Please learn from my mistake: mustang wheels

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Cameron1038

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Hey folks,

I made an error in wheel selection that i guess i should have seen coming. Heres my story.

I rebuilt my front end in my 73 swinger and did a disk brake swap at the same time (bfj body spindles). I didnt have any wheels with the big bolt pattern or much cash layin around so i decided to chance it and find something for cheap on craigslist just to have something to roll my car around on (it has no motor yet i just wanted to be able to move it.) So i found these mustang wheels and tires for $250. 16 inch aluminum wheels.. score! ..not.

They are 16 by 8.5 with 5.5" back spacing. Too much back space. When the car was on jacks, no problem. Let the car down.. seems ok.. try to push car.. nope. When the weight was put on the car, the upper control arm hit the wheel. .5 to .75 less backspacing
 
Is necessary. Dont buy these wheels for your swinger with this set up, they wont fit!
 

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Can you crank your torsion bars to raise the car as much as it'll go? That way, you can roll the car around still.

EDIT : didn't read the original post correctly.
 
you can do one of two things you can get spacers if you are just going to push it around, or you can go to harbor freight and get the car dollies and put them under the wheels or just thought of this go to Lowes and or home depot and get one of those carts with the 4 caster wheels on it jack the car up and put it under the k-frame and block it up with wood blocks, makeing sure that all wood blocks are bolted to dollie. hope this helps
 
many people go with late model mustang wheels as there quite nice; most just get 4 spacers as the backspacing is incorrect for mopar
 
Yeah i thought about the harbor freight dollys but i think my dad wants it off the slab ( hes not into cars). Also thought about wheel spacers. Will need to put some longer wheel studs in, but for the time being, i think thats all i can do.
 
great to know! i am looking to put 255/60-16's on V-5 wheels on my swinger. can you put spacers in there and put the suspension thru its travel to see what the "Maximum" BS is?
 
There has been more than an abundance of information on which Mustang Wheels have the correct BS here on FABO, going through the archives could have helped you and you wouldn't have had this problem...

Sorry, I don't like holding people's hands
 
I don't think he was looking for his hand to be held ....he was owning up to a mistake...and perhaps alerting others not to make the same mistake.
 
photorep said:
I don't think he was looking for his hand to be held ....he was owning up to a mistake...and perhaps alerting others not to make the same mistake.
Click to expand...

thats what the title says! hotlines is just hot :burnout:
 
HotLines said:
There has been more than an abundance of information on which Mustang Wheels have the correct BS here on FABO, going through the archives could have helped you and you wouldn't have had this problem...

Sorry, I don't like holding people's hands
Click to expand...

HotLines your comment was rude and unessasary. It is people online with your attitude that ruins these forums and keeps people new to the hobby away from asking questions. Did your day become better by posting such a irrogant comment, did it improve any by not saying anything at all and perhaps moving on to a different post? If you cant say something nice why say something at all, am i right?

BTW Cameron1038, I appreciate your posting, I am going to be looking into possible mustang wheels in the future and would not of been aware of the back spacing problems if I had not read this post. So with that said, Thank you.
 
I think that the backspace is not so much the issue as much as the wheel's diameter. virtually all the mustang wheel applications that I've read about on FABO involved the use of 17" wheels with 5.72" backspace.
True that depending on the style of wheel, there may be some interference with the uca's zirk fitting, as I have found out myself. But in those cases just a lower profile zirk will usually solve that issue.
The only other issue that I'm aware of is that the center register is smaller on mustang wheels so either the hub needs to be turned down or the center of the wheel needs to be hogged out a little to fit.
Sorry that you didn't catch the epic mustang wheel thread before you leapt.
 
Yeah, the 17" mustang wheels might be a different story, also i think ride height would play into it also.. i.e. what angle your uca is sitting at and therefore how close to the wheel you are.

Yeeah.. i dont need my hand held, i effed up, i didnt check fabo first like i probably should have.. i just wanted to warn others. Thats all.

Anywho, it serves me right for tryin to use ferd parts anyway, lol.
 
Cameron1038 said:
Yeah, the 17" mustang wheels might be a different story, also i think ride height would play into it also.. i.e. what angle your uca is sitting at and therefore how close to the wheel you are.

Yeeah.. i dont need my hand held, i effed up, i didnt check fabo first like i probably should have.. i just wanted to warn others. Thats all.

Anywho, it serves me right for tryin to use ferd parts anyway, lol.
Click to expand...

could you space it out till it works? im just curious for BS measurement
 
Also.. will the 225 55 16 that i have fit on an 8" wheel.. its only .5" smaller than what theyre on now.. ?
 
I probably could.. i would need to put longer studs in my rotors, but the wheels would stick out a little further than i want them to.
 
HotLines said:
There has been more than an abundance of information on which Mustang Wheels have the correct BS here on FABO, going through the archives could have helped you and you wouldn't have had this problem...

Sorry, I don't like holding people's hands
Click to expand...
Next time you have a thought ........Just let it go .
 
Cameron1038 said:
Hey folks,

I made an error in wheel selection that i guess i should have seen coming. Heres my story.

I rebuilt my front end in my 73 swinger and did a disk brake swap at the same time (bfj body spindles). I didnt have any wheels with the big bolt pattern or much cash layin around so i decided to chance it and find something for cheap on craigslist just to have something to roll my car around on (it has no motor yet i just wanted to be able to move it.) So i found these mustang wheels and tires for $250. 16 inch aluminum wheels.. score! ..not.

They are 16 by 8.5 with 5.5" back spacing. Too much back space. When the car was on jacks, no problem. Let the car down.. seems ok.. try to push car.. nope. When the weight was put on the car, the upper control arm hit the wheel. .5 to .75 less backspacing
Click to expand...

General rule in front with 73-76 A-body and 70-74 B-body disk conversion is:

15" rim is 4.5" backspace max
16" rim is 5.0" backspace max
17" rim is 5.5" backspace max
18" rims is over 5.5" backpace max

Wheels can vary per manufactuer.
 
autoxcuda said:
General rule in front with 73-76 A-body and 70-74 B-body disk conversion is:

15" rim is 4.5" backspace max
16" rim is 5.0" backspace max
17" rim is 5.5" backspace max
18" rims is over 5.5" backpace max

Wheels can vary per manufactuer.
Click to expand...

so is it feasible that an 18 x 9 with 5 7/8 backspace could work or no
 
Challngd73 said:
so is it feasible that an 18 x 9 with 5 7/8 backspace could work or no
Click to expand...

I don't think thats enough backspace, assuming you're using a B body rear.
On my Valiant, the 17x8s with 5.72 bs are perfectly centered in the wheel well. If I were to go an inch wider wheel I would need a half inch deeper bs to split the difference, say about 6.25.
Having said that, most cars are a little different in the amount of wheel well space available, even the same models can have slight differences.
Double and triple checking clearance is important because a nine inch wheel without other wheel well mods is going to be REALLY close.
 
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