Anyone familiar with these rims? (Steeda Pentar)

[ratio411]

I can't find much info on them, anything would be great.

What I have gathered so far:
They were the first aftermarket 17" rims for a Fox (17"x8.5").
Their manufacture for Steeda was contracted to a company called Rial, then later ROH.
Steeda spec'd them to be very light (and they are).
The outside dish and face of the spokes were polished, then the dish behind the spokes, and the sides of the spokes were painted argent (the same silver as Pony rims).

My son picked up a set yesterday, and we are trying to get all the info on them we can.

Like, what year(s) they were made, what special edition Steeda they came on (if any), and where we can get center caps that fit.

Here is the only pic I could find of a complete, clean set on a car... Eye candy!

 

[aar0s]

I have nothing useful to add except

 

[NIKwoaC]

We need pics of the ones your son picked up!

 

[aar0s]

Close up pic that I found http://image.musclemustangfastfords...09_z+1990_Mustang_gt_realspeed+front_view.jpg

 

[ratio411]

We need pics of the ones your son picked up!

Not nearly as nice, but a work in progress...
On his 81 Fox Fairmont.

 

[gearheadboy]

Oh I could sell that Fairmont for you madmike1157 .

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Oh I could sell that Fairmont for you madmike1157 .

No you probably couldn't. Ratio411's kid is obviously one of the few that realizes that they are cool cars.

Besides, from the way it looks it already has a 5.0, and who am I to take a perfectly good running 5.0 out of a car and swap in a midget motor w/ a hairdryer.............uhhh wait a minute,... that's exactly what I gonna do.

Ask him if he wants to sell the roller?

This does bring me to comment that wheel choice does make or break all cars, some less than others when the body aesthetics can't make up for a wrong wheel choice. IMO, the wheels on this car do nothing for it, because the bodystyle does nothing to lend a helping hand...sorry, no disrespect intended.

 

[ratio411]

No you probably couldn't. Ratio411's kid is obviously one of the few that realizes that they are cool cars.

You are correct.
It was his first car and he has turned down many an interested party...

 

[ratio411]

I don't like those wheels on the Fairmont either, but it isn't my car. I just help turn the wrenches.
If it was mine, I'd have Saleen SC replicas on it...
The 10 holes didn't look bad, but were very plain jane...
Pony rims, and other rims with the "front wheel drive" look don't look good on Fairmonts, they need a bit of dish.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Yeah,...I wish I had one to have to wonder about wheel selection as well,....but that is down the road so to speak. If most here knew that the car pictured above weighed less than a notch,...(even when equipped w/ a motor) w/ better rear wheel overhang, they'd understand why it works so well as a drag car.

And I'll bet he has to turn down many folks. It looks to me like you guys live right on the road that comes into Pensacola from the north from (what is the town that that stinkin' assed paper mill is in,......Century?)

 

[Mintsick]

I like those, they kind of remind me of the wheels on 94-96 Impala SS's. I don't like how they look on the Fairmont however, either.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

I don't understand how those rims can be so deep dished. That car must have tiny brakes.

 

[ratio411]

I don't understand how those rims can be so deep dished. That car must have tiny brakes.

Yes, the Fairmont still has it's stock 9" front discs!
The rest of the steering/suspension has all been converted to 93 GT except the spindles.
He is gathering the parts up right now to build some better front brakes.
I think he has 89 spindles and 11" rotors, and is planning on using the SVO 73mm calipers.

Out back he has a 92 GT 8.8" rear that is stock except for a rebuild and 4.10 gears.
So the rear drums are whatever size a 92 5.0 Stang would have had.

We have a set of TC/Cobra 4 lug rear discs he was going to put on, but now he is backtracking on that idea.
He is opposed to going to 5 lugs for some reason too.

The rims are 17", and the dishes are deep as heck. He has 275/40s on the back, and had to roll the rear fenders.
However, if he had 10"-11" wide rims out back with the outside of the tire in the same spot, and much more backspace, he could probably use 315s. He has a ton of room left on the back side of those 275s.

 

[ratio411]

Yeah,...I wish I had one to have to wonder about wheel selection as well,....but that is down the road so to speak. If most here knew that the car pictured above weighed less than a notch,...(even when equipped w/ a motor) w/ better rear wheel overhang, they'd understand why it works so well as a drag car.

And I'll bet he has to turn down many folks. It looks to me like you guys live right on the road that comes into Pensacola from the north from (what is the town that that stinkin' assed paper mill is in,......Century?)

