70 Mach 1- How wide can you go?

[miketyler]

No am not there yet but I do plan to.

[daveSanborn]

Is Rick running 275/315 combo front and rear?

This must be a typo, but I've seen it a couple times within this thread.....  who in their right mind would run a 275 tire on the front?

[miketyler]

I think more would if they could. XV Motorsports runs the 275/315 combo on their track cars.

[daveSanborn]

I think more would if they could. XV Motorsports runs the 275/315 combo on their track cars.

Huh, I didn't realize that.  I'm sure they know what they're doing, but my pea-brain is looking at the 275/40's on the back of my son's car and trying to imagine steering those monsters.... under any circumstances.  How responsive could a tire THAT WIDE really be?

[miketyler]

Agreed - it just has a fat,mean, menacing look to it when the car is lowered.

 

[miketyler]

Thanks, I am having some overheat isues with it. Not boiling over, just runs hotter than I am comfortable with. It will be very convenient when I am ready to take one of the wheels off the CUda to test for fitment. I want the 315's in the rear but I dont think I want to be pushing 275's up front on the Mach.

Great thread, good info for Mustang newb like me. So how about lowering the vehicle? I used 2" blocks on the rear of the cuda and lowered the front by adjusting the torsion rods. I dont want this guys big wheels but the stance is abouyt right relative to the 17" I plan to run. So tell me how best to get there?

 

[buening]

For the rear you can go with the lowering blocks, or buy reverse eye leaf springs, or if you have or can find a spare set of leaf springs you can adjust the leaf sizes to lower or raise the car as needed.  See here:  http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/544275-lowering-rear-car-w-o-blocks-long.html

For the front typically the easiest is to cut your coil springs a 1/4 coil at a time until the ride height is established. 

[daveSanborn]

Thanks, I am having some overheat isues with it. Not boiling over, just runs hotter than I am comfortable with. It will be very convenient when I am ready to take one of the wheels off the CUda to test for fitment. I want the 315's in the rear but I dont think I want to be pushing 275's up front on the Mach.

Great thread, good info for Mustang newb like me. So how about lowering the vehicle? I used 2" blocks on the rear of the cuda and lowered the front by adjusting the torsion rods. I dont want this guys big wheels but the stance is abouyt right relative to the 17" I plan to run. So tell me how best to get there?

Agreed that it looks awesome, but be careful going that low.  Notice in that photo that his long tube headers would be burning grass if the engine were running.  With the car that low, driving/enjoying it is a PITA on anything other than perfectly smooth roads.  Leaving the smooth road and pulling into a fastfood joint usually results in embarrassingly loud scraping noises that cause the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up.  Jeremy on this website has his '69 lowered, but I believe it's less than what you've pictured. 

[panteramatt]

Totally agree with you dave. EVERYBODY wants to slam their car and while it does look good, think about how it rides and the precautions you need to take. I dont want to grimace evertime I drive my car and Im speaking form experiance driving a slammed 95 gt vert a few years ago. That car was only lowered 2" but it would scrape on decently nice roads. One time I actually took a piece of asphalt out!!!!

[70_Fastback]

Yeah, I am low and in the weeds - burned some grass at cornfeed (and not Craig style either). 
I rarly scrape though - but if I see a speed bump anywhere, I have to go the other way.

[Fantastic]

Well, I am really interested in this topic now. I really liked the look so I too decided to go with the 10.5 in the rear of my '69 Mustang.
However, the results were totally different.
I'm building a '69 and also used the Vintage Venom kit.

I pushed the limit with the front with a 9" rim. Yes, I'll likely have to scale back to 8" (and put the 9" on the rear)

The problem with the front is that it will rub on the upper control arm. I could resolve this issue with a small spacer, or I could slightly trim the control arm.


However the 10.5" Anthracite Bullit on the rear is only a half inch from the inner wheel well and I would have to shave the outter flange of the rubber bumper stop


Also, it looks like there is no way the rubber is going to fit inside the lip without rolling. Even then... I can't see it working.


How can the same body and the same rims have different results?  I am currently looking at buying some matching 8" for the front and moving the 9" rims to the rear.

Fantastic!

[miketyler]

I am digging the color on that car - what is that aqua blue metallic? Also, that wheel is dangerously close to the UCA. Is that a 17" wheel?

[Grabber70Mach]

However the 10.5" Anthracite Bullit on the rear is only a half inch from the inner wheel well and I would have to shave the outter flange of the rubber bumper stop

Yes I had to cut mine off.

[Fantastic]

I've been staring at these photos and some of the other threads from Grabber70Mach on other Mustang sites. It seems as if you (G70M) have achieved what I am looking for, but I still have plenty of questions.

We have determined that the bumpstop has to be shaved down to avoid damage to the rim and/or tire. Much thanks for that.

You mentioned that you massaged the front upper section of the rear lip. Can you elaborate and possibly provide a photo?

I've looked at several different angle photos and in some it looks like that tire would fit under the lip. In other photos, it looks like there is no way it would fit in there. My big fear is having a tire that creates a hazzard. I don't want to go over a bump and have my tire damage my quarter panel. Can you provide your insight on this issue? Does your tire actually fit inside the lip? If there was weight in the back would you be worried about damage going over a speed bump??

