New Wheels For My Zeph?

I'll be replacing my '01 Bullitt wheels soon, since they don't fit in the fenders. What do you think about my car with these wheels?



What I like about them is:

--They would be cheaper than the '06 Bullitt wheels I was considering since they are common (they are Taurus wheels).

--I could run a taller sidewall, softening the ride which has been my biggest issue with the car lately, harsh ride.

--They are 6" wide as opposed to 8" like both styles of Bullitts and should be easier to fit under the fenders and should allow a fuller range of steering.

--They have a blank center cap so I wouldn't have to figure out how to cover up a "Ford" symbol with a "Mercury" one.

Alright, dammit. I guess the bolt pattern is wrong on these. I'm probably stuck going with the '06 Bullitt wheels like I had been thinking before.



Only thing is, I never see them for a reasonable price. I know where I can get them new for $600, but obviously I'd rather not pay that much. I don't care if they are new. I've heard people say they can get them in their area for around $300, but I've never seen that here. If you look on ebay, it's slim pickin's. Where is this treasure trove of used Mustang wheels I don't know about?

hey, you are a really cool level headed forward thinking guy who seems to do things correctly, not a thrill seeker.
Feel free to ignore any of this advice I shall bestow upon you; however I will spend some time here.
There are many approaches to conquer here, first of all, you must consider your car, I have only seen it in the pictures you have provided on the internet, and it looks pristine, that is my opinion, and I’m sticking to it.
Let’s just get down to the bare bones. I would consider your car to be as good a Restomod as they come, with a really good build, great paint, kinda as the British would say “sweet as a nut & sound as a pound”. That’s my opinion & I’m stickin to it.

Silver paint
Black interior
Looks good with the wheels that are on there
Black grille
Harsh ride
Offset issues?

Myself’ I would go down to a good, hell no, GREAT tire dealer, and play the dummy card.

Tell them the issues you want to overcome, now if I remember correctly, you will need at least 16 in wheels if you have the later 2000 & up (or 99 model 35th anniversary limited edition mustang)mustang frt brake calipers. I’m not sure about the 94-98 calipers as I like dual piston PBR calipers. In fact I have never used the single piston calipers.

So if you go down to the 16 in wheels, you will be able to fit some taller aspect ratio tires, as stated previous you have a harsh ride, this will give room for slop, I’m sorry, comfort.
You local tires professional will usually have a setback gauge to measure the wheel position in the wheel well. If not, it’s down to the old measuring stick method or a shitload of wheel swapping.

I would suggest you take your car to the local wheel/tire purveyor, and choose a decent set of wheels.

EG: When I first put the car together, I bought 2 sets of take-off wheels; one was from the 05 V-6 mustang wheels and a set of 06 GT wheels. I tried the GT wheels first to find I lost a lot of steering angle, and the rears would rub on the inside of the rear wheel arches on the body-no good. So I tried the V-6 wheels with p215/65/16 tires to find the front wheels had recovered a lot of steering angle, no all, but most, as they would rub on the lower control arms under tight parking lot maneuvers, the rear were perfectly centered. As I deal with junk, I was satisfied, and have left the wheels on the car, however I did change to to 225/50/16 Michelin pilot tires which gave even more steering angle and a firmer ride and closer to the OE tire size, so I had to change my Speedo drive gear again.

Due to your color scheme, I would choose “black chrome” they are awesome, and would compliment your car. It’s not complete shiny chrome, as it has a tint of black in the finish. They are slightly pricier that your average Chinese chrome, but give pure aesthetic pleasure.

It is important to take your car to the dealer for two reasons, 1) you can measure back spacing, and 2) it will motivate the technician to get involved and assist.

Once this tire & wheel size is dilemma is overcome, you can then talk about “discounts” and believe me; they will discount the prices to get your business, because it will also advertise their wares.

If the wheels are still a bit close to the fenders, you can always roll them, Eastwood has a great wheel well roller, my bud has one, and it has paid for itself time and time again, “he just rolls his ass off” and collects the cash.

Find a basic style of wheel you are looking for, and see what they offer. If you want a photo of some black chrome wheels, I can add one later, but I feel this post is long enough.



I’d like to draw your attention to the following site: w2ner.com/tire_height_chart.htm
It has the most common tire sizes for our cars and a load of others, it’s the best I could find.


Good luck, again sorry for the long post.

You may get with Stymee and see if you guys can do a wheel swap to see the ride differences.

forget about the price, do justice to your yourself & your car.

Thanks for the compliments! I wonder if aftermarket control arms would help the steering angle problems you had with the GT wheels? QA1 has some that seem quite a bit more compact for cars with coilovers, which I plan to do anyway.

I've done some shopping around for aftermarket wheels, and for the most part, I either don't like what's out there, they only come in sizes too big for what I want to do, come in the wrong offset, or they're outrageously expensive. I haven't really run into too many where you can get them in any size, any width, any offset. Take the American Racing Torque Thrust M for example. From what I've seen, the smallest size it comes in is 17"x9". They ARE the right offset, but if 8" wide wheels cause problems, I can only imagine 9" wheels have to be even worse.