I remember back when they came out, the thinner metal body panels, aluminum panels and bumpers, etc... were big selling points back then. They were marketed as features to improve mileage and emissions.

The body panels on this car are light as a feather, and those big bumpers can be lifted with a finger

Almost every bit on this car, less the body, can be interchanged with a 79-93 Mustang!
The very few parts that can't are trivial, like some of the rear interior trim panels and gas tank.

We swapped the front steering and suspension from a 93 GT, and the car went from "endlessly turning steering wheel" to "handles like it's on rails" in one afternoon. The sway bar on the car was maybe 1/2" diameter, and now is something like 1 7/8"! The steering was something like 15 turns, lock to lock, now it's around 4.5!

Just some examples of what you can do... anything you can do to a Stang!
His car was an I6 originally, and if you get one that was, keep the k-member. Everyone will tell you that you can't use an I6 K for a v8, but they are wrong. You just use F150 engine mounts, instead of regular Fox v8 mounts. The engine will sit a hair lower, and a hair towards the firewall this way, but those are preferred performance placements anyway... Just a heads up.

Edit:
He was in a wreck just before this pic was taken, in case you think this car would crumble in a wreck... You can't see it in the pic, but his passenger side fender is crunched in a bit, the headlight bezel is cracked, and his front bumer on that side of the car has a hole in it (the aluminum shattered instead of bending.). Yet the car he hit (late model Toyota) is going to need the car cut almost in half to replace the entire rear quarter from the back of the door to the taillights! They crossed his lane of traffic while he was going 25 mph. Front right fender to their right rear quarter, rear bumper ripped off their car too.

 

[ratio411]

If most here knew that the car pictured above weighed less than a notch,...(even when equipped w/ a motor) w/ better rear wheel overhang, they'd understand why it works so well as a drag car.

Another heads up..
The Futura (4 eye), like my son has, are all steel but the bumpers, but some of the 2 eye versions and SSP versions had aluminum hoods and fenders too. We have yet to find some aluminum panels, but they are out there. The body panels are the same, and the Futura grille fits any of them. 4 door cars had the same front cap, but don't interchange body panels afer that. The military bought these cars in HUGE numbers back then, and specified many variations. You see some of the SSP versions pop up on eBay every so often. Example: The Air Force orded a fleet of base Fairmonts that were full on electric! Not hybrid, but full electric! There were even Fairmont police cars back then too. Oh, and there were 2 and 4 door station wagons made as well.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

So what's the backspacing/offset on these? I still can't get over that red coupe...those rims are crazy deep in back. There's more dish on the front rims than you usually see on the back.

 

[ratio411]

So what's the backspacing/offset on these? I still can't get over that red coupe...those rims are crazy deep in back. There's more dish on the front rims than you usually see on the back.

I haven't measured the backspace, but they must be shallow inside to have that kind of dish with only 8.5" wide, and considering the amount of room left unused on the inner side of the wheel wells.

They are not staggered, and were never available staggered.

I am pretty sure they have the 'front spacing' that a 10.5" deep dish rim has, such as 17" x 10.5" SC replicas.
So whatever backspace the SC has, subtract 2", and that is probably what these have.

As for offset, I don't know why rim makers/sellers even bother people with that measurement.
All that info is good for is doing mental gymnastics to come up with the backspacing. Backspacing tells you everything you need to know, so that is what they should tell you about a rim.

 

[ratio411]

So what's the backspacing/offset on these? I still can't get over that red coupe...those rims are crazy deep in back. There's more dish on the front rims than you usually see on the back.

A little new info...

First, I measured the back space at 5".
So apparently these are the same outward fitment as 10.5" SC rims, but have the inside 2" lopped off to make an 8.5" rim.
Good for the front, and kinda cool that they all have the same very deep dish, but as for the rear of the rims, on the back of the car, there is alot of wasted space. I'd love to see a pair of these made into 10.5" wide, with the entire 2" added to the back side, and some 315s mounted.

Next, we haven't found any full size center caps that cover the entire lug/hub area, however we did install a set of silver center caps with the blue oval Ford logo into the holes in the center of the hub, and they fit perfect, as well as being the same silver as the paint in the hub/lug depression. It doesn't look as good as the original large flat covers, but it is a huge improvement over open center hubs.

The caps came from a late model OEM Mustang rim, like this:

 

[Hawaii-50]

I had them on my 93GT until I got....Saleen SCs. I have them up in my attic and may be selling them soon. I'll try to post up the backspacing after I get them down this weekend.

 

[89oem]

i like those allot! the deep front is different, i bet if the rears were widened like ratio said they be hard to beat...