275/50/15 tires on a II? Inconceivable!

Gael · Sep 19, 2005

http://www.starshadow.com/~gael/pics/mustangii/rearwheels/

It looks like it should fit, it's REALLY close to everything. I haven't test driven it, it'll still be a while till it's on the road. Gotta finish the drivetrain install, put the intake back on, fix the valve cover, put the nitrous stuff in, and maybe relocate the radiator a bit to fit the MK VIII fan.

From what I can tell though, it fits. Also though, I trimmed the inner fender pretty much completely.

15x8 Weld Draglites with 4.5" backspacing seems to be ideal for our rear tires. If you aren't so keen on doing what I did, I think 255/60/15 would fit with unmodified fenders with the 15x8 4.5" backspace wheels.

mustang2 · Sep 19, 2005

I like it!! Looks good. Let us know how it does when you get it on the road.

manny · Sep 20, 2005

i love it do you have any pics of the side view and maybe and maybe a rear view? i plan on putting on flares on my II and those size tires look just right. very nice

Ricky D · Sep 20, 2005

Looks got but IMO never mind how wide...it`s how sticky I worry about!What kind of tire do you have on ? It looks like T/A`s by the thread pattern.Draglites look great on a II Good choice!

Power Surge · Sep 20, 2005

Nice work Gael.

You can fit a BIG tire under there, with the right combo and work. I have an 11.5" tire under the back of the Thundersnake. I had to trim the fender lip and also hammer the "bump" back in on the inner fender. I had custom rims made to my specs for size and offset and I had to find just the right tire to make it all work. But in the end, I've still got an 11.5" tire on there and I don't think anyone else has done that yet .

Ricky D · Sep 20, 2005

Power Surge said:
Nice work Gael.

You can fit a BIG tire under there, with the right combo and work. I have an 11.5" tire under the back of the Thundersnake. I had to trim the fender lip and also hammer the "bump" back in on the inner fender. I had custom rims made to my specs for size and offset and I had to find just the right tire to make it all work. But in the end, I've still got an 11.5" tire on there and I don't think anyone else has done that yet .

I did but you were first...I can`t wait to get some times on that beast you are building!!!

manny · Sep 20, 2005

i have a question for power surge and gael, are you guys still using the rubber pieces that go around the leaf springs where the leaf spring and rear end housing meet? i think it's held all together by the " U " bolt.BTW i love the way you both have stuffed big meats out back

Blue Thunder · Sep 21, 2005

Power Surge said:
Nice work Gael.

You can fit a BIG tire under there, with the right combo and work. I have an 11.5" tire under the back of the Thundersnake. I had to trim the fender lip and also hammer the "bump" back in on the inner fender. I had custom rims made to my specs for size and offset and I had to find just the right tire to make it all work. But in the end, I've still got an 11.5" tire on there and I don't think anyone else has done that yet .

I have a 275/40ZR17 tire on the back of my car,(about 11.5" wide) and 245/45ZR17 on the front. I know exactly which bump you're talking about in the inner wheel house, and I ground away some of my fender lip also.
Without going to wider flares, there isnt any more room under there once you get to 11.5"!
The BFG G-force tires make my car handle *extremely* well. It's noticeably more nimble than my '85 GT was. And the car tries to hook, sort of. Well, in 2nd and 3rd gear it tries to hook, anyway.

Edit: Next up, 3" flares to replace the factory 1.5" flares, so I should be able to fit 315/40ZR17s in the back, and possibly in the front as well. 13" of rubber all around will certainly improve handling, braking and hooking. (but mostly, it'll look cool. )

jeffnoel · Sep 22, 2005

Blue Thunder said:
I have a 275/40ZR17 tire on the back of my car,(about 11.5" wide) and 245/45ZR17 on the front.

How do the 245s fit on the front? What offset are your rims? How much do they rub, only at full lock? Jeff

Blue Thunder · Sep 23, 2005

jeffnoel said:
How do the 245s fit on the front? What offset are your rims? How much do they rub, only at full lock? Jeff

Actually, I test fitted the 275/40s on the front, and they fit also. I narrowed and boxed the upper control arms, fabricated adjustable steering limiters, and then installed longer race wheel studs and 1/4" spacers, so the tires never rub. (and with the modified control arms, the car now turns tighter than it did from the factory) I have no idea what the offset of the Cobra R rims are, never had a chance to measure them.
I can tell you this, though, the wheels are in there deep enough to almost cover the ball joint grease fitting.

