does anyone have welds on a daily driver

  • Sponsors (?)


I've got an '03 GT I drive to/from work (66 mile round trip) at least 2-3 days a week. I run Weld Pro Stars, 15X5 up front, 15X10's out back. The fronts only come in 1 offset, and that works great. I also have 7/16" spacers behind them to clear the calipers. The rears are 6.5" backspacing, and fit like a glove. Up front, I'm running 205/70/15', out back are 295/50/15's. Both front and rears are Yokohama's.

I don't have problem whether it's around town, or out on the local interstate doing 70-75 MPH. You just have to drive like you have some common sense: slow down and get to the right in heavy rain, never tailgate, watch real tight curves, etc. The biggest advantage, other than it looking badazz, is the 'Stang rides like a Cadillac. The taller sidewalls absorb almost all of the shock from expansion joints, small cracks in paving, etc. Plus, the rolling resistance of the car goes WAY down.

Hope that helps...

Jerry
 
Someone once said on these boards that running these wheels would cause the ABS malfunction lite to come on, is this true? As long as the front and rear wheels/tires are the same diameter there shouldnt be a problem, right? :shrug:
 
I've run 2 different sets of Welds now, and on the first set the tires were off to the tune of about 1.25" on the diameter, with the rears being taller. Never triggered the ABS light for me. The current set is .5" different, and same thing - no light. It may depend on the year of the 'Stang, too, since their computer programs varied each year.
 
LuvNLife said:
Plus, the rolling resistance of the car goes WAY down.
I think that's a little out of proportion. Rolling Resistance is a linear function:
weight * u = Resistance (in newtons)
where u is rolling resistance coefficient, which is the dynamic friction coefficient for the tire. The u for car tires on dry pavement is usually in the ballpark of .015 . Low-rolling resistance car tires on dry pavement can range from .01-.006.


Example 1 - normal tire:
Car is traveling at 70 mph (31.2928m/s) and we will use .015 for u.

1587.573295kg (3500 lbs) * .015 = 23.81359943 N of force resisting the roll of the car. To convert this force to a unit of power, multiply by the speed of the car and divide by 1000 to get KiloWatts:
31.2928m/s * 23.81359943 N / 1000 = 0.745194204 kW
and
0.745194204 kW * 1.34102208959503 = 0.999321889 Horsepower


Example 2 - Low Rolling resistance tire:
Car is traveling at 70 mph (31.2928m/s) and we will use .006 (the minimum) for u.

1587.573295kg * .006 = 9.52543977 N
31.2928m/s * 9.52543977 N / 1000 = 0.298077682 kW
and
0.298077682 kW * 1.34102208959503 = 0.399728755 Horsepower


Conclusion
With the use of the lower rolling resistance tire, the rolling resistance drops from 0.99 Horsepower to 0.39 Horsepower. That's a net gain of approximately 0.6 Horsepower. I think some ricers have picked up more hp on the dyno than that by adding cool neons and stickers.
 
here ya go...my car is driven daily to work....
weld rod lites
15 x 3 in the front........165/60/15
15 x 9 in the back .......275/50/15 nitto 555R's
Picture 188.jpg
 
propellerhead said:
I kinda like the old school drag racer look with the 15s. It's so unrice. Plus, the light rims reduce unsprung weight and the tall sidewall will soften the ride.

Are they safe to use on a daily driver? Aren't they advertised as for track use only?


they are safe on a daily driver.....with the skinny's in the front you have to be careful in the rain and around sharp corners.....just use common sense

the regular weld prostars, drag lites and rod lites are fine for daily driving. they are a fairly strong wheel. now weld makes a drag race only version of these wheels...i think they have an "XP" or something like that. they are also more expensive...
 
Weld Wheels

With the weld wheels did you have to change the wheel studs and install spacers on the front and if so where did you get the parts, because I would like to install draglites on my 2003 GT. Thanks in advance.
 
Thundermouse said:
I think that's a little out of proportion. Rolling Resistance is a linear function:
weight * u = Resistance (in newtons)
where u is rolling resistance coefficient, which is the dynamic friction coefficient for the tire. The u for car tires on dry pavement is usually in the ballpark of .015 . Low-rolling resistance car tires on dry pavement can range from .01-.006.


Example 1 - normal tire:
Car is traveling at 70 mph (31.2928m/s) and we will use .015 for u.

1587.573295kg (3500 lbs) * .015 = 23.81359943 N of force resisting the roll of the car. To convert this force to a unit of power, multiply by the speed of the car and divide by 1000 to get KiloWatts:
31.2928m/s * 23.81359943 N / 1000 = 0.745194204 kW
and
0.745194204 kW * 1.34102208959503 = 0.999321889 Horsepower


Example 2 - Low Rolling resistance tire:
Car is traveling at 70 mph (31.2928m/s) and we will use .006 (the minimum) for u.

1587.573295kg * .006 = 9.52543977 N
31.2928m/s * 9.52543977 N / 1000 = 0.298077682 kW
and
0.298077682 kW * 1.34102208959503 = 0.399728755 Horsepower


Conclusion
With the use of the lower rolling resistance tire, the rolling resistance drops from 0.99 Horsepower to 0.39 Horsepower. That's a net gain of approximately 0.6 Horsepower. I think some ricers have picked up more hp on the dyno than that by adding cool neons and stickers.



Isn't the point of using welds or any other drag wheel to reduce weight not friction? That would mean that you have to take into account the different weight of the vehicle in example 2. Plus rotational weight affects the vehicle more than dead weight sitting in the car. Drag lites weigh around 14 lbs each and stock bullet wheels weigh around 28 lbs each(if i remember from the weight reduction thread on modular depot), so you save around 56 lbs of rotational weight, which hardly affects friction at all, but will take less power to get moving and has a lot less inertia than the stock wheels. I've heard of people gaining a tenth in the 1/4 mile from adding draglites and skinnies up front, which would take more than .6 horsepower
 
Mustangl3 said:
Isn't the point of using welds or any other drag wheel to reduce weight not friction? That would mean that you have to take into account the different weight of the vehicle in example 2. Plus rotational weight affects the vehicle more than dead weight sitting in the car. Drag lites weigh around 14 lbs each and stock bullet wheels weigh around 28 lbs each(if i remember from the weight reduction thread on modular depot), so you save around 56 lbs of rotational weight, which hardly affects friction at all, but will take less power to get moving and has a lot less inertia than the stock wheels. I've heard of people gaining a tenth in the 1/4 mile from adding draglites and skinnies up front, which would take more than .6 horsepower
That's absolutely correct! :nice: I was only addressing the issue of Rolling Resistance that was brought up earlier.
 
meade01 said:
With the weld wheels did you have to change the wheel studs and install spacers on the front and if so where did you get the parts, because I would like to install draglites on my 2003 GT. Thanks in advance.

You'll need 3'' studs with open lug nuts.

I'd like a set for the track, but the studs are way to long for 'regular' wheels and I like my Bullitts on the street. There are pictures over at Modular Depot of 3'' studs on Bullitt rims ... eek.

BTW - With those Welds, make a conscious effort to avoid any bumps or potholes ... those things will bend a heck of a lot easier then a normal street rim.
 
the bullitts weigh 22 pounds each, anybody know for sure what the 17" wheels on the 99-2000 gt's weigh? id love it if they weighed 17 pounds like on the md thread but thats kinda hard to believe.
p.s. sorry for getting a little off topic