i got 275-50-17's with air shocks and a lil grinding on the leafs i want 245-45's for the rear i think they will work i would go a lil smaller on the front 245's are kinda wide like 8-9'' wide but it depends on the tire brand to because a friend had 245-45-17's on his cobra and 2 diff brand rear tires and they wer not the same width ???? crazy
i know GrabberGt is running 245/45/17 upfront and 275/40/17 in the rear but he has changed the wheel well openings http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=10580
I'm planning to run those exact sizes when I get my Cobra R's Check entry #11 on the database http://mmb.maverick.to/wheelsandtires.php
How does it handle? Is it all over the road? I am thinking with my rack and pinion it might handle good.
Well, I tried the new(bigger) size tires(17's) today and am not happy. With the 15's on the car it went straight down the road and handled really good, but with the larger 17's it is twitchy and jerky all over, like the tires really follow the ruts and grooves in the road. So now I am not sure what to do. The 15 inch keystones that were on the car are nice around town, but I could never get them balanced for the hiway, up to 62 it was fine but after that the steering column would shake, but it went straight down the road. I am wondering if the 17's that I tried today may be worn out and maybe new tires would be better, but cant spend the cash on tires right now. Hmmmm, canundrum!!!
That could just be better handling. More responsive and reactive to the steering and the road means it's going to feel alot more sensitive to both. With wider, and lower profile tires, you have alot more contact patch on the road, and a lot less sidewall to cushion and buffer road imperfections A friend let me drive his road race-only prepped 67 Mustang (17X9's front, 18X10's rear), the ride was harsh, bumpy, and I could feel every rut, crevice and pebble on the road. When you turned the wheel 1/2 an inch, the car started to turn, so you constantly had to "adjust" steering to even keep the car straight on straightaways. Your 15 inch passenger car tires are just that, made for passenger comfort, to buffer and soften the ride, to cushion the ruts and imperfections of the road, not sticking curves and instant response. Newer cars that come with the 17 inch + wheels rely more on their new, computerized, high-tech suspensions and brakes/ABS to do that now. Combining modern day wheel and tire sizes to old school suspensions is always going to give you a more sensitive, rougher ride......but you can always experiment with/tweak suspension to help cover/counteract some of that harshness.
I got 245 45 17 goodyears on the front bought new and 265 40 18 Bridgestones bought used on the back and the car handles wonderful it goes straight down the road at any speed. but, my steering is manual that might make a difference??.
Ride height, how the suspension has been altered, wheel backspacing, and general condition of the steering system are all going to make a HUGE difference on how you car handles with the wider tires. I've done it all on mine and am still chasing down little bit of road wandering issues. Car sometimes still just wants to follow the ruts no matter what you do. Could just be the road you drive on.
my car doesnt handle like my '03 Mach 1, but it handles pretty good with the wider tires. if anything, when i installed the 17" wheels and tires it actually improved the handling and responsivness a bit....but i can also feel every bump in the road now with the lower tire profile
OK, let me ask this..... The wheels I am installing are from a 2004 Mach 1, therefore I have to use a 1 1/2 inch spacer between the wheel and hub to get the clearance I need for the upper control arms. The backspacing on these wheels is 6 inches. I am not making the track width much wider if any from the stock wheels, just positioning the mustang wheels. Yes the tires are wider than what I was running, by about an inch, but do you think the spacer will have anything to do with the way the car handles???