17 vs 18 inch wheels

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cazsper

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My Car
1968 Coupe: 393w, TKO-600, Maier Racing springs, Global West suspension, Currie 9in with forged axles, 3.50 gears, Trutrac, Baer brakes front/rear
1973 Mach-1: 351c 4V, C-6, 3.73:1 gears and a long "To Do" list..
I wanted 17x8 (4.5" BS) and 17x9.5 (5.5" BS) for my '73 Mach-1. I have found some HRE wheels I like but the only offer them in 18". If a 17x8 (4.5" BS) and 17x9.5 (5.5"BS) will fit, will an 18x8 and 18x9.5 also fit with the same backspace?

 
Just a thought regarding wheel size.

I think 18" would be for trailering/gentle driving. Hitting a motor city or hollywood size pothole is going to do a lot of damage on an 18" wheel/tire combo.

 
I thought so too. But 18's are pretty popular on the '99 and up mustangs.

 
i did the 17s vs 18s dilema and once i already made the choice to go with chrome 17's i soon shortly found out that its difficult to get rubber thats taller than 26 inches. there is definitely rubber in the 27 and 28 inch range but its skinny taller tires. now if you want to go into DR's on 17's thats 27-28 inches tall the choices are limited.

after my 25.7 inch tall NITTOs are done i'm going to go with 295/45/17 that is 28 inches tall or get the skinny side of MH RM DR's in a 395/50/17 which is 30 inches tall.

when you get into 460's torque you want taller tires for a longer roll out. it took me FOREVER to get my tiny 25.7 tall tires to hook up at the track initially and especially the 466 and a 5spd didn't help much.

with 18's the equal size tire will always be 1 inch taller. 17's and 18's have basically the same size tires but they just accomodate the rim size. for both wheels, there is a 245/45/ and so on and so on. a good 27 inch tire is a good size with our cars.

 
I've got 18x8's on the front and 18x9.5's on the rear, with With Nitto NT555 245 tyres front and 275 tyres rear, I reckon they look awsomelly cool....


 
The rims are Custom Torq-Thrust II they took about 3 weeks to arrive after ordering them, the fronts are 18x8' with 4.5' back space and 0 offset and the rears are 18x9.5' with 5.75' back space and 12mm offset, Could have gone bigger on the back but the rear swaybar eats into the available space...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just a thought regarding wheel size.

I think 18" would be for trailering/gentle driving. Hitting a motor city or hollywood size pothole is going to do a lot of damage on an 18" wheel/tire combo.
WRONG
x2....Just the opposite 18's are for aggressive I can take this turn at 90 no problem my car sticks like glue driving..

 
Just a thought regarding wheel size.

I think 18" would be for trailering/gentle driving. Hitting a motor city or hollywood size pothole is going to do a lot of damage on an 18" wheel/tire combo.
I am running 18 inch wheels on MICHIGAN roads... some of the worst in the nation. I drive the car everywhere without a problem. It does need better shocks but that's another story.

 
I've got 18x8's on the front and 18x9.5's on the rear, with With Nitto NT555 245 tyres front  and 275 tyres rear, I reckon they look awsomelly cool....


just looked at Nitto site,they dont seem to have a 275/18 nt555,what is the exact size of your tires?I would like to do same on my 72 mach1

 
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