Ok, so I have been measuring a bunch of wheels and doing a bunch of work to estimate if I can get a set of 18x9.5 wheels installed without rubbing the rear of my 85 GT. I have an 8.8 rear end, with the SN95 axle flanges on stock width axles, so my rear track width should be stock Fox Body with the hubcentric benefits of the SN95 axles. I am running coilovers, and Max Motorsports rear lower control arms, and no quad shocks. I should have plenty of room behind the wheels, but its the outer lip that has me more concerned. I can't install my rearend quite yet, in order to do some measurements on the car, so I was hoping that if I post the specs here, others may know what I can get away with.
The most wheel options I find have either a 0 offset, 20mm offset, or 25mm offset, and the wheel I like the most has 0 offset, which pokes more than the other two options, but I am not sure if it will actually poke past the edge of the rear fender. Here is how the backspacing works with the wheels I am looking at:
Wheel #1 (favorite) - 18 x 9.5, Offset is 0, which gives a backspacing of 5.25", leaving 4.25" from the face of the disk brake/wheel mounting surface, to the lip of the wheel.
Wheel #2 - 18 x 9.5, Offset is 20mm, which gives me a backspacing of 6", leaving 3.5" out front
Wheel #3 - 18 x 9.5, Offset is 25mm, which gives me a backspacing of 6.25", leaving 3.25" out front
I am 99% sure that wheel 2 and 3 will work, but not so sure about wheel #1, which I really would love to get.
Can anyone tell me what the minimum backspace recommendations would be for running a 9.5" wide wheel? I have heard of folks running 10s on the back of these cars, but I think they are closer to a 6.5" backspacing to pull that off.
Thanks..
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