17 inch rims good or bad idea

hello i have a question i found a 17" inch rims that i rally like but i have heard that its not very recomendable to our cars to use this size since it will give you problems with the suspension. if someone has this size of rims could you tell me the posible problems. and what size of tire do you use. without modifying your car.

thanks in advance

here its a picture of the rims

I have 17" rims from a 2001 GT. Because of backspacing issues I had to use wheel spacers/adapters which to most is not very desireable. You can get 17" aftermarket rims with the correct backspacing.

no problems here,

17x8 front 17x9.5 rear..

I went from stock 15's, to 16's, then 17's on my '90 convertible (I have 4 different sets).

I'm currently running 17's (245/45 front and 245/50 rear). There is a fairly large difference in ride quality as the sidewall decreases. Also made the car very "darty"; hooking troughs, crowns and expansion joints in the road. Not really out of control, but it gets my attention... often... on these awful western PA roads. Yes, the car is tight underneath and has fabbed chromemoly strut tower and X-braces, and subframe ties. I can't imagine driving it on 17's without these basic mods, they made a huge difference from stock.

The 17's look great, but in my case I prefer the 15's function as a daily driver.

Don't know if others experience this on their cars or not, but I imagine so.

I will stick with 15's on my '71.

17x8 fronts

18x9.5 rear

No issues with proper back spacing.

and what would be " proper" back spacing? Do you mean the off set ?

and what would be " proper" back spacing? Do you mean the off set ?

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No Backspacing

https://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html

17x8 fronts

18x9.5 rear

No issues with proper back spacing.

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did you make big changes to your suspension???

9x18 front and 10x18 rear, no mods to either body or suspension, except massive lowering.

Handling improves drastically, I don´t see any reason to talk you out of it.

The main reason I am going with 17" wheels is the wide selection of manufacturers and tire sizes available. With 15" tires, you are really limited.

Do yourself a favor. Pick a tire, than find whether you can get a size you are happy with in regards to the 15". Just ain't going to happen.

However, for the 17" you will have the 35,40,45,50,55,60,65, etc in a variety of widths.

I'm currently running 17's (245/45 front and 245/50 rear). There is a fairly large difference in ride quality as the sidewall decreases. Also made the car very "darty"; hooking troughs, crowns and expansion joints in the road.

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Any chance this is the tire? I have taken back tires which experienced these issues. Each time I was told I was not the only one to return the tires. Always thought I was running a flat. What type of tires are they?

Yes, the car is tight underneath and has fabbed chromemoly strut tower and X-braces, and subframe ties. I can't imagine driving it on 17's without these basic mods, they made a huge difference from stock.

So, these mods are on your Fox body? If not, how about some photos and part numbers?

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17x8 fronts 225 45 17 4 1/2 Backspace

17x9.5 rear 255 40 17 4 3/4 Backspace

Stock front suspension

No interference, no problems. Rear has 200 pound rate springs and is a bit harsh over bumps, but was harsh with 60 series tires on 15 inch rims too.

Another issue is that speed rated tires for 15 rims are getting harder to find at reasonable prices. I've been very happy with the 17's overall

Here is what I went with with NO issues

Front- 17x8 with 4.5 backspacing

245/45r17's

Rear- 18x9.5 with 5.5 backspacing

275/40zr18's

I've got 18x8's on the front with 245x40 tyres and 18x9.5's on the back with 275x40 tyres, and no issues with anything... I had to order the rear rims to get the proper backspace and offset..

17x8 fronts

17x11 rears (had to get them widened)

so from your coments I think there will be no big issue with the rims. I will take your advice and buy them i will post some picture next week to show you the result just going to check the backspacing

thanks everyone

8" is as wide as you can go on the front with the 17" diameter.

Hello,

I installed the Eibach Pro aluminum wheel spacers with 17 inch Bullet wheels. The one issue I had was the stock wheel studs had to be replaced with grade 8 studs. I had several front end studs break and almost lost the front two wheels, at different times, during the process. I often wonder if this was a good idea. Maybe I should have stayed with the 15 inch Magnums.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/brand/eibach/product-line/eibach-pro-spacer-kits No review here

mustang7173

Hello,

I installed the Eibach Pro aluminum wheel spacers with 17 inch Bullet wheels. The one issue I had was the stock wheel studs had to be replaced with grade 8 studs. I had several front end studs break and almost lost the front two wheels, at different times, during the process. I often wonder if this was a good idea. Maybe I should have stayed with the 15 inch Magnums.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/brand/eibach/product-line/eibach-pro-spacer-kits No review here

mustang7173

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wow. you know what i work in a machine shop here in mexico. and like 2 years ago we used to fabricate the wheels spacers for a friend who use to sell the polaris rzr and he gave us the model for that. and the same happen and we found that the problem was that at the bottom of where the wheel studs goes they left a radious. and there should be no radious. also we change the material. and since then nothing happen i know that the weigth of a rzr and our cars its not the same but maybe it can help.

thanks for your advice

No problems with my spacers but they use the stock wheel studs.