Green on 245/45-17's

[platoribs]

I "home rolled" my fenders this weekend so my Thunderbird wheels would fit.

Still got a hint of rub (with four big guys in the car while getting on it!) but for the most part I'm very satisfied with the results.

What do you think... ?








:sun:

 

[St Louis SHO]

Those wheels made it a totally different car. In a good way..

 

[randy'sho]

those are sweet! must be 17x9's? how did you "home roll" them?

 

[platoribs]

17x8 IIRC, but whatever, they rubbed quite a bit at first. I also had to space them off the rotor with five 1/2" flat washers per side to clear the upper inner lip to strut tube interference.

2" PVC tube 2.5' long and get your "big boned" car pal to sit in the trunk to add a little stability. I also popped off the small cladding piece at the front of the wheel well (open rear door, pry open cladding on the bottom, slid in a long flathead driver and rip out the buttons on the bottom from the sheet metel, now you can lift out the bottom to remove the plastic hook on top.) I'll trim the cladding down and drill a new mounting hole lower and re-install to maintain the line after the door.

Basically you stick about a foot of PCV in between the tire and the fender and push down which prys up on the inside lip of the fender "rolling" it up inside, After you get it going take off the wheels and hit along the inside edge with a hard rubber hammer. Then I put the tires back on and "rolled" it some more with SHOCH sitting in the trunk drinking a beer. I think I may take the wheels off again and hit it with the hammer again, I've got them probably 1/2" from being flattened against the outer fender. The rear wheel wells are completely full of tire!

I plan on masking off the exterior fender and applying touch up paint to the edge to glue down the exterior paint then undercoat the inside (flattened) sheet metel. Hopefully no rust!

 

[gmorrell]

I also had to space them off the rotor with five 1/2" flat washers per side to clear the upper inner lip to strut tube interference.

Please make or buy some proper full contact wheel spacers. The amount and directions of the forces present where the wheel contacts the hub dangerously precludes the use of washers at this interface. I estimate you have lowered the contact surface between the wheel and hub by some 75%, you are treading on very thin ice just driving this car, let alone horsing on it with yourself and three passengers.

Please be smart and safe, we want you around, we really do.

 

[boat]

I kinda like that look too. I think gmorrell is right, you should really get some wheel spacers in there rather than washers. Other than that, looks good!

 

[platoribs]

Please make or buy some proper full contact wheel spacers. The amount and directions of the forces present where the wheel contacts the hub dangerously precludes the use of washers at this interface. I estimate you have lowered the contact surface between the wheel and hub by some 75%, you are treading on very thin ice just driving this car, let alone horsing on it with yourself and three passengers.

Please be smart and safe, we want you around, we really do.

Really?

Well coincidentally I parked this car yesterday and am driving my Thunderbird, thanks for the heads up.

(edit)...I'll just find something store bought.

 

[SHOCH]

The other thing to watch out for is more chips from those outside the wheel well tires.

 

[gmorrell]

Really?

Well coincidentally I parked this car yesterday and am driving my Thunderbird, thanks for the heads up.

(edit)...I'll just find something store bought.

Perfect.

I didn't mean to be all negative and such. The car looks quite nice with those wheels and tires - subtly aggressive and business-like; well done.

 

[Pro*banshee]

Those are FAT, WIDE tires.

I LOVE IT!!!

 

[Brett]

Best looking rims for the SHO imo.

 

[jthod]

Why can't I just have Gen 2 rear quarters on my '90?

FML...

 

[platoribs]

Please make or buy some proper full contact wheel spacers. The amount and directions of the forces present where the wheel contacts the hub dangerously precludes the use of washers at this interface. I estimate you have lowered the contact surface between the wheel and hub by some 75%, you are treading on very thin ice just driving this car, let alone horsing on it with yourself and three passengers.

Please be smart and safe, we want you around, we really do.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=120354119841
FTW:sun:

I may buy something more expensive/higher quality b/4 the long haul to NH, but these will permit eval of the 5mm thickness versus 1/2" washer thickness (1/8" +/-1/8"), and stability in general...

