Classic Mustangs (Tech) Technical discussions about the Mustangs of yester-year.

16" or 17" wheels? or both?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 01-24-2011, 10:12 AM
  #11  
001mustang
3rd Gear Member
 
001mustang's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: tn
Posts: 889
Default

I like 16 all around on 65-68; others like bigger.
Suggest looking at 16 & 17 pictures.
If you have time check out tires at car show, performance store, mall, etc.
Not a fan of wheel spacers.
001mustang is offline  
Old 01-24-2011, 12:30 PM
  #12  
Iskwezm
4th Gear Member
 
Iskwezm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: So. Cal,the O.C.
Posts: 1,538
Default

The tires for 17" are not that bad anymore. I got my fronts for about 71 bucks each. The rears were only 122, for a 275/40. As far as rotating, i dont know anybody that rotates tires anymore.Staggered looks better and why would you wan the same skinny on the front,on the rear???
Iskwezm is offline  
Old 01-24-2011, 02:07 PM
  #13  
001mustang
3rd Gear Member
 
001mustang's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: tn
Posts: 889
Default

Rotating tires helps avoid high speed vibrations. Learned the hard way.

I know first hand a few performance cars w/ high speed mild vibration isues. Some can't be rotated so only solution is to live w/ mild vibration or keep replacing tires.

Can check tire roundness and uneven wear patterns w/ chalk ball, scratch awl, and drill vise.
001mustang is offline  
Old 01-24-2011, 02:27 PM
  #14  
Norm Peterson
6th Gear Member
 
Norm Peterson's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: state of confusion
Posts: 7,635
Default

Originally Posted by Iskwezm
The tires for 17" are not that bad anymore. I got my fronts for about 71 bucks each. The rears were only 122, for a 275/40. As far as rotating, i dont know anybody that rotates tires anymore.
Yesterday I finally got around to taking the summer tires off of the Mustang and the Subaru. Chalk marked where they came off of so that when the summer tires go back on in the spring they will get rotated. For the Mazda, the autocross tires get rotated after each event (or about every 50 miles if I drive to the events on the auto-X tires, maybe every 3 if I travel on the street tires and swap tires in the pit at the event). The street tires don't get rotated quite as often.


. . . why would you wan the same skinny on the front,on the rear???
When your driving is "all-around hard", you find out pretty quickly that the heavy end needs wide wheels and tires at least as badly as the rear does.


Norm

Last edited by Norm Peterson; 01-24-2011 at 02:31 PM.
Norm Peterson is offline  
Old 01-24-2011, 03:01 PM
  #15  
guitarman376
3rd Gear Member
 
guitarman376's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: California
Posts: 764
Default

Correct me if I am mistaken, but I thought that regardless of the type of tire you buy you are never supposed to rotate left to right (unless you actually took the tire of the wheels so that the direction the tire itself is spinning is the same). My understanding is that the belts set in place inside the tire according to which direction force is being applied to them. I thought that ignoring this could potentially cause premature belt failure=disaster.
guitarman376 is offline  
Old 01-24-2011, 07:10 PM
  #16  
001mustang
3rd Gear Member
 
001mustang's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: tn
Posts: 889
Default

I've always heard not to cross rotate steel belted tires.
I used to cross rotate performance steel belted tires w/ no ill effects.
Now days I err on caution and only rotate front to rear.
Softer suspensions mask tire vibrations.
001mustang is offline  
Old 01-24-2011, 07:37 PM
  #17  
jonward786
3rd Gear Member
 
jonward786's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 678
Default

i prefer my 17s. not too big as others have stated, imo of course. your car tho, the opinions of others should be irrelevant.

jonward786 is offline  
Old 01-24-2011, 07:45 PM
  #18  
001mustang
3rd Gear Member
 
001mustang's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: tn
Posts: 889
Default

Now if someone would post a nice pic of 16 for comparison...anyone?
001mustang is offline  
Old 01-24-2011, 09:43 PM
  #19  
tx65coupe
5th Gear Member
 
tx65coupe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Texas
Posts: 4,462
Default

While that does look nice, I still think that 17s look a little too big. I think 16s look fine, but I really prefer 15s.
tx65coupe is offline  
Old 01-24-2011, 10:00 PM
  #20  
66 tang
1st Gear Member
 
66 tang's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Alaska
Posts: 144
Default

Originally Posted by tx65coupe
While that does look nice, I still think that 17s look a little too big. I think 16s look fine, but I really prefer 15s.
i second that
66 tang is offline  


Quick Reply: 16" or 17" wheels? or both?



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:29 PM.