Edit: 7/16", not 1/4" spacers.

jeffnoel · Sep 23, 2005

If your wheels are 17x9s I think the offset is +24mm. My 16x8s have a +13 offset, I 'm thinking of going 245/45-16s all around.

danimaltheanima · Oct 11, 2005

traction problems

Hey there gentleman! Well I finally got around to getting my 78 CobraII project car over to my buddies shop for paint. I will certianly have this hell on wheels on the road by next summer. I took it for a ride for the first time after building the car and OMG. Neadless to say I wish I would have brought an extra pair of underwear. This car actually scared me to the point of shaking. I have the stock 13" rims on there with somthing like 205's in the rear. This thing was all over the road. I couldn't even barely hit the gas and get out of gear without this thing getting squirly. I made it to second gear but not one bit of it was in a straight line and I wasn't even on the gas all that much. I have alot of work into this car as far as performance and it isn't going to mean squat if I can't put it to the ground. So when I see 275 or 315 for tires it puts a huge smile on my face. Please guys tell me how it all works out for you becuase my buddy at the body shop is going to have to be a mirical worker to get me some traction in this car. I'd love to hear more about how you guys did this and how it worked out for you and exactly the size of rims, offsets, tires, how much clearence, and if there is any kind of rubbing. Most importantly how the car looks after doing your cutting or hammering in bumps etc. Thank you all for your time guys. If you could email me the imformation that would be great to then I can forward it to the body shop and they can get going on the wheelwells and plan that situation all out. Again thank you for your time I appreciate it.

Dan

Blue Thunder · Oct 11, 2005

I still smoke the 275/40's up to about 70mph; the wider tires just leave wider marks on the road. heh. But those tires do make the car handle turns far beyond the stock parameters.
If you want to hook any kind of hp during acceleration, you need some slicks/cheater slicks, even if they're only 10" wide.

danimaltheanima · Oct 12, 2005

Hey there Blue Thunder! I was wondering if you would be able to sent me some detailed pictures of the back tires with a good visual of the wheelwell and on the other side of the tire by the leaf spring and wheelwell. Also if you could snap some pics of what you did to the front end and how those 275's look on the front. The shop that is painting my car is trying to talk me into going with 17inch rims on my car but I don't know if that is exactly the best way to go. I was thinking a 15inch with a lil bit taller of a tire would be better but I don't know. I just want traction is that to much to ask for (as I kneel and pray).

Thanks for your time

Dan

Gael · Oct 12, 2005

Dan, the 275s seem to fit, I think there is a rub, but I've yet to pull the wheel off to really check into it.

I must say though, 275/50/15s look good on it. The lip on the fender is completely trimmed. Other than that I think it's stock.

Blue Thunder · Oct 13, 2005

danimaltheanima said:
Hey there Blue Thunder! I was wondering if you would be able to sent me some detailed pictures of the back tires with a good visual of the wheelwell and on the other side of the tire by the leaf spring and wheelwell. Also if you could snap some pics of what you did to the front end and how those 275's look on the front. The shop that is painting my car is trying to talk me into going with 17inch rims on my car but I don't know if that is exactly the best way to go. I was thinking a 15inch with a lil bit taller of a tire would be better but I don't know. I just want traction is that to much to ask for (as I kneel and pray).

Thanks for your time

Dan

I can take a few pics of the rear wheel area whenever this rain finally stops. The tire is close to the springs, something like 3/4" away.
As for the front end, I trimmed the outer reinforcing lip from the upper control arms and then welded in steel to box the arms for strength.

I left the lip on the rear of the arms, since the inside edge of the rim will never contact that area.
With that lip gone from both sides, the wheels have a lot more steering travel.
I pressed in some 3-inch-long ARP wheel studs, because I needed to install 7/16" wheel spacers to give me even more steering travel, and I wanted the added strength of the heavy duty parts. I could have spent a few hundred dollars on billet alum. spacers that would fit perfectly on the rotors, but money was tight at the time, so I ordered up some cheap ones for the time being.(they're still on there)
The cheap wheel spacers are "universal fit", in other words, they suck. They just flopped around on the rotor, without being centered at all, since the slotted holes were too big. So I fabricated a 5-lug jig to hold them in place and then I cast plastic inserts for the spacers, which would perfectly center them on the rotors.

I also fabricated some adjustable steering limiters and installed them onto the strut rods, so once I had them adjusted properly, the tires never touch any part of the car.
With 15" rims, you wouldnt be able to fit such a large tire, because there wouldnt be sufficient room to place the rims deeply over the upper control arms the way I did with these.

Anyway, the overall effect is that the car steers tighter after mods with the 245/45ZR17s on the front than it used to with the 195/70R13s before mods. Next year, hopefully I will be installing 3" fender flares, so I can get a much wider tire on the car. (Shooting for 335/40ZR17)

Blue Thunder · Oct 13, 2005

Gael said:
I must say though, 275/50/15s look good on it.

They do look good. I think those 50s look better than my 40s.

Gael · Oct 13, 2005

Oh, I noticed I never posted the pics after the car was back on the ground.

http://www.starshadow.com/~gael/pics/mustangii/10-02-05/

Blue Thunder · Oct 14, 2005

Dude. Nice molten rubber sprayed up on the quarters, haha. White cars betray your driving habits!

275/50/15 tires on a II? Inconceivable!

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