cristo]

Quote: Originally Posted by sarahnk (original)

Hi, this might sound like a silly question but last week i hit an island kerb at about 30 mph and burst the tyre and put quite a hefty dent in my front passenger side alloy (standard 15" 2004 cooper) Instead of getting the wheel/tyre repaired I bought 4 18" JCW alloys ( pretty good condition) with tyres for £240 (thought it was a good deal?) as i seen them new online for £1700. so anyway my mate came with the wheels and fitted them that night at the roadside. When i was driving home the car was all over the road and going to the left hand side constantly and going to the left when breaking...so, my questions are-

was it a good deal to buy the wheels?
do my wheels need realigned due to the bump or is it more likely to be the new wheels?
is it safe to fit these wheels to my car?


Sarah.

was it a good deal to buy the wheels?
Maybe - I'd go for 16 or 17" instead.

do my wheels need realigned due to the bump or is it more likely to be the new wheels?
Likely due to the bump.

is it safe to fit these wheels to my car?
After you fix the bent suspension bits - Yes.
but, you're supposed to put a steering limiter into the suspension with 18" wheels so that you
can't steer the wheel into the rest of the wheel well bits at full turn.

[sootyvrs]

Assuming there your new 18" wheels are not bent, it sounds like you have done some damage after kitting the kerb.

I would get a suspension check done just to check if there has been some damage. The wheel size should not cause any issues if they are the right size e.g. width, offset and tyre sizes.

[simontay]

We had a MINI One with 18" JCW wheels and in my opinion it ruined the car over our previous One. Ride was harsh and handling could only be described as heavy. I'd never do it again.

[AlexBRGCooper]

I'd be checking the ball joints and track rod ends for damage if its that bad. Jack the car up and grab the tyre and try and rock it from top to bottom. There should be no slackness if everything is OK.

[adam_Randell]

i would say the impact of hitting the curb has much more to do with the car not driving correctly than the wheels. I have driven my MINI with 18s from day 1, and driven it with a buckled wheel too and never had the problems you state - only vibrating steering wheel under breaking.

id take it somewhere to have your ball joins/track rod end looked at.

[Mike Edwards]

If you've got a set of JCW wheels and tyres for £240 you got a bargain!

It does sound like the suspension/steering alignment needs checking, but one other think to try is to swap the wheels side to side as the 18" ones are much more sensitive to the camber of the road, and to the wear pattern of the tyres (the inside edges of tyres previously used on the rear are likely to be more rounded in profile for example).

HTH.

[REDHOT06]

I second what Mike E said.

My R53 JCW had 18" on straight from the dealership so I didn't realise how much better the road holding and comfort would be with 17"s on. I was so made up with how the 18"s looked I put up with it for a bit, but smaller wheels work much better in my opinion. But I guess you've done things the other way around!

I guess if you hit the kerb hard enough to burst the tyre there is a good chance you've done some other damage but after a KDS ( bmw ) or good alignment check from rep. garage I'm sure things will be fine. (a harder twichier ride, but fine).

good luck buddy