Tuesday, September 30, 2008

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.

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

2 comments:

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X2 said...

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