I'm still getting an annoying squeek, squeek from the front passenger side wheel. up on the jack and it sounds like the dust shield...

Wheels off, Beat on the fenders, wheels on, drive around, look for signs of interference, repeat!

 

[gmorrell]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=120354119841
FTW:sun:

Cast Aluminum wheel spacers are not FTW... This is imported cheap-ass Chinese junk. They might live for a long time on a 2200 pound Honduh, they may have a short life on a 3500 pound fat-tired Taurus.

Come on now, this is about the wheels staying on the car. You've done a couple of things here: You've added a heavier wheel/tire package, and you've also added more tread, so more grip. All the forces from the wheel into the hub and suspension are increased.

Spacing out wheels improperly puts tremendous bending loads at the base of the lug studs - this interface isn't designed to be loaded in bend. The lug studs are supposed to be in tension, the wheel/hub interface is loaded in compression. Subject to bending forces, the lug studs will break - catastrophically - no warning - you'll lose a wheel mid-corner; ugliness ensues.

Something like this, CNC machined from Aluminum alloy, 1/8" thick:
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/s...product_info&cPath=48_134_231&products_id=576

Or these, at 1/4" thick:
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/s...product_info&cPath=48_134_231&products_id=574

Call up Maximum Motorsports, ask if the above spacers have large enough holes to accommodate a 5 X 4.25" bolt circle (they were designed for 5 X 4.5") and the center bore will clear an 64mm diameter hub.

Because the spacers suck up some of the lug stud length, you also need to look at how much thread engagement you have on the lug nuts. Minimum for this type of application is thread engagement equal to the major diameter of the lug stud, which is 12mm. Since the thread pitch is 1.5mm, an easy way to check this is if the lug nut takes at least 8 full turns (8 X 1.5mm = 12mm) from being started on the thread to seating against the wheel. If the engagement is less than 12mm, you need to think about longer lug studs.

 

[Shoaz]

Spacing out wheels improperly puts tremendous bending loads at the base of the lug studs - this interface isn't designed to be loaded in bend. The lug studs are supposed to be in tension, the wheel/hub interface is loaded in compression. Subject to bending forces, the lug studs will break - catastrophically - no warning - you'll lose a wheel mid-corner; ugliness ensues.

I can attest from personal experience that you don't want this to happen. Gary is worth listening to.

Another source that I've used in the past is easy to remember:

http://www.wheelspacers.com/

They'll make anything if you give them the dimensions, including cutting the hub bore to the proper diameter so that the spacer stays hub centric.

 

[gmorrell]

Another source that I've used in the past is easy to remember:

http://www.wheelspacers.com/

They'll make anything if you give them the dimensions, including cutting the hub bore to the proper diameter so that the spacer stays hub centric.

They even have Taurus SHO in their bolt pattern database. Bet they've made spacers for somebody.

 

[platoribs]

I can attest from personal experience that you don't want this to happen. Gary is worth listening to.

Another source that I've used in the past is easy to remember:

http://www.wheelspacers.com/

They'll make anything if you give them the dimensions, including cutting the hub bore to the proper diameter so that the spacer stays hub centric.

Oh I'm listening all right...

"I may buy something more expensive/higher quality b/4 the long haul to NH, but these will permit eval of the 5mm thickness"

...but at $150.00 a pair I expect them to install them for me. And given the true weak point here being the lugs, perhaps some of this hard earned money should go there instead of the spacer.

I appreciate all the advice, before I'm done everything will be up to code.

 

[SHOspazz92]

Oh I'm listening all right...

"I may buy something more expensive/higher quality b/4 the long haul to NH, but these will permit eval of the 5mm thickness"

...but at $150.00 a pair I expect them to install them for me. And given the true weak point here being the lugs, perhaps some of this hard earned money should got there instead of the spacer.....yes?

:-/

-Sam

 

[platoribs]

:-/

-Sam

Ah Sam, have you never heard ... moderation in everything including moderation... ?

 

[SHOspazz92]

Ah Sam, have you never heard ... moderation in everything including moderation... ?

No, two of the same words in one sentence makes my brain hurt. :sun:

-Sam