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Topic: 18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit? (Read 2325 times) previous topic - next topic

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

ive been searching mustangs with them, some look really good and pull it off really well, some dont. i also searched through the wheel thread on here and cant really find anything thats not 17's. i would think with our cars being a little bigger than mustangs that 18s would look better. and some 17's look a touch small i feel. unfortunately the wheel thread has not been updated in a while so maybe some people have done this and not put up pics. i dont know much about backspacing, but from what ive gathered, i think these should fit, but i'd rather ask the professionals.
 
fronts
http://wheelreplicas.com/1979-1993-mustang-wheels/18x8.5-black-saleen-sc-replica-wheel-79-93/

rear
http://wheelreplicas.com/1979-1993-mustang-wheels/18x10-deep-dish-black-sc-replica-wheel-87-93/

my car is lowered some. i really cant tell the exact amount because so much has changed with weight removal and distribution. any advise or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

tire plans for front are 235/40/18 and rear with 275/40/18 but that can be played with some too. if they just flat wont work, look stupid or wont be worth the effort, please let me know. thanks guys
1988 Thunderbird sport
2004 Ford F150 Lariat
2008  Chevrolet Cobalt Sport
2007 Suzuki DR-Z400S dual sport/Supermoto
1988 Thunderbird LX - sold
1988 Mercury Cougar XR-7 with GST kit - gone

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #1
Subscribing...

i personally drive my cars year round. until 14" rims got too expensive, i stuck with them, now I'm onto 15" and I'm tempted by 16". i like a ton of sidewall for pot holes and curbs in winter time though.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #2
really? nobody? what if they were 17? would a 17 inch front with 26mm offset and 5.75'' backspace fit a bird? or a rear with 25mm and 6.5'' backspace? i know our wheel wells are different then a stang so i gotta ask
1988 Thunderbird sport
2004 Ford F150 Lariat
2008  Chevrolet Cobalt Sport
2007 Suzuki DR-Z400S dual sport/Supermoto
1988 Thunderbird LX - sold
1988 Mercury Cougar XR-7 with GST kit - gone

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #3
The 18" rear you posted up should be fine.  The fronts may rub on turns due to width.  I run a 235/60-15 on a 7 inch rim up front.  It's a 26.1" tall tire.  It JUST clears by about 3/8"  The tire size you show is 25.5" so you're good there, but I'm not sure how the backspace would affect it if at all in that particular application.
-- 05 Mustang GT-Whipplecharged !!
--87 5.0 Trick Flow Heads & Intake - Custom Cam - Many other goodies...3100Lbs...Low12's!

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #4
From my research on 17 inch rims you can run 17x10 in the back and 17x9 in the front but for the front you will need a spacer to move the wheel out and give clearance for the inside when you turn.  I'm sure the 18 inch would be the same way.  Front spacer required.  Now the control arms are different on the 83-86 and 87, 88.  I forget how they are different I think the 87, 88 stick out a little more giving you extra clearance... I could be totally wrong.
84 TurboCoupe with 302 .010 over - 9.8 : 1 Forged Pistons - Edlebrock Goodies:  Aluminum Heads #6037, Intake #3821, 65mm TBI/EGR #3824/3827, Camshaft #3722 -  Interactive System & Technologies Mass Air with 24# Injectors - A9L - 3g Alternator - BBK shorties, Cat Converter H-pipe, Magniflow lers - World Class T5 1352-169 (1986, V8, WC, 3.15 3.35 1.93 1.29 1.00 0.68) OEM Clutch Cable - 7.5 Trac Lock with 3.08 and slapper bars from 82 Mustang.

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #5
17" Bullitts were on my '88 Thunderbird, no rubbing in the front. The front tires are 245/45....probably ought to mention that I obviously have a 5 lug swap as well. The wheels themselves were from an '03/'04 car...
'84 Mustang
'98 Explorer 5.0
'03 Focus, dropped a valve seat. yay. freakin' split port engines...
'06 Explorer EB 4.6

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #6
I'm running 18x8's on mine, 225/40/18 on the front.
no scrubbing, but mine are near enough to 0 offset.
83 Thunderbird Heritage - Right Hand Drive
95 Falcon GLi

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #7
I currently have 17x9s with 275/40s all around on my 88TC. 02 gt springs up front. No rubbing. They should fit.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #8
I had 18s on mine for a while, 235/40 up front. A little scrubbing at full lock but nothing major. They were pretty high offset wheels though, I think with a lower offset they would be fine, even with taller sidewalls.

No problems at all with my 17" '07 bullitts with 235/55s
'87 T-bird 5.0/AOD - daily driver
'94 Lincoln Town Car - winter beater
SN95 suspension/brakes - lowered 3" front/2" rear - Bullitt wheels - 200w stereo - VDO gauges
5.0 HO - GT40 heads - Trick Flow Stage 1 cam - BBK shorty headers - Edelbrock Performer 289 Intake - Edelbrock Performer 600CFM carb

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #9
I am doing 18x9 up front and 18x10 rear on mine. Will be doing 5 lug since wheel selection is a lot better and I prefer 94-04 offset.
2015 Ram 3500 MegaCab Diesel

1986 Thunderbird Elan 302 Crate, x303 heads, e cam, 24lb injectors, gt40 intake, WC T-5, TC rear w/ 3.55 gears, CHP control arms,cobra r wheels.

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #10
Quote from: BlackTHUNDA;433768
I currently have 17x9s with 275/40s all around on my 88TC. 02 gt springs up front. No rubbing. They should fit.
Can you post some closer pics of your set-up. Do your fronts stick out much? I'm curious because my 04' Anniversary wheels look like they will stick out a little. They are 17X9's w/275/40's


86' T/C 4.6L DOHC
16' Chebby Cruze 1.4L Turbo
17’ Peterbilt 389 600hp 1850ftlb Trq 18spd

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

“Heavy Metal Mistress”
[/COLOR][/SIZE]

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #11
The rear wheel wells are not much of a concern due how generous the space is so you just need to measure for your backspacing and offset. The fronts are where more people make mistakes. The problem is the McPherson front strut setup. The larger the OD the rim is the more offset to the inside you can have due to the strut tapering back the the engine bay at the top of the strut. However, the lower control arm gets wider as it goes back to the K-member so a wider wheel compounds that problem. It's tricky to get anything wider than 8" up front but a few guys here have tucked 9" wide wheels.

I would love to see a thread started that had the year of the car, stock or aftermarket K-member, control arm info (stock, aftermarket, Fox or SN95, etc), four or five lug and if five lug the conversion used including the spindle year, and if steering rack limiters were used what thickness. With all of that listed then data on the rim (diameter, width, backspacing, offset, manufacturer, and style) and data on the tire (example would be 275/35/18 Dunlop Direzza ZII). This would allow people to see what works and what does not.

Darren

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #12
Aerocoupe - do it.

I think it'd be very useful.
83 Thunderbird Heritage - Right Hand Drive
95 Falcon GLi

 

18'' wheels, who has them? will these fit?

Reply #13
Okay, I'll start the threads.  I think it will make more sense to break this into front and rear fitments.  I will try and get this knocked out tonight but I am going to put it in the suspension forum as it is more technical than this one or at least that is where I think it should go.  If not one of the moderators can move it to a more appropriate forum.  I will post the links in this thread so if people are searching they can find it as well.

Front Setups:

http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?37575-Front-Wheel-and-Tire-Fitment-Dimensions-and-Setups

Rear Setups:

http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?37576-Rear-Wheel-and-Tire-Fitment-Dimensions-and-Setups

Hopefully they will catch some traction but if not I tried.

Darren

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp