96DropTop

hey guys love the site alot of info
i just got a 2005 red with black top v6 mustang i really like it but i want to change my stock 16inch wheel
to 17inch or maybe even 18inchers 18 will be alot more money so if i can't afford them i'll go with 17's
was thinking of chorme bullitts

but the thing thats stopping me from doing it is the gap between the tire and fender
so my question is will i have to lower it
if you guys could post some pics with 2005 or newer convertibles lowered or not lowered thanks alot

suoperdave84

The gap between the wheel and the wheel well has nothing to do with your rim size. Bigger rims call for lower profile tires.

I have a GT and know nothing about the V6, but the stock tire height for my tires is 27.5" or so. My car came with 17" wheels, and I bought 20" wheels and new tires to fit them. The new tires measure 27.5" tall also.

Now lowering the car is all up to you. I have springs on order myself because the stock gap you're talking about is just plain ugly to me. But your choice in rims will not affect the gap. You can get taller tires to compensate some, but thise will change your rear end ratio slightly and screw with your speedometer some too.

96DropTop

thanks for the info how low you gonna drop your car

suoperdave84

I am going to use the Eibach Pro Kit, which drops the front 1.3 inches and the rear 1.5 inches. I like the look of the Sportline Kit better (drops the car a full 2 inches), however I am buying side skirts that come down a little lower than stock and I don't want to scrape everywhere I go.

You can look through these forums and find pictures of cars with the different spring kits and see what you like. Just go to the top and click "Search" and type in "lowering" or "lowered" or "springs" or "Eibach" etc etc. Sometimes the search feature is a little quirky, so you might not get any results....just try again later.

OR CLICK THIS: https://mustangforums.com/m_2597326/tm.htm
This is a post on here that has pics of lowered Mustangs.

jaiasmit

Generally, your path is the one that most follow, but it is not a requirement. You don't have to get lower profile tires just because you get bigger rims. Most people just do it that so that the speedo stays correct. With a tuner you can adjust the speedo to be correct for your total tire height.

So, you could get the same profile tires on bigger rims to fill a little bit of the gap, and the tire height is going to go up accordingly. Granted, this may not be the look you're going for so you'll have to make your call based on looks.

I personally am going to go with 20" rims with, hopefully, 40 or 35 series tires. This will bump the tire height up slightly, so I will just adjust my speedo with my SCT tuner.

HTH

suoperdave84

27.5" tire with a 17" wheel (about 18.5" wide from lip to lip)...

27.5-18.5 = 9" (or 4.5 inches of sidewall showing)

20" wheels (21.5" from lip to lip) with 4.5" of sidewall (showing)would measure 30.5" tall. I wouldn't try to fit that under my car.

I have 275/35/20 for the rear, and although they are not on the car yet, they measure just about 27.5" tall.

jaiasmit

Thanks for the math suoperdave84. I agree that I wouldn't want to go quite that tall either, but I don't think it would cause any problems if you did. That's only an extra 1.5" on either side of the tire.

There is about 2.5" of gap between the bottom of the fender and the top of the wheel on my stock 06 GT with 17s. The tires are also well within the lip of the fender and the fender wells only get bigger once you're inside. So, I'd say that there is at least 3.5-4.5" of clearance between the tire and upper fender well.

I think you could fit an extra 1.5" in there without problem. Not that I'm going to, just saying I don't think it would cause any problems.

96DropTop

ok sounds like i got alot of choices to make i think i'll take my time, i have to wait till spring for rims anyway
so again thanks for the info and links guys

torch red

I have 18" wheels with 255/45 285/40..and the GAP is ridiculous..Looks like a 4x4..

Full BMR Suspension on order, But DROP it..

[IMG]local://upfiles/19878/0F003949A78545F7949CE52A01D6ADA5.jpg[/IMG]

96DropTop

guys if i go with a 18inch wheel and 245/55/18 tire will that mess with my car other then reading the wrong speed , how off will the speedo be?