Thinking of new wheels

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Robsweden

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 18, 2016
Messages
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Location
Sweden
My Car
Mach 1 73 351c
Hi

Is anyone running something like this. I am  thinking 18 inch , but im not sure about the backspacing.   8 inch is 4.5 and 10 inch  is 5.5

10 inch back for 295*35*18  and 8 inch front for 255*35*18


American Racing VN510 Draft Gloss Black Diamond-Cut Lip Wheels VN51088012300


are-51081012300_ml.jpg


 
If you’re going 10 wide. I’d look for 6 -6.5 backspacing. That 5.5 will be tight 

 
You may want to look at these. They are similar and the backspacing may work: https://lmr.com/products/mustang-sve-s350-wheels-94-04

I have my eyes on their FR500 17s, but I still need to do some measurements to make sure they will fit right. I think the rear shouldn't be a problem, but I definitely will need some type of spacer for the fronts.

https://lmr.com/item/WK-1007UBB/mustang-fr500-wheel-kit-black-94-04
FYI Tony

17X9s won't clear the upper ball joint. 18X9s  will fit and clear with a 1/2" spacer and longer studs.  I'm using the 18" SVT wheels they sold at LMR for a while. The 94-04 backspacing works well, I have 1/2" spacers in the front and on the left rear. The spacer on the right rear pushed the tire out too far. 

 
Big issue I have with the low profile big rims is how easily they explode. I replaced a rim for a friend with Camaro that hit a pot hole and it blew huge hole in the center of the rim. My son ran off road with his brand new F-150 with Ford 20" wheels. The left front wheel blew up and the sensors thought the truck was rolling over and blew all the side air bags. Totaled the truck. It a regular steel wheel he would have driven away.

 
FYI Tony

17X9s won't clear the upper ball joint. 18X9s  will fit and clear with a 1/2" spacer and longer studs.  I'm using the 18" SVT wheels they sold at LMR for a while. The 94-04 backspacing works well, I have 1/2" spacers in the front and on the left rear. The spacer on the right rear pushed the tire out too far. 
Thank you. I read something along those lines. I need to measure and mock on mine. I am installing Maier's UCAs so I dont yet know if these will move the ball joint enough.

 
Recommend to be mindful of your ride quality! Aspect Ratio is very important.

Ride comfort is a function of spring and dampening, and that can come from the tire, the springs, a shock, or any combination of the three. A car riding on lower profile tires will have less sidewall-flex capacity to absorb bumps, and will either require softer springs to accomplish the same results, or be bumpier.

 
Recommend to be mindful of your ride quality! Aspect Ratio is very important.

Ride comfort is a function of spring and dampening, and that can come from the tire, the springs, a shock, or any combination of the three. A car riding on lower profile tires will have less sidewall-flex capacity to absorb bumps, and will either require softer springs to accomplish the same results, or be bumpier.
You are right. Unfortunately, is pretty much a guess how the car will ride with a different suspension setup and tires. Every combination will be different and everyone perception is different, so it is an unfortunate very expensive test  :whistling: . On my side I like my car to ride stiff/sporty rather than spongy. However, if to stiff/racy then it is not comfortable.

 
Hello tony-muscle,

Oh, got a nice chuckle on the "stiff/racy not comfortable" When we were a much younger person, it does not bother us as bad. Like, Yea, this cool!  You get in your mind after researching on how it should ride , and it turns out way different. Hopefully our real world experience will help the forum members make better decisions on how and what to buy per what they want.

None of this is ever cheap!

Thanks

 
As for ride quality, I'm gonna throw in my 1/2 cents worth. For handling performance there are 2 schools of thought one is stiff springs and small sway bars and the other is soft (stock) springs and big sway bars. Both tend to achieve similar results on the track. On the street softer springs and big sway bars makes more sense to me. Both methods require good shock control to keep the tire in contact with the ground. There don't seem to be very many adjustable shock options for our cars. The shock tailors the suspension to provide ride quality or firmness. I didn't find too much change in ride when I switched from the 15" combo to the 18" combo.  

A ride quality thread (or the lack of) might be a good conversation to start. 

 
As for ride quality, I'm gonna throw in my 1/2 cents worth. For handling performance there are 2 schools of thought one is stiff springs and small sway bars and the other is soft (stock) springs and big sway bars. Both tend to achieve similar results on the track. On the street softer springs and big sway bars makes more sense to me. Both methods require good shock control to keep the tire in contact with the ground. There don't seem to be very many adjustable shock options for our cars. The shock tailors the suspension to provide ride quality or firmness. I didn't find too much change in ride when I switched from the 15" combo to the 18" combo.  

A ride quality thread (or the lack of) might be a good conversation to start. 
The problem I see with ride quality is that it is so dependent on the user that leads to a lot of subjectiveness. The ideal situation is where the car could be tested by the same group of people.

 
A couple things that also affect ride quality...one is the quality of the seats and their foam. If the foam is old and tired and flat (flatter than new!) that translates to more harshness where it really counts. The other is the all the rattles and squeaks that a firmer ride makes apparent. neither is really ride quality, but more of a 'perceived' ride quality. If you have firm suspension, but the seat is comfy and the car doesn't sound like it's falling apart, you and your passengers are more likely to enjoy it.

 
A couple things that also affect ride quality...one is the quality of the seats and their foam. If the foam is old and tired and flat (flatter than new!) that translates to more harshness where it really counts. The other is the all the rattles and squeaks that a firmer ride makes apparent. neither is really ride quality, but more of a 'perceived' ride quality. If you have firm suspension, but the seat is comfy and the car doesn't sound like it's falling apart, you and your passengers are more likely to enjoy it.
Also, the thickness and harshness of one's butt cheeks :lollerz:

 
Another thing that is overlooked that will improve ride quality is chassis stiffness to allow the suspension to do it's job. Adding subframe connectors improved the ride quality on my convertible a bunch. I'm looking at some further steps moving forward similar to what 71Rustang has done on his Trans Am build by seam welding the chassis structure. Likely not to that extent though. Jacking rails along the rockers and bars to tie that to the subframe connectors. A better structure for the shock tower braces would also help.  

 
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Also, the thickness and harshness of one's butt cheeks :lollerz:
I like nice soft seats because I can get 'spirited' when driving and that way when my passengers butt puckers and clenches they have something to hold on to.

 
The spacer is governed by the stud length unless you get the hub centric wheel spacers with studs
and that would be governed by the size of the tires and wheels you're going to use.
If it's the stock assembly, just measure the distance you want to move the tire out, and that would be the spacer thickness.

You can measure the distance between wheels and fenders to determine what thickness of wheel spacers to install. 

I had BONOSS wheel spacers on my car for almost 21,000 miles, with no issues whatsoever. 

They can customize the thickness and data that I want, so that I can install new tires with different data, and the customization time is very fast, just 1~3 days.
The material of spacers is aluminum alloy 6061 t6, the grade of studs is 12.9 and the grade of nuts is T10. Thay have the 10-year warranty. I am glad that I can buy such good spacers.

Here is an article which introducing spacers.
Hope this helps.

 
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