If I can make it work, the car will have the right look and be safe. If I get it wrong... Well, I'd say bent up quarter panels are the wrong look.

I also liked the discussion about the Wilwood kit vs the Vintage Venom. Personally I went for the Vintage Venom. I did this because of parts availability. I think Ford parts will be around longer and will be easier to find and cheaper.

Fantastic!

[buening]

Fantastic, are you using any wheel spacers on the back?  The face of your rim (from your pics) is basically right at the face of the quarter panel flare.  Looking at Grabber70's pics, his is about an inch further in.  His looks to be just barely at the inner lip of the quarter panel. 

Also, did you go with 17" or 18" rims?  That front rim is very close to the ball joint, but in the pic is the wheel bolted on?  I'm surprised if you even got it to bolt on with a 9" wide rim.  How is the fender lip clearance on the front rim?  A wheel spacer and a little grinding to the upper arm would work wonders, but keep in mind the other major clearance issue with 9" wide front rims is the steering lock-to-lock.  You may find that you won't be able to go from lock to lock without hitting the rim or tire on the front frame rail.



Grabber70, have you measured your wheel width to see if it is really 11.5"?  Keep in mind the rim width actually measures an inch wider than the section width due to the bead. I just want to make sure you didn't measure 10.5" and then state that you are using 10.5" rims.  I assume you already know about the inch difference but thought I'd at least point that out.

[buening]

I ran across this picture of Grabber70's rear tires.  



Taking a ruler to my computer screen, his outer tire edge would be flush with the quarter panel above the wheel lip. I don't think it would tuck into the wheel houses, which with his stance as it is the max suspension travel may not go too much into the wheelhouses.  



The wheelrite tool arrives in the mail today and hope to get some measurements this weekend.  I'll let you know what I find out.

[Grabber70Mach]

Grabber70, have you measured your wheel width to see if it is really 11.5"?  Keep in mind the rim width actually measures an inch wider than the section width due to the bead. I just want to make sure you didn't measure 10.5" and then state that you are using 10.5" rims.  I assume you already know about the inch difference but thought I'd at least point that out.

Hope this is what you were looking for, I will try and get the other measurement for you soon.

http://www.stangfix.com/testforum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=6361
http://www.stangfix.com/testforum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=6362

[buening]

Thanks!!!! :5

[DAVER]

I am amazed at the fixation with large tires and wide rims and all.  The Challenger looks killer and the wheel config on the Mach I in my opinion are certainly as large as you wanna go.  Otherwise buy a new 2010 Stang and get 22's if you want....  On the older rides IO still think 17" is a large a wheel you wanna go.............. 

Maybe this desire to stuff openings with large objects is the result of too many Viagra ads, penis enlargement ads, etc... etc...

 :eek   

[miketyler]

Yes, agreed. I think those wheels and rubber band tires are too tall on the 69. I can only imagine it rides like its on bare rims!

The fat tire thing, well....I think it could be tied to mans fascination for large spherical objects.....pairs of large spherical objects especially when placed in close proximity to one another. 






Here is another nice lowered and fat machine for those that are mesmerized by the look

[Fantastic]

As far as "why" go with larger rims: There are two common things that kill old muscle cars. Lack of stopping power on modern roads and traffic patterns resulting in crashes, and poor reuse of old electrical components resulting in fires.
I'll be using a very new electrical system, and the car has a fully updated 2004 brake system. As a result of the larger brakes, I can not use the factory 15" wheels. I MUST upgrade to a 17 inch wheel to let the brakes clear. That is why.

Now, I'm still at work in Europe (been away a year and I have 4 months to go) and my car is in Canada. The shop wanted to put tires on the car so they could move it, so I moved up my purchase. I'll tell ya, doing anything with this car while I'm so far away is costly and a total PITA. I now have a few photos so you can see a (another) '69 Mustang mach I with 17x9 on the front, and 17x10.5 on the rear.

[Fantastic]

another

[Fantastic]

last one

[daveSanborn]

How wide can you go?

[/b]

As long as there's no desire to keep the tires/wheels within the wheelwells.... you can go pretty wide....  just as you've pictured.  Neither your front nor your rear tires will fit into your wheelwells.  Lowering the vehicle is out of the question with those wheels... you'll actually have to "raise" the body to prevent tire/body panel damage.

[buening]

As far as "why" go with larger rims: There are two common things that kill old muscle cars. Lack of stopping power on modern roads and traffic patterns resulting in crashes, and poor reuse of old electrical components resulting in fires.
I'll be using a very new electrical system, and the car has a fully updated 2004 brake system. As a result of the larger brakes, I can not use the factory 15" wheels. I MUST upgrade to a 17 inch wheel to let the brakes clear. That is why.

Now, I'm still at work in Europe (been away a year and I have 4 months to go) and my car is in Canada. The shop wanted to put tires on the car so they could move it, so I moved up my purchase. I'll tell ya, doing anything with this car while I'm so far away is costly and a total PITA. I now have a few photos so you can see a (another) '69 Mustang mach I with 17x9 on the front, and 17x10.5 on the rear.

Can you have your shop take some pics with a straight edge on the tires up to the wheel lip, similar to what they did to the rear rims further up in this thread?  I'm curious where your front and rear tires end up in relation to the fender/quarter lips.  Thanks!