98 Cobra Rims
- Thread starter Mstng93SSP
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I think the 17x9 offset would have a little poke on a Fox with SN95 axles. It would be perfect for fox length axles though.
To be honest, now that there is an option to buy new, i may sell off some of my wheels. I have two that I was keeping handy to have widened to 9" one day. Guess i don't need that now.
Still keeping my one mint set.
To be honest, now that there is an option to buy new, i may sell off some of my wheels. I have two that I was keeping handy to have widened to 9" one day. Guess i don't need that now.
Still keeping my one mint set.
I’d be interested in seeing the construction/ weight of the originals compared to the LMR wheels. I would think there is a significant difference in quality.
WhiteCobra95
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- May 2, 2006
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@Mustang5L5 WOW! Thanks for posting this news! I just checked out their wheels last week to see what was out there before this went up. I was almost ready to order a set of their '95 R rims, which I don't really want since my car is not an R clone. This is exactly what I've been looking for - I've wanted these in 17x9 for years. Now I'm really glad I didn't go with my buddy's GT500 wheels.
Hopefully they're good quality, otherwise this will be very disappointing. I plan to beat the crap out of them at the track. I might order two wheels to start and see how they look.
@Rdub6 I'm going to dig out my old Ford Racing catalogs to check the specs. I vaguely remember the '98 wheels at being 17 lbs, but I don't remember. Maybe I'm remembering wrong. Unfortunately, my factory '98s are all mounted otherwise I would weigh one.
Hopefully they're good quality, otherwise this will be very disappointing. I plan to beat the crap out of them at the track. I might order two wheels to start and see how they look.
@Rdub6 I'm going to dig out my old Ford Racing catalogs to check the specs. I vaguely remember the '98 wheels at being 17 lbs, but I don't remember. Maybe I'm remembering wrong. Unfortunately, my factory '98s are all mounted otherwise I would weigh one.
I wonder if the 9"s would fit well in the back? I see they only show them on the rear but trying to see if the offset would look funny in the front as well.
Wouldn't hurt to call or send LMR a message..... They have bent over backward for me on questions and they seem pretty honest with their answers... I questioned the length of a positive bat cable they sell and the guy went out back, opened a box, and measured it for me......
Good People in my book.....
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I’m at work, but I can check later…….
My 17x9 Bullitt replicas from American Muscle are 5 lug, made for Foxbody and fit perfect w/ Fox axles. I did have to use rack limiters in the front though.
Anyway, if you check those specs vs. these, it may give you an idea of how they will fit.
My 17x9 Bullitt replicas from American Muscle are 5 lug, made for Foxbody and fit perfect w/ Fox axles. I did have to use rack limiters in the front though.
Anyway, if you check those specs vs. these, it may give you an idea of how they will fit.
They claim they weigh 22 lbs in the video. I measured 21.6 lbs. So close there.
OEM SN95 17x8 wheel specs are +30 , 5.72" BS
The LMR wheels are
17x8: +30 5.68" BS
17x9: +24 5.93" BS
For comparison, 03/04 Cobra 17x9 wheels are +26 offset.
After having my car on jack stands for 4 months troubleshooting a new transmission, I drove 10 miles and hit a nasty pothole and cracked a wheel in 5 places. It was one of my original Eagle Alloys American made 95 Cobra R wheels. I am heartbroken. Imagine me standing in the garage last night explaining to the wife that I now need 4 new wheels and tires because that rim was discontinued like 15 years ago. I love the 95' Cobra R wheel look. I just ordered some "OE wheels" deep dish 95' Cobra Rs really cheap on Jegs last night. I know every thing is made in China out of Chinesium now anyway. I chatted with Jegs, and they said they are cheap because they are being discontinued and the company is dumping the rest of their stock. But I am getting a 17"x10.5" rear wheel. Wish me luck. Man I am really going to miss those wheels.
Kurt
Kurt
That sucks man!!! Always something with these cars!!
I looked at some OE wheels a while ago….. they actually have some nice looking options….. I’m sure the American Muscle wheels I ended up with are made from the same chinesium as the rest of them…….
I guess without spending $300 a wheel, thats what we get to choose from.
