WhiteSaleen248
Search And Destroy.
1994-1996 Stock V6 Mustang Rim
Stock Rim Specs: 15 by 7 inches with a 205/65-15 tire size
* These Years can also have Hubcaps with Steel rims that are also 15 by 7 inches and that use a 205/65-15 tire
1997-1999 Stock V6 Mustang Rim
Standard Rim Specs: 15 by 7 inches with a 205/65-15 tire size
Optional Rim Specs: 15 by 7 inches with a 205/65-15 tire size
Optional Rim Specs: 16 by 7.5 inch Rim with a 225/55-16 tire size
1999-2004 Stock V6 Mustang Rim
Standard Rim Specs (00-01): 15 by 7 inches with a 205/65-15 tires
Standard Rim Specs (02-04): 16 by 7.5 with 225/55-16 tires
1994-2004 V6 Aftermarket Rims
The Tire sizes and rim size suggestions below are to:
* Maintain Proper tire diamter to keep the speedometer as correct as possible
* Protect the lip of your rims from being messed up on a curb
* So that the tires look right on the rim, not to fat not to narrow
================================================== ========
17 INCH RIM OPTIONS:
17 by 8 inch rims (such as OEM GT rims)
245/45-17 Tires are the best fitment for this size rim
17 by 9 inch rims (OEM on 03 and up Cobra and 95 Cobra R...etc)
275/40-17 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
17 by 10 inch rims
305/35-17 or 315/35-17 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
17 by 10.5 inch rims
315/35-17 or 335/35-17 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
* Many aftermarket rim companies make the most popular rims in 10 or 10.5 inch sizes but no stock ford rim for a mustang is over 9 inches wide.
* Any wider than 10.5 on the rear of your car may be to wide and cause exhaust pipe clearence issues so be aware that you might have to change some things for them to fit correctly
* 9 inches wide is about the limit to keep most all of your drivability and ability to turn for the front of your car, any wider and you will have quite a bit of rubbing, different offsets. Backspacing on rims can have different effects on how much your tires/rims rub its not only how wide the rims are that determine if you have rubbing issues or not but most ford 9 inch wide rims have the correct backspacing (5.95 - 6.11) and offset.
Different 17 inch Rim Choices:
1. OEM Base 1999-2004 GT rim 17 by 8 inches Also come in Polished for spring edition (Rare rim in polished)
2. 1999-2001 Cobra and 04 Premium GT rim 17 by 8 inches Also come in polished/chrome
3. 1998 Cobra Rim 17 by 8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 2003-2004 Cobra 17 by 9 rim Also come in Polished and chrome
2. 2003-2004 Mach 1 rim 17 by 8 Also come in Chrome
3. 2001-2004 GT Mustang Also come in Artic, Black, Polished, Chrome
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Steeda Ultra Light II 17 by 8 and 17 by 9
2. 2003 Anniversary Cobra Silver Finish 17 by 9
3. 1995 Cobra R 17 by 9 also come in chrome
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Steeda Ultra Light I 17 by 8 and 17 by 9
2. 2003 Anniversary cobra OEM Artic Finish 17 by 9
3. Roush 17 by 8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Roush 17 by 8 rim
2. Mustang GT OEM 94-95 17 by 8
================================================== ========
18 INCH RIM OPTIONS
* Making your rims even larger causes the need for the side wall height of the tire you choose to drop to maintain the overall diamter needed to keep your speedometer correct
18 by 8 inch rims
245/35-18 Tires are the best fitment for this size rim
18 by 9 inch rims
275/30/18 or 265/30-18 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
18 by 10 inch rims
305/30-18 or 315/30-18 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
18 by 10.5 inch rims
315/30-18 or 335/25-18 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
* Many aftermarket rim companies make the most popular rims in 10 or 10.5 inch sizes but no stock ford rim for a mustang is over 9 inches wide.
* Any wider than 10.5 on the rear of your car may be to wide and cause exhaust pipe clearence issues so be aware that you might have to change some things for them to fit correctly
* 9 inches wide is about the limit to keep most all of your drivability for the front of your car, any wider and you will have quite a bit of rubbing, different offsets and backspacing on rims can have different effects on how much your tires/rims rub its not only how wide the rims are that determine if you have rubbing issues or not but most ford 9 inch wide rims have the correct backspacing (5.95 - 6.11) and offset.
