OK, so I'm planning on putting some new wheels on my GT. I would like some wheels that are the same style as the FR500 or the new Shelby GT500. I researched things a bit, and the real FR500 wheels are made by Fikse for Ford. Now, while I love Fikse wheels, I do not like their extraordinarily high prices ($1300 EACH from Ford, or about $800 each aftermarket). I also want the wheels to be 18".

So, I'm looking at aftermarket replica FR500 wheels, such as those available from Mustang Tuning, etc.

I would like to run stock-width tires on the front of my car, but I'd like to run wider than stock tires on the rear, to get a more agressive look and to put some more rubber on the road.

Mustang Tuning lists the FR500 style wheel in 18 x 9 specifically for the 05+ models. Great. Now they also list a "deep dish" 18 x 10 version, supposedly for the earlier model year mustangs--but I'm thinking of running these on the rear. I checked the backspacing numbers and they are almost identical. The Deep Dish 10" wheels are 6.38" BS while the 9" wheels (specifically for the 05+ cars) are 6.41 BS. So, the difference in backspacing between the two wheels is only 0.03 inches--practically nothing. So, I'm thinking that if I were to mount up these wheels (9" in front, 10" in rear), the rears would stick out about 1 inch more to the sides of the car becasue the backspacing is essentially the same, so the extra width would have to be made up on the "outside" of the rim. Am I correct in thinking that this fitment would work? What do you guys think about the fitment? Do you think this would look good, or should I try to find some wheels that increase the backspacing on the wider rim in order to pull the tire more towards the center of the car?

Anyone else make FR500 replicas? Fikse will make the real thing in any backspacing that you can name, but the cost is a bit out of my league.

 

Well, the deep dish 18x9 and 18x10 bullits were sold as a set at some point I seem to remember and the backspacing between those is way more (like 6.41/7.27) than what you are stating as the FR500 backspacing....so I don't think that is a problem.

But the wheel offset on those DD FR500 18x10s is 22mm which I believe will be a bit of a problem I think...I'd be interested in other's opinions.

 

I have decided on the FR500's as well. Check out www.thefordsource.com for these.
-E

 

Those look like the same wheels that Mustang Tuning is selling, although Fordsource doesn't state the size or other specs (backspacing, etc) of the wheels so it's hard to be certain. Just so you know, those are NOT official Ford wheels. If you look through Ford's catalog online, the ONLY "FR500" wheels they list are the real ones, and they're $1300 each. There's a big difference between the real thing (fully machined forged wheel, weighs ~18 lb) and those replicas, which are cast aluminum and weigh about 30 lbs. I think these are just a common replica that someone has applied a "Ford Racing" decal to.


OK, hear me out for a sec and see if my logic is good. If I remember correctly, Backspacing and offset are two ways of measuring a similar property. Backspacing is the distance from the "inside edge" of the wheel to the wheel mounting surface. Offset is the difference between the centerline of the wheel and the wheel mounting surface.

Since the Deep Dish FR500s and the standard 9" FR500s (those meant for 05+) have essentially the SAME backspacing, that means that the extra width on the "deep dish" wheel must be on the "outside" of the wheel. In other words, the "half" of the wheel from the mounting surface inwards towards the car is the same between both wheels. However, the Deep Dish ones are simply 1 inch Wider, on the outside half. So, they would just stick out more. Since the deep dish wheel is 1" wider, that would mean that the wheel centerline has moved half that distance (1/2") or approx. 13 mm compared to the other wheel. The wheel mounting surface hasn't moved appreciably, so the offset should change by that same measurement. This matches the published spec. The Deep Dish has a 22mm offset whereas the standard ones are 36mm.

I'm convinced that from the wheel mounting surface INWARDS, both of these wheels are identical for all practical purposes. That means they will bolt up to my car with no problems. The only difference is that the wider Deep Dish wheels will "stick out" about 1" on each side on the rear. My question is, would this look right? The other option is to try to find a wheel where the backspacing has also been changed along with the width, that way the wheels line up on the outside of the car, but the extra width comes on the inside. (or perhaps a combination of the two) Of course, if the backspacing is increased too much, that might bring the inner edge of the rear wheels into contact with suspension parts, etc. (I don't know how much clearance there is in there)

 

Believe me I want the real ones I just can't pull 1300 for each. Do you know how much the replica FR500's weigh? What did you think of the prices?
-E


"There's a big difference between the real thing (fully machined forged wheel, weighs ~18 lb) and those replicas, which are cast aluminum and weigh about 30 lbs."

 

Yeah, the real FR500 wheels are somewhere between 16 and 18 lb each. I heard conflicting things from Ford and from Fikse so I'm not 100% sure which is the correct number.

The FR500 replicas from Mustang Tuning weigh just under 30 lbs each (for 18", I'd imagine the 17s are slightly lighter)

I don't know if you've ever handled a Fikse wheel, but DAMN are they nice. I mean, the quality is unreal and they are extremely light as well. Of course, you're certainly paying for it!

 

iv got the Mustangtuning ones. Quality is top notch. NO problems or blemishes whatsoever. side by side, these wheels with my Toyo Proxies T1-S tires are lighter than the stock 16" and tires. buti dont remember the weights. seems like it was 40 for the stock, and about 38 for the new ones. So its not like your losing performance by going witht the MT ones, you just wont gain anything but looks and handleing. pics in my sig.

 

Crazy,

I'm in a hurry and I read your post quickly, so double check what I'm about to say. First, I think you may have some incorrect information as your starting point. The new Mustangs 17x8" wheel have +45mm offset and the 18x8.5" wheels have +50mm offset (neither is +36mm). Any wheel originally meant for the previous gen is going to be in the +20-30mm range, and that'll have the exact same size (width wise) wheel stick out a full inch or more. Add to that half of the increase you get from increasing wheel width (10" is 1.5" increase, so another 3/4" outboard increase). To me, that would look very bad--it would sit about 3/4" beyond the wheel well, since the stocks sit about an inch in. This also means you can get an 18x10" wheel to sit flush with the fender with +45mm offset. I think that would look much better, and it wouldn't really disturb the original suspension design geometry (remember, offset is important for geometry, backspacing is derivative of offset and only matters for clearance purposes).

Best,
-j