Wheel noise, 230k, tried balancing, tires look good

wow interesting... I'm curious to see how far off the speedometer is with the 205/50/17, I'll test it out using some kind of gps speed tracking

I'll go 70 mph on the gps tracker, then see what the speedometer says

These details have not mattered yet in city driving, the way the roads are nowadays, I am willing to sacrifice those a bit for the big advantage of having a bit more clearance

There have been times where I was going over a speed bump, and it would bottom out on the frame

Cornering: I am not noticing any difference yet

yes I definitely learned my lesson, never put pressure on the calipers when they are off the rotor

 

What I mean exactly: I am not touching that car and taking everything apart if I will need it the next day, meaning

the next time I do surgery, I have to finish up everything (the bearings and the struts)

I understand that this task might not seem that big, but ALL of the tasks, having the energy and time to take everything apart and put it back together in time for when you need the car again, and not make the mistake I did before:

All of that requires tons of planning, I have to do surgery laying on carpets/dirt, I have drag the jack and blocks in the dirt and get the car up, etc, get all the tools there, setup a table, setup a place to put all the parts

I dont have a shop with a hard ground, or access to one

Yes, I will explain what happened last time I was doing surgery:

Yes, I took the big nut off the axle, then watched how youtube video took it off, tried to emulate it, got pretty frustrated, tried using chisel, tried everything, even hit my right index finger, its still slightly purple, you can see in the video, but it was swollen for a week

I must've spent 2 hours watching videos, trying to separate the parts, nope, hammered, chiseled, I even tried heat gun for 10-15 minutes, frustration and fatigue lead me to hit my finger, I hit it so hard I had to sit down for 30 minutes

Another annoying detail: I bent the brake shield, so after I put it together, now I am hearing a grinding sound for many days until I was able to get back under it, it was hitting the rotor a bit

My theory: that bearing has been through 11 years of hot/cold cycles that it is somewhat seized

Even in the youtube I watched, the guy had to do the same thing, he couldn't get it off with heat/oil/chisel/whatever, then he ended up taking the knuckle out completely with the bearing attached to it

He had a shop press (big harbor freight one), and he had to use that to get the bearing off the knuckle, (I do not have a press machine)

Earlier that day: i successfully changed out the rear bearings without press

Wow, ok, I am listening
I'll be saving these statements for when I am in there doing surgery

At this point: the car is magic, it glides on the road, no noise, and the clearance is fine, meaning:

I might wait to do this surgery procedure once I have a better environment to work on it (I am also working on that any chance I get)

Those front struts after the beating the road has put on them, are clapped out and all the protective plastic on the shock is torn, meaning:

yes, I do want to replace them, but I want to plan to replace everything at once, and not be in a hurry like last time and cause a problem

On a dry hot day, those shocks will creak, no creaking when humidity in the air

 

205/50R17 tires have a diameter of 25.1" (638 mm), a tread width of 8.1" (205 mm), and a wheel diameter of 17" (431.8 mm). The sidewall of the tire is 4.1" (103 mm), and the tire's circumference is 78.8" (2003.3 mm).Aug 9, 2022

Outer diameter 195 65 15: 24.98 inches

Basically: the 205 50 17 is about .1 inches higher

Why does it feel 1-2 inches higher?

Heres the data on the 215 45 17:

215/45R17 tires have a diameter of 24.6" (626 mm), a tread width of 8.5" (215 mm), and a wheel diameter of 17" (431.8 mm). The sidewall of the tire is 3.8" (97 mm), and the tire's circumference is 77.2" (1965.6 mm).

wow: the factory 17s are 0.4 inches lower than the 15 inch factory wheels, (25 inches minus 24.6 inches)