Different 18 inch Rim Choices:
1. 2000 Cobra R 18 by 9.5 rim Also come in 18 by 9 and chrome and polished
2. FR500 18 by 9 in chrome
3. FR500 18 by 9 in black
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. FR500 18 by 9 in Standard
2. Roush 18 by 9
3. Roush 18 by 9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Saleen 18 by 8 and 18 by 9 and 18 by 10 also comes in Chrome
================================================== ========
19 INCH RIM OPTIONS
* Making your rims even larger causes the need for the side wall height of the tire you choose to drop to maintain the overall diamter needed to keep your speedometer correct
19 by 8 inch rims
245/25-19 Tires are the best fitment for this size rim
19 by 9 inch rims
275/25/19 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
19 by 10 inch rims
305/20-19 or 315/20-19 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
Recommended Tires:
Yokahoma AVS ES100's
* Good Looking tire, Nice tread pattern with nice flat sidewall
* Decent ride and handeling
* Decent tread wear, with proper rotation and alignment you should see 40 thousand miles~
* Much better than the Kumo 711 or 712 tires for only a little more money
Price: 115.00 Each~
Life: 40 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 7/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kumo ECSTA 712's
* Ok tread pattern, but the sidewall does not shine up to good due to its design
* Good ride and tread life, you should expect 40 thousand miles from them
* Pretty good price but you dont get very good traction and the handeling is decent
* They seem to run a little more narrow than other brand tires
Price: 93.00 Each~
Life: 40 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 6/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
BFG G-Force T/A KDW's
* These tires have really good traction for the price but tend to wear out a little faster than some of the other tires.
* The tread paddern is VERY nice looking and the sidewall is great for shine and looks
Price: 159.00 Each~
Life: 35 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 8/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nitto 555 Extreme's
* These tires have really good traction for the price but tend to wear out faster than some of the other tires.
* The tread paddern is nice looking
* Falken's are said to be a cheaper knock off of the Nitto
* Good track and autox tire
Price: 115.00 Each~
Life: 30 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 8/6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Falken Ziex ZS-512's
* I have never heard much about these tires other than they are a cheaper alternative to Nitto's and good for Autocross
Price: 108.00 Each~
Life: 40 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 8/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do the Numbers on tires Mean?
Well first lets pick a tire size for an example. A 245/45-17 tire is the OEM GT mustang tire size for their 17 by 8 inch rims.
The 245 represents the width of the tire in milimeters, every 24.5 milimeters is equal to 1 inch for reference~
The 45 represents the sidewall height of the tire. The actual height is NOT 45 milimeters, rather it is found by taking the width and multiplying it by the sidewall number * .01. You see the 45 is a percentage not a size, that being said a 245/45-17's sidewall height is 45% of its width, which is 245mm
Calculation Example:
45% * 245 = the sidewall height for this given tire, or .45 * 245 = 110.25mm
The final numbers is the size rim that the tire will fit.
How to maintain your tires for long life:
1. Rotate your tires EVERY 6 thousand miles, but if you run a 275mm or wider tire or experience alot of noise from your tires you should definatly rotate the tires every 3 thousand miles.
2. Make sure to maintain the correct air pressure in your tires at all times, this can increase your gas milage and life of the tires along with ride quality. A 275/40-17 wears good at 32-34psi
3. Have your wheels/tires balanced if you experience shaking in your steering wheel, for example you may experience shaking only in a given mph range.
4. Have your car checked for Alignment every 6 thousand miles, if your car stays in alignment you can go longer but you should definatly consider keeping the car in a good alignment state, you may can go 12 thousand but get a check up to make sure everything is staying in good alignment.
5. If you car is lower than stock make sure the shop that aligns your car can get it to stock specs, if they cant they may not tell you so be sure to ask for a print out and how far the car is from stock specs.
6. Ask for a print out of the alignment specs because after 6 thousand miles you will forget what they did possibly and you can use the print outs as a reference to change some settings for better tire wear. This being said date the print out or you may not know which was the last one you had done.
7. When you clean your car take a bit to look over your tires and make sure everything is ok with them no nails in them anything out of the ordinary.
Suggestions on lowered cars:
1. When you get your car aligned after you let your springs settle for 500 miles~ see if they can set the car back to stock spec, if they can not invest in some caster/camber plates so you can correct the adjustment.
2. If you go more than 1.3 inches expect your struts and shocks to go out alot faster and need to be replaced, they may last a while but just be prepared to buy new ones some time.
3. Maximum Motorsport's CC plates raise the strut travel up a bit so you can run stock struts and shocks on a lowered vehicle (around 1.5 inches of drop) and they also have great quality of CC plates.
