New wheels and tires for my LTD

[LTDScott]

I was getting tired of the 2005+ Mustang GT wheels I had on my car and wanted to do something different. I also wanted the option of going with wider tires because I plan to supercharge my car in the near future and may need more rubber on the road. The suspension/brake set up on my car requires pretty high offset wheels, and the options for high offset wheels that are wider than 8" and don't look super "front wheel drive-y" are pretty slim. I've always liked the look of Enkei RPF-1 wheels (even though they're more popular on imports), and thought they'd look good on my car because the straight spokes match the boxy lines, so when I found a barely used set for sale locally in the right size and offset at a good price, I jumped on them.







These are 17x9 + 45 with 245/45/17 Michelin Pilot Super Sports all around, with a 1/4" spacer in front. The fit is pretty much perfect. I'm running MM coilovers in front and there's juuust enough clearance between the tire and coil perch. I'm running Lincoln Mark VII brakes/axles in the rear, and there's just enough clearance between the tire and fender lip (already rolled). I wanted to go with 255/40s all the way around, but I did some test fitting and they'd rub in both front and rear. If I elect to go with longer wheel studs up front and a flipped brake set up in rear at a later time, I can likely run 255/40s all around and probably 275/40s in the rear, but for now I'm happy, especially because these tires have a ton of grip.

Another benefit is that the car lost 8 lbs per corner. I weighed this wheel/tire combo at 39.4 lbs per corner. The Mustang wheels I was running before (with same size tires) weighed 47.4 lbs per corner. Just for grins and giggles, I also weighed the 17" Crown Vic steelies and tires I bought to try (but will likely resell) and they're 55.2 lbs! Depending on who you ask, losing a lb of unsprung weight is equivalent to losing 2x-4x that of static weight - not that I care about weight with this car, but less weight is a good thing.

[homer302]

Man that is wicked. I like it! Throw up a "before" picture if you don't care.

[5.0 bird]

The LTD is still looking great! The wheels are a nice choice.

[Fearnot]

They look great! Like your car to.

[LTDScott]

Here's what it looked like before.

[ZephyrEFI]

Super cool! Looks "euro".

Did you know that Mark VII rear brakes push your wheels out 1/2" more per side than SN95? So, if you need just a little more tire clearance, you might consider going that route. You could even go to Cobra rears to match your fronts.

[homer302]

Ohh man, that is a huge improvement. mucho better.

[LTDScott]

Super cool! Looks "euro".

Did you know that Mark VII rear brakes push your wheels out 1/2" more per side than SN95? So, if you need just a little more tire clearance, you might consider going that route. You could even go to Cobra rears to match your fronts.

Yes, having the Mark VII rear brakes has proven to be a pain due to that extra width. The previous owner converted the car to rear discs using that set up, and they work well (in fact the rear brakes worked too well and I had to add more bias to the front), including the parking brake, so I've been reluctant to change it. I had the rear axle out of the car last year to get rebuilt (and upgraded the diff/axles) and I kinda regret not doing somthing about the brakes at that time, but I already had a ton of projects to get the car running again so I left it alone.

The rear fit with these wheels and brakes is great now, so if I decide to go with a narrower axle/brake set up (either Mark VII with a flipped bracket or SN95) in order to run wider tires, I'll likely have to run spacers in the rear, which is fine with me. As anyone with a boxy Fox car knows, it's a challenge to get the wheels to sit correctly in the wheel wells in order to avoid rubbing.

[84StangSVT]

That looks great! I like the new wheels much better as it gives the car a much more "muscle" look to it. Good choice sir.

[NY5speed]

I've always liked the RPF-1s, they look great on your car!