Wheel Fitment

[84svounoh]

Ok guys so im really looking into getting these rims how difficult do you think it will be to get them to fit well? I assume im going to need to stretch my tires a bit and roll the fenders.
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&initialPartNumber=4698806540BML&wheelMake=Enkei+Performance&wheelModel=Lusso&wheelFinish=Black+w%2FMach+Lip&showRear=yes&selectedRear=4698906540BML&autoMake=Ford&autoModel=Mustang+GT+Coupe&autoYear=2005&autoModClar=&filterFinish=All&filterSize=18&filterBrand=Enkei+Performance&filterSpecial=false&filterNew=All&filterWeight=All&sort=Brand

[dagenham]

Too wide. Anything wider than 8 inches is pushing it, and even then you will most likely have to roll the rear lips.
I had '03 Mach 1 wheels with 245-45-17's and they were almost too wide for the front.

[Laredo]

....how difficult do you think it will be to get them to fit well? I assume im going to need to stretch my tires a bit...

If you have already determined that will have to "stretch" your tires (bad idea BTW), then you already know they're not going to "fit well."

Suggestion: 1st determine what size tire you want, THEN find the correct size rim (offset, width, ..) to match the tire per the tire manufacturers recommended width.
Putting too narrow or too wide of tire on a mismatched rim will result in incorrect sidewall load, contact patch, uneven tire wear, and overall poor performance.

Like dagenham said, anything over 8" with a CORRECTLY sized tire is going to have fitment problems. Fender rolling probably will not suffice.

[84svounoh]

I know the consequences of stretching the tires but I'm ok with that I think I'm going to have to find some narrower rims in maybe a 17 so I can lower it some as well

[stott]

not really sure what Laredo & dagenham are talking about. First of all, most mustang people run way too much rubber for their wheels. 245/45 on a 8" wide rim looks terrible, like a big balloon.

i run 17x9 on all 4 corners with zero rubbing, +35mm offset. 245/40/17 tires that fit properly. no fender rolling whatsoever.

[MikeFleming]

I have a set of 17x8", 43mm offset, sporting 245/40-17 with no rubbing issues. And the speedometer is spot on.

[84svounoh]

Mike you have coilovers correct? If i swap over to the sn95 front end do I buy a sn95 coil over kit?

[MikeFleming]

Yes, I have MM's coil-over kits on KONI DA struts/shocks. The lower a-arms are MM's zero-offset Fox arms securely bolted to a MM Fox 5.0 k-member, 1995 SN95 spindles, brakes, etc. with FOX struts. SN95 struts will be too long, iirc. And some CC plates up top to handle hte load and get the alignment angles where I wanted them (+6 degrees Caster; -1.5 camber; zero toe).

Caster in a FOX is sweet to drive.

[Chalky]

Caster in a FOX is sweet to drive.

Unless it's icy. Just trust me on that one!!!

[84svounoh]

Thanks guys Mike you just have normal fox struts in the rear? Better question will normal fox shocks work in the front and the back? My konis are shot and I need a quick solution untill i can get the coil overs.

[MikeFleming]

Unless it's icy. Just trust me on that one!!! I just stay home when it's icy on the roads. Having ultra perf summer tyres dictates that.


Mike you just have normal fox struts in the rear? Better question will normal fox shocks work in the front and the back? I have KONI DA FOX/Mustang shocks in the rear. I don't think the MM C/O kit fit on the stock SVO KONIs (without grinding down the welds on the body). Front has struts; rear has shocks. But you already knew that.

[84svounoh]

sorry lol when i hear strut i think macpherson struts.

[MikeFleming]

sorry lol when i hear strut i think macpherson struts. Correct. The FOX has MAC Struts in front.

[84svounoh]

Hmmm mine does not. I thought it was a sla set up with a shock and the spring in between the lca and cradle.

[Meotchh]

If it's a Fox set up, then it's a McPherson set up on the front.

[84svounoh]

Well I guess my front suspension has been altered because I have SLA.

[stott]

Well I guess my front suspension has been altered because I have SLA.

extremely highly doubtful.

[84svounoh]

I'm sorry I did some research and I was ignorant to there being a different style of McPherson strut. I was under the impression it was considered a SLA because the spring position is similar.

[stott]

I'm sorry I did some research and I was ignorant to there being a different style of McPherson strut. I was under the impression it was considered a SLA because the spring position is similar.

yea, i mean it does exist though, but it's expensive and exotic

http://www.agentfortyseven.com/Fox/Fox_suspension.html

[Laredo]

..but it's expensive...

Holy quadruple Clevelands Batman! You ain't kidding. But it sho is cool!

[MikeFleming]

Mark Haas (aka TheSVOTrust) has (or had) a Fox with a SLA conversion. I have seen it, although I've slept since then.

[stockerbill]

not really sure what Laredo & dagenham are talking about. First of all, most mustang people run way too much rubber for their wheels. 245/45 on a 8" wide rim looks terrible, like a big balloon.

i run 17x9 on all 4 corners with zero rubbing, +35mm offset. 245/40/17 tires that fit properly. no fender rolling whatsoever.

I would be VERY interested in knowing EXACTLY which wheels (mfg, part no.) you have and if the car has an SVO front suspension. If SVO, did your wheels fit over the front hub without modification?

Thx

[stott]

I would be VERY interested in knowing EXACTLY which wheels (mfg, part no.) you have and if the car has an SVO front suspension. If SVO, did your wheels fit over the front hub without modification?