4. Try the install your self its VERY easy if you like working on cars and have a good assortment of tools and a hydrolic jack you should be able to have the swap done in an evening with the help from a friend.
5. A good set of Caster/Camber plates may be needed to fix alignment issues, so dont drive around to long out of stock spec.
FAQ:
Q: Will a 17 by 9 rim fit on the front of my 94-04 mustang?
A: Yes, a 17 by 9 rim will fit perfectly fine as long as its backspacing and offset are set correctly, the backspacing for a ford 17 by 9 mustang rim is 5.95-6.11 inches
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Can I run a more narrow tire on my rims than suggested above?
A: Yes, but you must realize that if you stray to much from the sizes listed you will not have enough tire to protect your rims from curbs, and one curbing will ruin a rim, its much better to spend a little extra and save your rims from being messed up. Also the correct size tire looks MUCH better on the rim, a narrow tire looks very tacky.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Is it ok to stagger rim and tire sizes, such as run a 17 by 9 up front and a 17 by 10 out back?
A: Yes, this will work great but you must remember you wont be able to rotate your tires and this will cause the front to get more bad wear if your alignment specs are not kept good, so if you do this I recommend keeping a good eye on the front tires for bad wear and adjust with your alignment shop accordingly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Will going from stock 15/16 inch rims to 17/18/19 inch rims mess up my speedometer?
A: No, as long as you use the correct size tire there will be no difference in the over all diamter of your wheels and your speedometer will register correctly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What can I do to correct my speedometer if I want to run other than the correct size tire?
A: You can possibly get a dallas speedcal unit from www.dallasmustangs.com , else you will have to buy a chip to alter the speedometer to read correctly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Where should I go to look for wheels and tires? How much should I expect to pay for a good set of wheels and tires?
A: Well there are many places to look for good wheel and tire deals, check out the bottom of the forum, there are some really good businesses that would be glad to show you what they have to offer. Also check out www.gefracing.com and www.tirerack.com . You can usually get a MUCH better deal on tires from the internt so do check some of the forums on the bottom of the forum page.
ALL THIS INFORMATION COULD BE FOUND, WITH PICTURES ON
http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7741
A GREAT DEAL OF THANKS TO "BRANDON" A.K.A. "SPECTOR V" for typing all this information up.[/B]
Stock Rim Specs: 15 by 7 inches with a 205/65-15 tire size
* These Years can also have Hubcaps with Steel rims that are also 15 by 7 inches and that use a 205/65-15 tire
1997-1999 Stock V6 Mustang Rim
Standard Rim Specs: 15 by 7 inches with a 205/65-15 tire size
Optional Rim Specs: 15 by 7 inches with a 205/65-15 tire size
Optional Rim Specs: 16 by 7.5 inch Rim with a 225/55-16 tire size
1999-2004 Stock V6 Mustang Rim
Standard Rim Specs (00-01): 15 by 7 inches with a 205/65-15 tires
Standard Rim Specs (02-04): 16 by 7.5 with 225/55-16 tires
1994-2004 V6 Aftermarket Rims
The Tire sizes and rim size suggestions below are to:
* Maintain Proper tire diamter to keep the speedometer as correct as possible
* Protect the lip of your rims from being messed up on a curb
* So that the tires look right on the rim, not to fat not to narrow
================================================== ========
17 INCH RIM OPTIONS:
17 by 8 inch rims (such as OEM GT rims)
245/45-17 Tires are the best fitment for this size rim
17 by 9 inch rims (OEM on 03 and up Cobra and 95 Cobra R...etc)
275/40-17 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
17 by 10 inch rims
305/35-17 or 315/35-17 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
17 by 10.5 inch rims
315/35-17 or 335/35-17 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
* Many aftermarket rim companies make the most popular rims in 10 or 10.5 inch sizes but no stock ford rim for a mustang is over 9 inches wide.
* Any wider than 10.5 on the rear of your car may be to wide and cause exhaust pipe clearence issues so be aware that you might have to change some things for them to fit correctly
* 9 inches wide is about the limit to keep most all of your drivability and ability to turn for the front of your car, any wider and you will have quite a bit of rubbing, different offsets. Backspacing on rims can have different effects on how much your tires/rims rub its not only how wide the rims are that determine if you have rubbing issues or not but most ford 9 inch wide rims have the correct backspacing (5.95 - 6.11) and offset.
