well, I'm tired of my factory 15's and now that I have a flat it may be time to replace with something custom instead of wasting good $$$ on a pair of new tires.

LOVE the look of the GT 17's and have read post / talked with people who have em. Most say there's minor rubbing when you reach the limits of suspension travel. I never asked but is there minor rubbing cause your ride is LOWERED or on a stock setup? What about camber angles, will stock angles allow the big 17x8 enough clearance? thanks ~rich

 

I have the KYB AGXs with Eibach Pro Kit springs, with '99 Mustang GT wheels, tire size 245/45 17. Same thing like you mentioned, rubs on hard cornering (or if I hit a bump or hole while cornering). I think the Eibachs were supposed to lower the car .75", but I'm pretty sure the stock springs sagged that much after 140k miles anyway.

I don't have any camber adjusters.

 

Stock suspension with 245 45's rubbed the outer fender lips on full compression, I rolled the fenders slightly and switched to 245/35 and no problems since, even when autocrossing at candlestick where most people won't even run because of the bumps, so they're pretty stellar once you get that issue worked out.

 

when running the thinner tire, how do you compensate the speedometer? Also what is rolling the fenders? pics?

 

My speedometer actually measures lower, 2 people following me said I was going 85 when I thought I was going 80. What I really want is a GPS to carry in my car.

 

well technically most speedometers are fairly inaccurate after about 60mph

 

I'm looking for a digital sender for my speedo...

I can't go with such a low profile tire on the east coast - too many pot holes! If you rolled the fenders but kept the orginal tires do you think they'd still rub? thanks ~rich

 

245 is just too wide a tire up front.
Why do you need so much rubber up front for?
Are you making more than 300hp at the wheels?
225's are fine, and even some 235's will fit up front.
Offset has to be pretty much dead on - 8.0" wide shoot for +30 offset.


-Ted

 

I've got the 17x8 GT wheels on mine, but I've got a different sized tire. I've got 225/45/17's. They're about as big as you can go without rubbing. I've done a track day with them on while my suspension was 100% stock and I had absolutely no rubbing whatsoever. I've also done a bunch of autocrossing with stock suspension and RB sways and still had no rubbing. I even had one event where one of the front swaybar endlinks came off, leaving me with no front bar, and huge amounts of body lean and there was still no rubbing.

The problem with the others is that the stock mustang tire size of 245/45/17 is too wide and too tall, leading to the rubbing problems. If you have lowering springs you may rub even with the 225/45's due to increased bump travel, as most lowering springs are too soft to fully compensate for the lowered ride height, and will allow the wheels to go further up into the wheel wells. With coilovers and rolled fenders 245's should be possible, but not really with a nearly stock setup. Besides, 225/45/17's are probably cheaper than the 245's and whatever tire you want is likely to be built in that size, as it's a very common one.

 

Ok I found a wheel tire combo that has front 17x8+30mm offset 235/40/17 the rear is 17x9+24mm offset 275/35/17. I am going to roll the rear fenders obvioulsy with that being said does anyone think I am going to have any issues? Ted please feel free to chime in with your expertise.
Swan

 

From what I've read thus far you should be good to go depending on whether your ride height is stock or not. My metric conversion is a little rusty and I'm too lazy to do the math for you but I'm wondering about the 8 inches up front with only a 30mm offset. Aren't the GT's 25mm and they just clear the struts?

I inspired myself on a different thread and am gonna try to fit some pontiac firebird gta mesh style rims (16x8) on my ride. They're lightweight and their deep dish design looks bad azz! Time to do a little research... ~rich

 

No go - gm bolt patterns for that era were 5 x 4.75. However, mustang saleen mesh / 5 spoke rims for that era (4th gen?) will fit; they have a 16x8, 5x114.3 (4x4.5) pattern +25 offset. ~fyi

fyi, dodge 5 lug rims going back to 1966 has the same bolt pattern.