18 inch wheel fitment and 5 lug conversion

[90GTJim]

New to the forums here and just wanted to start out by saying great site.

I have a problem I'm hoping some one here can help me out with. I have a 90 GT Convertible which is lowered about 1.5 inchs with an Eibach Pro Kit. I currently have 4 lug 18 inch Y2K Cobra R wheels and I want to replace them with 5 lug 18 inch Boyd Coddington Smoothie 2's.

I'll be using 5.0Resto's 5 lug conversion kit which will give me a 5X114.3 bolt pattern.

http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/iwwida.pvx?;item?item_no=LRS-4234K%20%20%20%20%20%201&comp=LRS

The wheels I have on the car now are 18X9, 4x108 bolt pattern with 24mm offset front and rear. The Smoothie 2's measure 18x8, 5X114.3 bolt pattern with a 25mm offset for the front and 18X9, 5x114.3 bolt pattern with a 31mm offset for the rear. Tires I will be running are 235/40/18 front and 275/35/18 rear.

So my question is will the Smootie 2's fit with out any issues with the 5 lug conversion kit??? Any help will be appreciated.

Jim

 

[iwashmycar]

i am not thinking that they will fit with the lincoln rotors in the kit, since they still have the giant dust caps...

somebody will have to verify this..


i have that kit on my car and for instance, i cant run the bullitt wheels or some of the cobras, or the 96-98 or 99+ split spoke designs

 

[90GTJim]

i am not thinking that they will fit with the lincoln rotors in the kit, since they still have the giant dust caps...

somebody will have to verify this..


i have that kit on my car and for instance, i cant run the bullitt wheels or some of the cobras, or the 96-98 or 99+ split spoke designs

Hmm, that sucks. Whole purpose of doing this was so I could have a better choice in wheels. I found this kit from Brothers Performance which is supposed to keep the same offsets as the 4 lug set up. This might be a better kit for what I'm looking for.

http://www.brothersperformance.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/1_10_123/products_id/2393

 

[Tonys96Cobra]

You will definitely run into clearance issues in the rear with that 31mm offset. You will at the minimum need to remove the quad shocks to fit that 275.

 

[90GTJim]

You will definitely run into clearance issues in the rear with that 31mm offset. You will at the minimum need to remove the quad shocks to fit that 275.

Quad shocks will be flipped, reverse mounted not thrown out. I also bought an Eastwood fender roller to roll the rear fender lip. If I have to I can go with a slightly smaller tire. My main concern is will the rim clear the front disk and rear drum brakes. The Brothers Performance kit looks like the better choice because it keeps the same offsets as the stock 4 lug set up.

 

[tunedin302]

The brothers kit is just a 5 lug rotor for the front so you will still not fit that wheel over the snout of the stock spindle. You will need sn95 spindles for the front. As for the rear, 31mm is a serious offset with a 9" rim. I run a 25mm offset in the rear with 9" rims and axles that are .20" longer than stock and they will fit a 265 fine. If you run the stock length axle then you may also have to run a small spacer to clear the exhaust and inner fender. You may also have to roll your fender lip as it will likely rub under hard acceleration and around turns. I would suggest you do the 5lug conversion with the intention of getting better brakes (13" front rotors, PBR calipers, SN95 spindles, rear disc) especially if you are toying with the idea of putting on 18s. The stock brakes should not be expected to stop 18s in any reasonable amount of time.

Check out the link in my sig and also http://sn95brakes.cjb.net/

Just do it right the first time. If you don't have the cash to do it right now then I would wait until you do. Good luck and keep us posted. .....