Different 17 inch Rim Choices:
1. OEM Base 1999-2004 GT rim 17 by 8 inches Also come in Polished for spring edition (Rare rim in polished)
2. 1999-2001 Cobra and 04 Premium GT rim 17 by 8 inches Also come in polished/chrome
3. 1998 Cobra Rim 17 by 8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 2003-2004 Cobra 17 by 9 rim Also come in Polished and chrome
2. 2003-2004 Mach 1 rim 17 by 8 Also come in Chrome
3. 2001-2004 GT Mustang Also come in Artic, Black, Polished, Chrome
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Steeda Ultra Light II 17 by 8 and 17 by 9
2. 2003 Anniversary Cobra Silver Finish 17 by 9
3. 1995 Cobra R 17 by 9 also come in chrome
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Steeda Ultra Light I 17 by 8 and 17 by 9
2. 2003 Anniversary cobra OEM Artic Finish 17 by 9
3. Roush 17 by 8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Roush 17 by 8 rim
2. Mustang GT OEM 94-95 17 by 8
================================================== ========
18 INCH RIM OPTIONS
* Making your rims even larger causes the need for the side wall height of the tire you choose to drop to maintain the overall diamter needed to keep your speedometer correct
18 by 8 inch rims
245/35-18 Tires are the best fitment for this size rim
18 by 9 inch rims
275/30/18 or 265/30-18 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
18 by 10 inch rims
305/30-18 or 315/30-18 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
18 by 10.5 inch rims
315/30-18 or 335/25-18 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
* Many aftermarket rim companies make the most popular rims in 10 or 10.5 inch sizes but no stock ford rim for a mustang is over 9 inches wide.
* Any wider than 10.5 on the rear of your car may be to wide and cause exhaust pipe clearence issues so be aware that you might have to change some things for them to fit correctly
* 9 inches wide is about the limit to keep most all of your drivability for the front of your car, any wider and you will have quite a bit of rubbing, different offsets and backspacing on rims can have different effects on how much your tires/rims rub its not only how wide the rims are that determine if you have rubbing issues or not but most ford 9 inch wide rims have the correct backspacing (5.95 - 6.11) and offset.
Different 18 inch Rim Choices:
1. 2000 Cobra R 18 by 9.5 rim Also come in 18 by 9 and chrome and polished
2. FR500 18 by 9 in chrome
3. FR500 18 by 9 in black
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. FR500 18 by 9 in Standard
2. Roush 18 by 9
3. Roush 18 by 9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Saleen 18 by 8 and 18 by 9 and 18 by 10 also comes in Chrome
================================================== ========
19 INCH RIM OPTIONS
* Making your rims even larger causes the need for the side wall height of the tire you choose to drop to maintain the overall diamter needed to keep your speedometer correct
19 by 8 inch rims
245/25-19 Tires are the best fitment for this size rim
19 by 9 inch rims
275/25/19 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
19 by 10 inch rims
305/20-19 or 315/20-19 tires are the best fitment for this size rim
Recommended Tires:
Yokahoma AVS ES100's
* Good Looking tire, Nice tread pattern with nice flat sidewall
* Decent ride and handeling
* Decent tread wear, with proper rotation and alignment you should see 40 thousand miles~
* Much better than the Kumo 711 or 712 tires for only a little more money
Price: 115.00 Each~
Life: 40 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 7/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kumo ECSTA 712's
* Ok tread pattern, but the sidewall does not shine up to good due to its design
* Good ride and tread life, you should expect 40 thousand miles from them
* Pretty good price but you dont get very good traction and the handeling is decent
* They seem to run a little more narrow than other brand tires
Price: 93.00 Each~
Life: 40 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 6/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
BFG G-Force T/A KDW's
* These tires have really good traction for the price but tend to wear out a little faster than some of the other tires.
* The tread paddern is VERY nice looking and the sidewall is great for shine and looks
Price: 159.00 Each~
Life: 35 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 8/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nitto 555 Extreme's
* These tires have really good traction for the price but tend to wear out faster than some of the other tires.
* The tread paddern is nice looking
* Falken's are said to be a cheaper knock off of the Nitto
* Good track and autox tire
Price: 115.00 Each~
Life: 30 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 8/6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Falken Ziex ZS-512's
* I have never heard much about these tires other than they are a cheaper alternative to Nitto's and good for Autocross
Price: 108.00 Each~
Life: 40 thousand miles
Traction Dry/Wet (1-10): 8/5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do the Numbers on tires Mean?
Well first lets pick a tire size for an example. A 245/45-17 tire is the OEM GT mustang tire size for their 17 by 8 inch rims.
