17 inch wheels

[dk5727]

Has anyone experienced problems putting 17 inch wheels on their asc? I think the car is lower than a regular fox body. Thanks.

[toddf]

I have not put 17's on my ASC, but I did put them on a 91 LX a few days back. I converted to 5 lug also. The widest you can use is 8" wide due to backset. I put on Billet rims from a 04 mustang. Due to the greasecap knocking off the centercap I had to use spacers. You must be very very careful with rim selection on the foxes!

[negusm]

91-93 has a larger opening up front in the wheel well.

Seems like people have various luck with wider wheels on the older cars.

I think you need to post the wheels, offset and the tires you want to use and I'm sure somebody will tell you what might work.

-Mike

[red390gt]

Has anyone experienced problems putting 17 inch wheels on their asc? I think the car is lower than a regular fox body. Thanks.

I put 2003 Mustang Mach1 17" wheels on my 85, I converted to 5 lug using spindles and brakes off a 95 Mustang GT, Ford Ranger rear axles and drums. Since then I have switched to 16" Lincoln mesh wheels because the Mach1 tires are a little too wide and rubbed slightly in the front. I plan to list the Mach1 wheels on Ebay soon to partialy fund my front seat leather recover project.

Here's a picture with the Mach1 17" wheels, selling these wheels & tires for $425. :


Here's what the car looks like now with the Lincoln wheels:

[shelbyscarab]

Yes, I put 17's on mine, 17x8 in the front and 17x9 in the rear. They look great, BUT. Rears are fine. Fronts? Problem. They rub when turning the car more than 50% in either direction. After years of getting mixed answers, conflicting stories, I went for it. And I was told by the seller that they would fit. I don't understand it. I really thought going with 8s in the front would allieviate the problem, unfortunately no.

I haven't done anything about the problem yet. I'm very busy and 2007 was a hell of a year to say the least.

I'm thinking this year of changing the tire size in the front to see if that helps.

[negusm]

Wheel sellers don't seem to understand that in 91 the front changed in the car and it's a big deal as far as wheel fitment is concerned.

You can put limter clips in the front and that will help a small bit.

There is a guy in my subdivision that must have the same problem. He has an 88 GT and I hate driving behind him. He has big wide wheels up front. He slows down to a crawl over every pebble and takes HUUUGE WIIIIDE turns....obviously cause his front wheels scrape.

I am not sure but I bet why your 17x8s didn't help in the front is that the backspacing is probably the same as your rears. You needed to ask the vendor if the backspacing is smaller up front.

-Mike

[asc709]

Here's a conflicting story...

17" x 9" Cobra R's fit on all four corners of my car with ease. I get a slight amount to rub at full turn and a bit of rub if I bottom out the front. It's happened maybe 4 or 5 times in 2 years.

From my experience the only way to say for sure is to find someone who is willing to let you try them. On some 79-90 cars it's a problem, others it's not. Varying production tolerances will allow the same rim to fit on one car, but not another.

My turning radius did decrease a VERY little bit because I had to substitute a medium spacer for a small one on the rack, but it's nothing too bad.

[negusm]

17" x 9" Cobra R's fit on all four corners of my car with ease. I get a slight amount to rub at full turn and a bit of rub if I bottom out the front. It's happened maybe 4 or 5 times in 2 years.

Yeah, but what's the backspacing on those?

Everybody talks about this issue in regards to wheel width and height but isn't the backspacing the most important factor?

One thing is true, there are a million variations out there from all the mods people do to their cars that it's always a topic that never gets answered.

-Mike

[tfs2121]

mike your right back spacing is very important! i would never put an aftermarket wheel on my car. if you change the wheel you change where the load is put on the ball joint and on the wheel bearings making them wear alot faster.

[BRYAN ROGERS]

This is why I'm swapping the fenders on my 88 McLaren to 91-93 fenders.

The best (right) way to make 17"s fit on a Fox is to use the following parts

1. Late model fenders
2. Maximum front tire size 245/45/17
3. Stock 94-04 wheel backspacing
4. 94-95 spindles /rotors/etc... much better brakes with these (you need them) Even 94-95 V-6 stuff will work.
5. Steering rack limiters to keep from rubbing the insides of the front wheels on the control arm during U-turns.

The rack limiters are called "washers" at the parts counter, and the parts guy is going to look at you like you are from Mars, but just ask for
Ford part # N804842S

There are lots more options, but this is off the shelf Ford (junkyard) stuff.

I bought a wrecked 94 V-6 for $600 and swiped the entire brake system (minus hard lines) off of it, put all of that on the 92 GT vert in the pic (sorry so big) and added a set of 97 GT wheels. I then sold what was left of the car and ended up making $900


That was my test mule for my McLaren project. Now I know how to make this PHOTOSHOP adjusted project come to life.

[eric5oh]

I always liked the look of those wheels. I'm going to try 235/40/17's on 99 cobra wheels. They are 17x8 and I shouldn't have rubbing with a Maximum Motorsports K member and arms. The only concern I have is Capri fenders and McLaren ground effects. Hopefully no rubbing happens there. Supposedly the MM k member increases track width which may screw with my tire clearance. I may be stuck with a stock k and use tubular arms. BTW I need to swap k's because of he 4.6 swap.

[BRYAN ROGERS]

Actually, you might want to be cautious with the MM K member.

Unless they have changed something in the last 3 years, the standard MM K member and standard MM tubular control arms kick the wheels forward 3/4".

There are other control arms available that kick them even further forward.

My 93 Cobra rubs just a little with 245/45/17"s and a MM K with MM's standard control tubular control arms. That car is nearly stock ride height.

K member is totally worth it though

[knsstang]

i have saleen style 18x9 rims on my 89. i used the spindles from a 96gt and the rear axles from the ranger. my tires are 265x35 18 and my car i believe is lower than most. my rims have a 24inch backspace. i can't get my finger between the fender and the tire but they don't rub. i think the secret is to keep the same aspect ratio as the original rims and tires

[BRYAN ROGERS]

Ken-

I've seen the gold car that used to be in your gallery and it looks good.

Probably the best non-stock McLaren I've seen.

I've spent lots of time checking out various paint colors for my project with Photoshop, nearly 1/2 of that time I was using a pic of that car (borrowed from here of course) to see what looked good.

[trvlnmann]

I have 17x9's all the way around and lowered with Eibach springs without any issues. BUT, I did a ful SN95 conversion with stock FOX length axles.