Wheel spacers?/lowering?

[pat900s]

Can anyone help please,i have a 900s 1996 convert i have fitted saab 10 spoke 17" alloys think they are called aero's,i really want the low and wide look and have decided to widen before lowering.I have noticed their is a small lip that the wheel fits onto centralising it before you tighten up.If i use spacers what will centre the wheels,can you buy spacers that have a centralising lip on as the thought of bolting the wheels on with just the bolts holding them in place doesn't seem right or safe.And the problem i have about lowering is when i go over potholes my car acts and sounds like it has just gone over a far bigger hole leaving me ratting in my seat,and if i hit a pothole as i am driving round a bend i can sense it snaking around a bit,sorry that's the best way i can think of describing it.will this problem improve with lowering and should i consider changing my shocks as well.Any help with these problems would be much appreciated cheers pat.

[mark e]

The fitting of 17" wheels is probably showing up wear and weaknesses in the existing chassis. Going lower will only exacerbate this as the spring rates will be stiffer. You can't go lower and wider without running the risk of rubbing on the outside of the arches. Spacers are egenrally a bad idea IMO- and they are also the sort of mod that will attract a hike from your insurers.

[pat900s]

The fitting of 17" wheels is probably showing up wear and weaknesses in the existing chassis. Going lower will only exacerbate this as the spring rates will be stiffer. You can't go lower and wider without running the risk of rubbing on the outside of the arches. Spacers are egenrally a bad idea IMO- and they are also the sort of mod that will attract a hike from your insurers.[/b]

[StanleyB]

You can have the inside of the arches cut back, as I have had done to mine. The stiffer spring can be 'softened' by fitting a special secondary spring inside the lowered spring. The special spring can be had from SAABTECH and I have a set fitted to mine. The ride is absolutely wonderful and the nose doesn't rise up in the air anymore when the booth is fully loaded.

[mark e]

The stiffer spring can be 'softened' by fitting a special secondary spring inside the lowered spring.[/b]

Adding extrra springs can only make the ride stiffer and in theory more harsh. However if there was a mismatch between the springs and the damper (i.e. over-damped) then a stiffer spring rate could help restore ride quality.