The 245 represents the width of the tire in milimeters, every 24.5 milimeters is equal to 1 inch for reference~
The 45 represents the sidewall height of the tire. The actual height is NOT 45 milimeters, rather it is found by taking the width and multiplying it by the sidewall number * .01. You see the 45 is a percentage not a size, that being said a 245/45-17's sidewall height is 45% of its width, which is 245mm
Calculation Example:
45% * 245 = the sidewall height for this given tire, or .45 * 245 = 110.25mm
The final numbers is the size rim that the tire will fit.
How to maintain your tires for long life:
1. Rotate your tires EVERY 6 thousand miles, but if you run a 275mm or wider tire or experience alot of noise from your tires you should definatly rotate the tires every 3 thousand miles.
2. Make sure to maintain the correct air pressure in your tires at all times, this can increase your gas milage and life of the tires along with ride quality. A 275/40-17 wears good at 32-34psi
3. Have your wheels/tires balanced if you experience shaking in your steering wheel, for example you may experience shaking only in a given mph range.
4. Have your car checked for Alignment every 6 thousand miles, if your car stays in alignment you can go longer but you should definatly consider keeping the car in a good alignment state, you may can go 12 thousand but get a check up to make sure everything is staying in good alignment.
5. If you car is lower than stock make sure the shop that aligns your car can get it to stock specs, if they cant they may not tell you so be sure to ask for a print out and how far the car is from stock specs.
6. Ask for a print out of the alignment specs because after 6 thousand miles you will forget what they did possibly and you can use the print outs as a reference to change some settings for better tire wear. This being said date the print out or you may not know which was the last one you had done.
7. When you clean your car take a bit to look over your tires and make sure everything is ok with them no nails in them anything out of the ordinary.
Suggestions on lowered cars:
1. When you get your car aligned after you let your springs settle for 500 miles~ see if they can set the car back to stock spec, if they can not invest in some caster/camber plates so you can correct the adjustment.
2. If you go more than 1.3 inches expect your struts and shocks to go out alot faster and need to be replaced, they may last a while but just be prepared to buy new ones some time.
3. Maximum Motorsport's CC plates raise the strut travel up a bit so you can run stock struts and shocks on a lowered vehicle (around 1.5 inches of drop) and they also have great quality of CC plates.
4. Try the install your self its VERY easy if you like working on cars and have a good assortment of tools and a hydrolic jack you should be able to have the swap done in an evening with the help from a friend.
5. A good set of Caster/Camber plates may be needed to fix alignment issues, so dont drive around to long out of stock spec.
FAQ:
Q: Will a 17 by 9 rim fit on the front of my 94-04 mustang?
A: Yes, a 17 by 9 rim will fit perfectly fine as long as its backspacing and offset are set correctly, the backspacing for a ford 17 by 9 mustang rim is 5.95-6.11 inches
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Can I run a more narrow tire on my rims than suggested above?
A: Yes, but you must realize that if you stray to much from the sizes listed you will not have enough tire to protect your rims from curbs, and one curbing will ruin a rim, its much better to spend a little extra and save your rims from being messed up. Also the correct size tire looks MUCH better on the rim, a narrow tire looks very tacky.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Is it ok to stagger rim and tire sizes, such as run a 17 by 9 up front and a 17 by 10 out back?
A: Yes, this will work great but you must remember you wont be able to rotate your tires and this will cause the front to get more bad wear if your alignment specs are not kept good, so if you do this I recommend keeping a good eye on the front tires for bad wear and adjust with your alignment shop accordingly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Will going from stock 15/16 inch rims to 17/18/19 inch rims mess up my speedometer?
A: No, as long as you use the correct size tire there will be no difference in the over all diamter of your wheels and your speedometer will register correctly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What can I do to correct my speedometer if I want to run other than the correct size tire?
A: You can possibly get a dallas speedcal unit from www.dallasmustangs.com , else you will have to buy a chip to alter the speedometer to read correctly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Where should I go to look for wheels and tires? How much should I expect to pay for a good set of wheels and tires?
A: Well there are many places to look for good wheel and tire deals, check out the bottom of the forum, there are some really good businesses that would be glad to show you what they have to offer. Also check out www.gefracing.com and www.tirerack.com . You can usually get a MUCH better deal on tires from the internt so do check some of the forums on the bottom of the forum page.
ALL THIS INFORMATION COULD BE FOUND, WITH PICTURES ON
http://www.mustangevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7741
A GREAT DEAL OF THANKS TO "BRANDON" A.K.A. "SPECTOR V" for typing all this information up.[/B]
