Cobra Brake Conversion - Spare Wheel/Tire Search

AeroCoupe

lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes
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Oct 28, 2001
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Claremore, OK
I have read some threads as to what folks are using for a five lug spare on the Foxes with the Cobra brake conversion. Some are just carrying the V6/GT spare as they are running the same size wheel/tire on all four corners so they can use the V6/GT spare on the rear. If the front goes flat then they move a rear tire up front and then put the V6/GT spare on the rear as it will not fit the front brake setup.

Others opted to get a 94-04 Cobra, 03/04 Mach 1, or 2001 Bullitt but holy hell they are pricey now and some people are getting scammed when they buy online.

So what brought this on for me was I have been carrying one of the V6/GT spares since I converted the Coupe about 20 years ago and one in the T-Bird for about 15 years. Both cars have had staggered setups on them for the last 10 years so the whole moving a rear wheel up front thing has been out the window and I have just been lucky with the few miles they get driven. I ran across this thread on the Corral which list the 07-14 Ford Edge as a solution but the tire on them is a T165/80/D17 (roughly a 26.5" diameter) and the tire on the Cobra/Mach 1/Bullitt is a T155/70R17 (roughly a 25.5" diameter) so there is roughly 1" of diameter difference.


I have also seen the Ford Edge spare solution mentioned on here a couple of times of which one was in Mustang5L5's build thread or at least I am pretty sure it was.

The setups on my cars are roughly 25.5" on the front and back and they have tightly packed limited slips so odd diameters is not great there and I really don't want to think about trying to steer the car with one of the fronts being an 1" taller. May or may not be bad but why do it if you do not have to.

So this weekend I went to a U-Pull It salvage yard and they had about 10 Edge's in the 07-14 range and I was able to get two really nice (doubt they have ever been run) spares and the washer that helps hold them down. I wanted the wing nuts as they were a really nice design but it is a different thread than the Fox Mustang and the Edges have a stud that screws directly into the bottom of the spare wheel well of the car vs the Fox Mustang stud which hooks into a loop welded to the spare wheel well bottom so I could not use the Edge stud.

Pulled one of the front wheels of the Coupe and mounted the spare and it clears the Cobra Caliper by about 1/4" at the tightest spot. Couple of pictures of the spare installed (car is still jacked up), the tire size, and three of the clearance:


07-14 Ford Edge Spare 01a.webp
07-14 Ford Edge Spare 02a.webp


07-14 Ford Edge Spare 03.webp


07-14 Ford Edge Spare 04.webp


07-14 Ford Edge Spare 05.webp


The last two pictures I was able to get a light behind the wheel and back light it. Wish I would have retaken the first pic that had no back light.

Dropped the car down on the spare and its too close the inner fender for me (my car is a full MM car and it is pretty low) so I am going to replace the existing tires with T155/70R17's as the T-Bird is a Griggs Racing suspension car and is pretty low as well.

I bought the spares for $22 each and I have a buddy that can get me the new tires for $100 so for me that is a win. He can also mount them and balance them so no cost there.

Anyhow, this is proof that the 07-14 Edge spare wheel clears the Cobra front brakes.
 
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