Black chrome does sound cool, but even though it's more subdued than regular chrome is still probably too flashy for the theme of my car. Everything I do has to look like it came stock. I do like your thought about doing it right the first time though. Spending the money and getting it over with. It's not something I did very much when I first put this car together, and I've been fixing all that ever since, haha.

try contacting the manufacturer, they have all sorts and sizes of wheels that they don't put in JEGS or SUMMIT.

cragar
American muscle

etc.

Alright, i did some studying up on what offset and backspacing are, and i think i have a pretty good handle on what will fit on my car. I found these wheels from a company called Drag Wheels that are sort of a mesh look and have a polished lip. I like them a lot. It's the DR-34. Summit has a really handy search engine where you can get really specific with the diameter, width, and offset.

I like what Cragar and American Racing offer, but with the ones I like from them, the numbers don't come out. If they're a good diameter, they're the wrong offset, and so on. I think they're mostly trying to sell to guys with old muscle cars--with original Torque Thrusts in deep dish backspacing and 15" diameter, or brand new Mustangs, Camaros, etc.--18, 19, and 20" wheels fit on those no problem, but my Zeph, not so much.

not bad looking wheels at all, are you going 16 or 17 in wheels. I see they do black in the16 in version.

I suppose another good aspect about the wheels is they ask you what car they go on,
well, I have a 1980 model Fairmont with 97 spindles 90 model lower control arms , tubular k-member, braided steel brake lines, 5.0 injected 5 spd....

Hang-on buddy, what the hell is a Fairmont, is that a European or Japanese import??????

Those wheels won some more points today. I took my car for a long drive to this shop to have subframe connectors installed (which is a whole other story), and the wheels started rubbing again on my rear fenders around corners. The Drag Wheels would be almost a full inch farther in than the wheels i have now. I would do 16s too. I drove on some pretty bad roads and the ride is just punishing the way it is. If 16" wheels and taller sidewalls get me a better ride, I'm doin' it!

Haha, I did NOT search on Summit by application.

you gotta have a look, it did me no harm to look at all those fancy wheels that would fit you car.

try to find out if stymme would let you barrow his wheels for a ride, there is a world of difference with the p215/65/16 tires, they are a lot smoother riding.

I prefer the "little red wagon" feel.

I just put the 97 LCA's on the frt of mine, it did wang the wheels farther out, and definitely increased the camber, but I don't have an engine in the car right now.

it was noteworthy to mention I noticed absolutely no forward movement of the wheel in the wheel arches, but more interesting was the steering seemed less bound-up. now this may be related to the fact that sn95 mustang was still based on the fox body, now I believe in 99, the LCA were revised.

also noteworthy to mention is that I have not installed the frt anti roll bar yet. seems kinda pointless at this time.

just in case anyone wants to try this, I have not proved these LCA will work properly, however they do look promising. I've just mentioned what I've tried, and I aint talking about electric Kool-Aid.

Yeah, i don't need my wheels farther out. Farther IN if anything.

Makes sense about the steering working better. If you have SN95 spindles, they are intended to work with those control arms.

As for little red wagon ride, I think my car is a bit extreme right now. Trust me, you would not have enjoyed bouncing all over the place down that road. It's as if the suspension and tires have no give whatsoever.

i thought I had a an old wheel from a one of the Sn95 mustangs, reason why I was thinking of that was they were 16's and if I remember correctly, they had a slight offset bringing the tires in because they added 3/4 in to the rear axles. they were ugly wheels, bit i'm after the info, I think the v-6 models used 15in wheels, ill find out when i go to work.
If i were you, i would just take my tired old ass down to discount tires and see what they have to offer. They have access to all kinds of info and choices of wheels and so many manufacturers that offer different sizes and positive & negative backspacing. Surely they must have something that would fit and look great.
The reason why i say this is that there are other manufacturers who make the torque thrust (and other styles)wheels, my bud got a set for his 65 mustang that fit like a glove, but i can’t remember the name, i could give him a call if you like.
You know we could solve this issue if you would just come down here, it’s plenty hot, loads of dust devils and the monsoons will be here shortly….
a nice 7 or 8 inch wheel would do nicely.
I thought I would move over to the 5 lug style, because there was more to choose from.........no i'm not so sure.

I believe the SN95 had a considerably wider body than the Fox, making wider track more do-able. I know the front track is quite a bit wider on them, so the fenders must be too.

I don't think I'd want to go as small as 15" wheels because I don't think they'd fit over my front brakes.

I'm actually not going to be able to buy wheels until next year. i'm talking about it now because I'm excited about it, and i want it to be a well-researched decision, unlike the last set of wheels i bought, haha. So, when the time comes, I'll be getting those Drag Wheels (i like them and they are pretty affordable), and new tires. That is, unless I find a screaming deal on '05-09 V6 Mustang 16" wheels, like Stymee has.

You know, I WOULD come down, but I think my car would shake itself apart by the time I hit Iowa with the suspension in the state it's in.

I have to agree with you there. I really have thought of going back to 4-lug. Choice of wheels is still pretty good, and they FIT!!

I had to go to work in the afternoon yesterday to do some paperwork (on my day off) but I forgot to see what size wheel the 96 body mustang has, for some reason I was thinking 15's. the main reason I wanted to know is for back spacing info.

those drag wheels do look nice.