Will these wheels and tires fit???

This is really a rant, I have to vent it somewhere and since this is my blog I'm going wide open on this subject here.

I see soo many posts about guys asking about wider wheels and tires "fitting" on their Fox Body Mustangs. I can't for the life of me figure out why this issue should for the most part be cleared up. But it's not. Part of this could be due to people being new to fox bodies and don't want to spend a lot of time looking for old posts on it but for the most part a lot of guys think a 10.5" wheel with a 305 width tire will just bolt right in!!! Now I'm exaggerating a little here but if you look at the pictures above this is what I see the majority of the time. A 17"x9" wide wheel on the front of a fox body with a 245/45/17 tire stretched onto it yet still sticking outside the wheel well lip is just not good looking - period. If you like tearing up your tires and having them scrub up against your wheel well lip then fine it fits great - NOT! I have seen guys properly fit a 9" wide wheel up front but it involves getting the right parts and making modifications to make it fit properly. Same thing with the rear wheel and tire fitment.

I'm just flat out tired of seeing wheels and tires sticking outside of the wheel well lip and the owner looks at it and says "Yeah, they fit fine" - C'mon are you serious??? I've even seen worse than what I have pictured above, they just jack up the rear a little so it doesn't hit and only lower the front! Some will defend their rides with poorly fitting wheel and tires by saying "It's a matter of opinion - I think it looks great" Maybe, ok. Then let's look at safety - do you think having your wheels hit the fender lips under high speed cornering is safe? How about driving down the highway at 70 mph and hitting a dip in the road and having the wheel well lip slam down on top of the tire - I can't imagine that being safe. What is the point of a wheel well lip? Was this just an afterthought styling idea by the OEMs or was it included in the design to allow wheel and tire clearance to the body.

Maybe I'm spending too much time typing about this but ya know if people ask if they fit and they don't say - there might be some clearance issues. If somebody asks if they stick outside the wheel well lip - don't say no and they stick out. Best of all, if you found a way to fit some meaty fat tires on some really wide wheels on your Fox Body - tell us how you got it to work the right way.

I COULD get into tires that are too wide for the wheels but maybe I'll save that one for another time.

Here's some places to check out for some good (and maybe some bad) wheel and tire combinations for your Fox Body. Always research ahead of time and measure twice before you buy especially when it comes to proper (and safe) wheel and tire fitment on your Mustang.

Corral.net - there's atleast 100 pages of pics and info.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=296569

Fox Body Forums - Scroll down to their wheels and tire forum.

http://foxbodyforum.com/

As all of us know, it's getting rarer and rarer to even see fox body Mustangs driving down the road everyday. I haven't seen a Capri just drivin' around in years. The only time I really see any Fox Body Mustangs driving is the same 3 I see on the way to work. 2 white 87+ GTs with ponies, and a blue with silver ground effects white top 5.0 GT. Occasionally there's a real clean 83-84 GT hatcback red with chrome cobra Rs and black hood stripe that I see on the way to work. Evertime I see any of these 5.0s drivin', we all give each other the "nod" or a wave or some sign of some kind basically indicating "Nice Fox Mustang".Pretty similar to what a lot of motorcycle guys do - almost like a fox body brotherhood LOL!

So if you're drivin' around in your 5.0 and you see a good lookin' Fox Body Stang or Capri - you know what to do!

SOUTHEASTERN FOXBODIES!!!

I'd been a lurker on this website for a little while and finally signed up. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite sites. There's also a lot of enthusiastic people on here who like to pull together to meet at events and look for any excuse to get out and drive their Stangs!

Since I'm in the Atlanta area, this website is of particular interest to me. It also focuses on the Fox Body Mustang from events, to get togethers and also a great forum to post on. But it's all Fox Body! So if all you do is eat sleep and breathe FOX BODIES and you live in the SOUTHEAST - you need to go here and sign up!

http://www.southeasternfoxbodies.com/

Billet Specialties Street Lite Wheels

I wanted something a little different than what most guys had on their stangs at the strip. I saw the new Billet Specialties Street Lite wheels, and knew right away they’d do the trick! Designed for the street or strip the new Street Lite wheel is SFI 15-1 approved, light weight, and features an outstanding strength-to-weight ratio. These machined billet 15” Street Lites are absolutely gorgeous and combine a polished & machined finish for an aggressive look. Sizes range from 15x3.5 to 15x15. They accept mag shank lug nuts and can be used with 5/8” racing studs. Out front I ran a set of Kumho Powerstar 758 165/80-15 tires on the 15x3.5" wheels. Out back i wrapped the rear 15x8 wheels with two giant slabs of Nitto Drag Radial 555Rs in a chunky 275/50-15 size! I can already feel how much better these tires hook and I haven't dropped the pressure down on 'em yet. I've had these before on 2 other Mustangs an consistently dropped 3/10s of a second running this wheel and tire combination. Not Bad. For more info on these new Street Lites, contact Billet Specialties at 1-800-245-5382 or check out their website at http://www.billetspecialties.com/ Summit Racing also carries these wheels in stock for many applications http://www.summitracing.com/