The retail on the wheels on the Eagle Alloys was over $1100 for the set in like 1998. Put 25 years of inflation on that number. I bought them used at $550 in like 2004 or something. I think I just paid just over $600 for these new Chinesium wheels.
I figured out the problem. I just spent over $8500 on the transmission swap. When I did the transmission I finally found a way to stop the rear main seal leak. I had a squeaky belt tensioner and fixed that. The AC compressor had a small leak where I had to top off the gas like every 5 years, and I changed the compressor. It was literally the moment when there was nothing left to fix on the car, and it wasn't leaking a single thing for the first time in over 20 years.
Kurt
WhiteCobra95
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@Mustang5L5 Thanks for checking on the weight and the specs. I think I'm remembering the weight from one of my old 15" drag rears. These clones look very close to original '98s in all respects. I'm gong to go ahead and order a pair of the 17x9s and see what they look like. Hopefully their decent quality and balance well. I like the idea of using the factory 17x8s up front and the 17x9s out back. If they past muster, I'll order more for a track set.
@revhead347 I'm really sorry to hear about your wheel damage. That's horrible, and really hits hard when you can't find exact replacements anymore. Stories like that seem to happen more and more, especially now that you can't find most of the taken-for-granted parts from "back in the day" anymore. How are you fitting the 10.5" wheels in back? Did you roll your fenders or was your custom axle build narrowed from stock width?
@revhead347 I'm really sorry to hear about your wheel damage. That's horrible, and really hits hard when you can't find exact replacements anymore. Stories like that seem to happen more and more, especially now that you can't find most of the taken-for-granted parts from "back in the day" anymore. How are you fitting the 10.5" wheels in back? Did you roll your fenders or was your custom axle build narrowed from stock width?
Of course that’s the way it goes! That’s pretty much my life as well….. always something.
But on a positive, how did you fix the rear main?
Can you not get the cracks welded up and have the wheel refinished? We have a couple places here in Oklahoma that do that.
WhiteCobra95
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I picked up the LMR 1998 Cobra 17x9s a couple of months ago. I'm very happy with the purchase so far, especially since I've wanted 9"ers for the rear for a long time. Here are my impressions:
I also have to decide on new tires. I'm not sure how wide I can go with these wheels since they changed the backspacing to fix the rear wheel sucked-in stagger look on the SN95. I would like to go 285s in back to keep the same diameter as the factory width 255s up front, but there aren't many 285/17 options out there in summer performance tires. If it ends up being a 275/245 combo to keep matching diameters, the only benefit could be less tram-liming on the street with the thinner front tires.
I hope this helps anyone else who has been considering these wheels. This seems like a better option and more cost effective than widening a set of original '98s and using wheel spacers, even if some color matching is necessary. Please let me know if you have an thoughts or feedback.
- The shipping / packaging was great. They were better protected than the original FR '98s I ordered from Summit back in 2005. The pair arrived in a giant box that looked like hell (thanks UPS!), but the wheels were all individually boxed inside with no box dents or wheel damage.
- These reproductions look really good! From what I can tell, the build quality and finish are on par with the originals. I can't comment on the fit since I haven't installed them or had them balanced yet (too busy with work and family stuff).
- Proportion-wise, they look like a very good match to the originals, even with the expanded width.
- I'm not much of a paint guy, but the color looks like it's a tad off. It appears to be slightly darker, flatter with more luster and larger metal flake, and a less glossy or thinner clear coat - I hope that makes sense. In all fairness, they do say something about that in the video where they suggest buying a full set for a perfect color match front to rear. I really need to pull one of my original '98s out into the sunlight next to these for a better comparison.
I also have to decide on new tires. I'm not sure how wide I can go with these wheels since they changed the backspacing to fix the rear wheel sucked-in stagger look on the SN95. I would like to go 285s in back to keep the same diameter as the factory width 255s up front, but there aren't many 285/17 options out there in summer performance tires. If it ends up being a 275/245 combo to keep matching diameters, the only benefit could be less tram-liming on the street with the thinner front tires.
I hope this helps anyone else who has been considering these wheels. This seems like a better option and more cost effective than widening a set of original '98s and using wheel spacers, even if some color matching is necessary. Please let me know if you have an thoughts or feedback.
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