Update: Stock SVT rims widened to 11.25" wearing 325 Dunlops. Job completed
- Thread starter 455HO71
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This one was taken of my GT500 with my other 2 friends who have also widened their rims by the same company. All of us are running 325's now. How many Mustangs do you see sporting this wide of a tire? That's why I wanted to do this little project...just to stand out a little bit 
Which Dunlops are they? 11.25 seems narrow for a 325, unless it runs narrow. I'm running a 315 R888 and mine are 11.75. That being said, the pics look great, especially your car on the lift.
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How does it hook? Can you get good traction with a non drag radial tire if you widen the rims this much?
Good to know. Tire spin with these cars is insultingly embarrassing. If I could get traction from a good non drag radial tire, with 11" rims, I might go this route vs. stock rims with a drag radial. Temps in the 50s, I'm spinning at 50mph in third gear on 20" 285 Invos :shrug:
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Evasive- With respect to the rim width- I did the calculations based on what my friend (forum name Enormous- grey Shelby in pic) had widened his to. He did 11-3/8" running the Michelin Sport Cup Pilots at the same size. These are the only 2 tires you can buy in this size and both are exactly the same dimensions. The Dunlop is a tick taller than the Michelin but both don't run narrow. The stock SVTPP rims had a slightly diff backspace on them so I ran a smidge narrower at 11.25". Without a spacer, I was rubbing at the top of the wheel well so I used a 5/16" spacer and with the shock boot also cut off, it turned out perfect. The tire is nicely tucked just under the top wheel well lip and doesn't stick out at all. We adjusted my adjustable panhard to get everything centered perfectly once done. The only other thing that I had to do was change the wheel studs because of the use of the spacer. I went with ARP 3.115" studs and believe it or not, the stock lug nuts JUST fit tightly.
I haven't tried to see how the hook up was with these tires (Dunlop Sport Maxx) because I've only taken it out once (these pics) and the temp was only in the high 50's that day. I'm thinking I will have better luck hooking than with the Goodyear Supercar F1's that were on there. Either I had a couple of bad tires or they are generally crap for hooking. Even touching those tires, you could feel that they seemed harder than they should have been....like hockey pucks! lol.
Anyway, if anyone is considering widening their wheels- Weldcraft in Livonia Michigan is superb. I dealt directly with the owner who has been doing this business for 25 years and is one of only a couple of shops that do this in the remote vicinity of where I live. Even when I went to get tires mounted- the tire shop guys kind of spouted some negative comments like saying that any widened wheels they've dealt with always leak and are never straight. They were surprised how straight they were when on the balancing machine.
I haven't tried to see how the hook up was with these tires (Dunlop Sport Maxx) because I've only taken it out once (these pics) and the temp was only in the high 50's that day. I'm thinking I will have better luck hooking than with the Goodyear Supercar F1's that were on there. Either I had a couple of bad tires or they are generally crap for hooking. Even touching those tires, you could feel that they seemed harder than they should have been....like hockey pucks! lol.
Anyway, if anyone is considering widening their wheels- Weldcraft in Livonia Michigan is superb. I dealt directly with the owner who has been doing this business for 25 years and is one of only a couple of shops that do this in the remote vicinity of where I live. Even when I went to get tires mounted- the tire shop guys kind of spouted some negative comments like saying that any widened wheels they've dealt with always leak and are never straight. They were surprised how straight they were when on the balancing machine.
I run 325s on 20x11 forgestars
I did Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's 3-4 years ago and still have them on my car. I went out to 12" on the rear and moved my rear 10" Alcoa's to the front and installed matching 275/35 Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's on the front...............
What a large difference the wider rears made for straight line acceleration and the front 275's for diving into a turn with confidence in a heavy nosed GT500.
R
What a large difference the wider rears made for straight line acceleration and the front 275's for diving into a turn with confidence in a heavy nosed GT500.
R
Correction- the spacer I'm running is a 7/16" not 5/16". I'll find out how the Dunlops hook once the warmer weather is here. I don't race my car or beat on it too much so it's more of an appearance thing than grip thing...although it's nice to have some grip when making those short bursts of acceleration
Duty Calls- Yeah, I thought about the 20x11 Forgestars myself, but couldn't justify spending the money getting a whole new set of rims that are basically the same looks- wise. Weldcraft charged me $500 cash...new studs were $140 and that's all I had to put into the rim aspect of things.
Glad to see other guys on this thread running fat tires too- they definitely look awesome and far better than the "dinky" 285's. I have to say though- even the 285's are better than what Dodge keeps putting on the Challengers (except the Hellcat). I've been saying for years since the Challenger came out that the rear tires are way too narrow for the money you are throwing down for a muscle car.
Duty Calls- Yeah, I thought about the 20x11 Forgestars myself, but couldn't justify spending the money getting a whole new set of rims that are basically the same looks- wise. Weldcraft charged me $500 cash...new studs were $140 and that's all I had to put into the rim aspect of things.
Glad to see other guys on this thread running fat tires too- they definitely look awesome and far better than the "dinky" 285's. I have to say though- even the 285's are better than what Dodge keeps putting on the Challengers (except the Hellcat). I've been saying for years since the Challenger came out that the rear tires are way too narrow for the money you are throwing down for a muscle car.
SHelbyGT5hun - You should check out the reviews and vids of the R888. Not only is it sticky, you can corner with it as well. Don't need to run a drag radial in addition to the R888.
Looks great I'm also shopping for tire for my 2011 gt500 keep us posted on traction advantages. I just purchased mine last month and it has lowering springs so I'm looking for the widest rear tires to go with. Let's see some pics of that trans am I am a huge fan of all trans am 70-79 models
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