 

[90GTJim]

The brothers kit is just a 5 lug rotor for the front so you will still not fit that wheel over the snout of the stock spindle. You will need sn95 spindles for the front. As for the rear, 31mm is a serious offset with a 9" rim. I run a 25mm offset in the rear with 9" rims and axles that are .20" longer than stock and they will fit a 265 fine. If you run the stock length axle then you may also have to run a small spacer to clear the exhaust and inner fender. You may also have to roll your fender lip as it will likely rub under hard acceleration and around turns. I would suggest you do the 5lug conversion with the intention of getting better brakes (13" front rotors, PBR calipers, SN95 spindles, rear disc) especially if you are toying with the idea of putting on 18s. The stock brakes should not be expected to stop 18s in any reasonable amount of time.

Check out the link in my sig and also http://sn95brakes.cjb.net/

Just do it right the first time. If you don't have the cash to do it right now then I would wait until you do. Good luck and keep us posted. .....

Yeah, I would love to be able to do a 5 lug 4 wheel disk conversion but right now the funds won't allow it. My car already has upgraded front brakes but still has the stock rear drums. I'm the second owner so I can't say what's been done for sure but it has stainless lines and what looks to be slightly larger front rotors. I currently running 18's so the size shouldn't be an issue. What was bothering me was that 31mm offset on the rear. Luckily, Boyd Coddington has a large number of sizes for the Smoothie II and even offers it in 4 lug version specifically for Fox Mustangs. (Don't bother with the 4 lug versions, they look like crap because the lug holes are not equally spaced with the spokes of the wheel. I know this because I sent the set I ordered back for that exact reason) All I need to do is get them to use those specs but drill the 5 lug bolt pattern and they should work perfectly. The 4 bolt wheel uses a 25mm offset with 5.98 back spacing.

 

[iwashmycar]

if you have a bigger 4-lug front brake kit on there and you get the $400 kit then you will most likely be down-grading the brakes and thats a bad thing.

post up some pics if you got em'

 

[90GTJim]

if you have a bigger 4-lug front brake kit on there and you get the $400 kit then you will most likely be down-grading the brakes and thats a bad thing.

post up some pics if you got em'

I don't have any pics of the brakes but I can take a few and post em. Any one know the size of the stock front rotors??? I can probably do a quick measurement.

 

[iwashmycar]

they are like 11 or 11.4ish or something like that


stock:
View attachment 457094
View attachment 457096

 

[90GTJim]

they are like 11 or 11.4ish or something like that


stock:
View attachment 457069
View attachment 457071

The rotors on my car are stock size, no doubt in my mind. They are the Power slot OEM replacement rotors. The car also has stainless lines front and rear. For having a 95% OEM brake system the car stops pretty darn good, especially when you take into consideration it's a portly convertible with 18's.

 

[90GTJim]

http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/20/smoothieii0up.jpg


Here's a pic of the 4 lug Smoothie II's that I sent back. You can see the way the lug holes are drilled is a little screwed up which is why I sent them back. A 4 lug bolt pattern on a wheel designed as a 5 lug wheel looks like poo IMO. These are 18X9's but with a 25mm offset and 5.98 back spacing. This set up with the 5X114.3 bolt pattern should fit my car perfectly.


Here's a link to the Smoothie II specs if any one is interested: (it's a PDF file)

http://www.buyboydwheels.com/pdfs/boydSmoothieIISpecs.pdf

 

[iwashmycar]

ya that is odd lookin

if i were you id still try and peice togeather a 94+ front spindle and brake assembly so that the smoothies will fit and then you can still keep the rear drums if you have to, but if they were to fit with the stock 4 lug (even if they were powerslots with the dust caps) then just maybe they'll work with the cheap kit, since they are the same type of rotors just with an extra stud.....did you put a smoothie on to check, when you got em?

 

[90GTJim]

ya that is odd lookin

if i were you id still try and peice togeather a 94+ front spindle and brake assembly so that the smoothies will fit and then you can still keep the rear drums if you have to, but if they were to fit with the stock 4 lug (even if they were powerslots with the dust caps) then just maybe they'll work with the cheap kit, since they are the same type of rotors just with an extra stud.....did you put a smoothie on to check, when you got em?

Yup, test fitted them and they fit fine.