Half the car is sanded and lots of pieces are off so it's not being driven. It'll give me lots of time to play with this. I've got two sets of SN95 wheels but my Mark VII is currently using a set. I'll use this thread as I experiment with them. I'm also pretty close to ordering a new set of 17x8 and 17x9 wheels so this'll tell me how much room I have/need. Suspension specs: 620lb coils with 1 coil removed, GW wedge kit front, and 4.5 reverse-eye leafs in back.
Current daily-driver combo, 15x7 torque thrusts, 3.75" backspace with 225/50-15 front and 245/45-15 rear. No rubs except the right rear in hard bumps.
I got these a few months ago, 1" 5x4.5 adapters from eBay for about $130/four. Time to play.
This week's experiment, 1996 Cobra wheels, 17x8 and 1" adapter, 245/45-17. Not a bad look. I bought these for my Mark VII because at $400 it was cheaper than buying new tires for the crappy rims that were on there.
With the factory's +24mm offset and a 1" (24.5mm) adapter it roughly gives me a 0 offset which means the mount flange is centered in the rim. On an 8.5" wheel that's ~4.25" (+/- .5mm) backspace, because 4.25 is half of 8.5. An 8" wheel is actually 8.5" wide from edge to edge because of the bead support. The popular 15x7 Torque-thrust with 3.75" backspace is zero offset, because 3.75" is half of 7.5", the actual width of the rim. Confused yet? If you are, I'd suggest studying the relationships between offsets and backspacing or you'll have a hard time choosing the right wheels as many manufacturers go by offset instead of backspacing. Anyway...
At least one inch from the ball joint:
Oops. Barely a quarter turn of the steering wheel and I can't even fit a piece of paper in there. Bouncing on the bumper produces a nice squeak between fender and tire.
According to the tire size calculator a 235/40-17 is only .5" taller than my current combo so I will try those next from a used tire store nearby. The 245/45s are almost 2 inches taller than my 225/50-15s. An adapter that's about .25" less would probably work out fine with the 245s. I can probably have these machined down at the local machine shop for not much $$, but I'm thinking the stock studs might be too long for a .75" spacer and contact the back of some wheels. The Cobra wheels have deep pockets between the lugs so they aren't a problem.
Just for kicks, my Mark VII cruiser with the Cobra wheels. The rears have 275/40s on them:
http://images19.fotki.com/v18/photos/4/43509/196688/lsc01-vi.jpg
Current daily-driver combo, 15x7 torque thrusts, 3.75" backspace with 225/50-15 front and 245/45-15 rear. No rubs except the right rear in hard bumps.
I got these a few months ago, 1" 5x4.5 adapters from eBay for about $130/four. Time to play.
This week's experiment, 1996 Cobra wheels, 17x8 and 1" adapter, 245/45-17. Not a bad look. I bought these for my Mark VII because at $400 it was cheaper than buying new tires for the crappy rims that were on there.
With the factory's +24mm offset and a 1" (24.5mm) adapter it roughly gives me a 0 offset which means the mount flange is centered in the rim. On an 8.5" wheel that's ~4.25" (+/- .5mm) backspace, because 4.25 is half of 8.5. An 8" wheel is actually 8.5" wide from edge to edge because of the bead support. The popular 15x7 Torque-thrust with 3.75" backspace is zero offset, because 3.75" is half of 7.5", the actual width of the rim. Confused yet? If you are, I'd suggest studying the relationships between offsets and backspacing or you'll have a hard time choosing the right wheels as many manufacturers go by offset instead of backspacing. Anyway...
At least one inch from the ball joint:
Oops. Barely a quarter turn of the steering wheel and I can't even fit a piece of paper in there. Bouncing on the bumper produces a nice squeak between fender and tire.
According to the tire size calculator a 235/40-17 is only .5" taller than my current combo so I will try those next from a used tire store nearby. The 245/45s are almost 2 inches taller than my 225/50-15s. An adapter that's about .25" less would probably work out fine with the 245s. I can probably have these machined down at the local machine shop for not much $$, but I'm thinking the stock studs might be too long for a .75" spacer and contact the back of some wheels. The Cobra wheels have deep pockets between the lugs so they aren't a problem.
Just for kicks, my Mark VII cruiser with the Cobra wheels. The rears have 275/40s on them:
http://images19.fotki.com/v18/photos/4/43509/196688/lsc01-vi.jpg