Thx

Sorry I would have responded sooner but didn't see this. The front suspension is mostly maximum motorsports stuff. 1994-1995 SN95 spindles, 13" cobra brake kit, front MM Coilovers (which reduce inboard clearance) SN95 (=SVO) length control arms. Stock swaybar. 1/4" spacers.
The wheels were custom ordered from Japan, but they're Wedssport TC105N 17x9 +35mm offset 5x114.3mm PCD. I don't like center caps so that wasn't an issue; however there's no way you're fitting on center caps.

[stockerbill]

Sorry I would have responded sooner but didn't see this. The front suspension is mostly maximum motorsports stuff. 1994-1995 SN95 spindles, 13" cobra brake kit, front MM Coilovers (which reduce inboard clearance) SN95 (=SVO) length control arms. Stock swaybar. 1/4" spacers.
The wheels were custom ordered from Japan, but they're Wedssport TC105N 17x9 +35mm offset 5x114.3mm PCD. I don't like center caps so that wasn't an issue; however there's no way you're fitting on center caps.

Thanks. I have no need for center caps on my car either, but a lot of the "fitment" threads seem to get hung up on the caps when the discussion is about the wheels fitting on a stock SVO. I have Enkei RPF1 in the stock 16x7 with a 43mm offset on my bone-stock SVO. Naturally they fit just fine in terms of width and offset since they are almost identical to the stock wheels. Enkei specs the center bore size as 73mm which is sufficient to clear the outer wheel bearing hub on the stock front disks, but it isn't 73mm all the way through the wheel. The hub bore steps down to accommodate that stinking cap which prevents the wheel from seating without machining the step to clear the hub. I think that folks who switch to alternative front brakes do not have the issue with the big outer wheel bearing hub.

Don't your 1/4" spacers effectively make your wheel offset 28.65mm on the front?

[svono50]

stockerbill, I will throw in my combination to your quest. I am running the stock brake setup on my 86 for reference. My current wheels are TSW Nurburgring's in 17x8" with a +35mm offset and Bridgestone RE-01R's in 245/45ZR17 size. I have no clearance issues up front, but did roll the rear fenders in back to prevent harsh/damaging contact with the edge of the tread blocks when going over large dips. Even with rolled lips the tires will occasionally rub the rolled lip. For reference, 245/50ZR16's on the stock rims would rub the stock rear fender lips too. Since I put in a watts link in the back, I can't remember hitting the fender lips, as I am sure some of the issue is the side to side movement of the rear. I am not sure the size of the wheel's hub, but it uses hub rings to center/adapt the wheel to the application. The rings that came with my wheels worked out of the box with the factory hub sizes. The center cap issue is a choice of preference, but very few aftermarket wheel centercaps will fit over the spindle cap on the front rotor...including my TSW wheels. I modified (2) of the TSW centercaps to add a little clearance for the cap and used the stock caps on the rear wheels...simple really.

[stockerbill]

Thanks for your input Ted. I like the TSW wheels a lot and they are at the top of my list. I too am going to use a Fays2 watts.
Bill H

[svono50]

Bill, no problem, glad to help. Just so you can see what I was talking about on the center cap, here are a couple of pics showing what I made for my front center caps. I would assume you could do this for most wheels. You are going to love the Fays2 unit...once you get it setup and installed, but that is a different thread.

716271637164

[stott]

why go the watt's link route when the MM panhard bar is much easier to install, out of curiosity?

[svono50]

why go the watt's link route when the MM panhard bar is much easier to install, out of curiosity?

True that a panhard (pick whatever brand) is easier to install, but its asymetrical design still gives the axle some side-to-side movement during articulation. The watts-link style will keep movements symetrical in reference to car's centerline, so the axle has virtually zero side-to-side movement. I took a video of my rear wheel during an auto-x after installation and you can see that the wheel stays right in position regardless of the cornering direction. Unfortunately I didn't get my camera before I installed the watts, so I don't have a before/after, but I would regularly rub my fenders on the auto-x courses before, so there is some proof as well. The watts also gives me more ability to adjust the rear roll center to dial things in as well, which I am still playing with. Could I tell the difference between a car equipped with a panhard vs watts...I would be hard pressed, but I made a decision and have been very happy with it so far.

[MIGISMALLS]

Has anybody ever ran 03-04 Cobra wheels on their SVO? I have a set I wanted to throw on but they stick out to much. No issue with the hub, went in fine, but just stick out to much (about 1-2" front only). those wheels are 17x9 so I thought they would fit just like my 96 Cobra wheels do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Oh and also was told I could do a SN95 spindle swap and run regular fox body control arms and that would should fix my issue. Anybody done or heard that? Thanks again.

[stott]

Those wheels are not going to work well. They're +24mm offset.

My 17x9 +35mm are a clean fit (that's with a 245/40/17 tire) but they are closer to fenders than a stock setup. You will at the very least have to change brakes, spindles, control arms, struts, tie rod ends, and springs to accommodate those.

After all that you basically made your car handle worse, all to fit on some wheels that are pretty inexpensive as far as wheels go.

[MIGISMALLS]

Oh man! that sounds like a lot of work just to make my car worse just for some rims lol. thanks for the input "stott" really appreciate it.

[SchoolBoy]

why go the watt's link route when the MM panhard bar is much easier to install, out of curiosity?

None of them are made to work with the 7.5 rear end.