Rims and tires? What works for Racing

[X.Modesto]

Well i just finished searching this whole site so i could find an answer...

What rim and what tire size have people been using to drag race or road race other than the stock 20's... We are thinking of using a 17 inch rim with mickey thompson E.T. Street drag radial but don't if there will be a clearance problem and how bad it might be with the gears, suspension, tachometer and speedomoter. Maybe an 18' wheel with BFGs KDWs.

[jconnolly1119]

you might want to pm needforspeed.....I believe he's running an 18"w/t combo and has been at the the track quite a bit. Good luck

[vvv90]

It shouldn't be that difficult. Just use the total wheel diameter and get 15-17" wheels with a tall enough sidewall to come close to the stock measurement. Get the proper offset so you have clearance and WALLA!

Why are you asking anyway Mustang boy?

[need4speed]

Believe me, there are no options for a wheel and tire combo to come to the same overall diameter as stock .... a whopping 29" 's ....

Unless, you can fit an 18" wheel, with a 305 series drag radial that was made for the Lightning ...... personally, I don't think a 305 will fit without rolling fenders ....

I was going to have Bogart custom make some wheels, and I could have had them make a 17", but then, no one had a drag radial that would fit a 17, and give a 29" overall diameter ..... (which if you care for aesthetics at all, you will want to have a same as stock overall diameter)

Instead, I decided not to do the custom wheels, apparently Mickey Thompson and others will have larger tire options sometime next year .....

In the meantime, I bought some 18x8.5's from the tire rack, that are of the correct offset, and I installed a 265/40/18 BFG Drag Radial for the rear, and an 245/45/18 BFG KDW for the front ... this way, when I go to the strip, they will all match eachother for overall diameter .....

So, unfortunately, they are all 2"'s shorter than stock, they will probably look a little weird on the car, unless I lower it with some H&R's ...... which, I don't think lowering the car by 4"'s is a good idea .....

I will only use them for the strip, then they double as my winter wheels for the winter .....

[vvv90]

Originally Posted by need4speed

Believe me, there are no options for a wheel and tire combo to come to the same overall diameter as stock .... a whopping 29" 's ....

Unless, you can fit an 18" wheel, with a 305 series drag radial that was made for the Lightning ...... personally, I don't think a 305 will fit without rolling fenders ....

I was going to have Bogart custom make some wheels, and I could have had them make a 17", but then, no one had a drag radial that would fit a 17, and give a 29" overall diameter ..... (which if you care for aesthetics at all, you will want to have a same as stock overall diameter)

Instead, I decided not to do the custom wheels, apparently Mickey Thompson and others will have larger tire options sometime next year .....

In the meantime, I bought some 18x8.5's from the tire rack, that are of the correct offset, and I installed a 265/40/18 BFG Drag Radial for the rear, and an 245/45/18 BFG KDW for the front ... this way, when I go to the strip, they will all match eachother for overall diameter .....

So, unfortunately, they are all 2"'s shorter than stock, they will probably look a little weird on the car, unless I lower it with some H&R's ...... which, I don't think lowering the car by 4"'s is a good idea .....

I will only use them for the strip, then they double as my winter wheels for the winter .....

Huh?

Look here for comparable sizes:

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...48&prmenbr=361

[need4speed]

Originally Posted by vvv90

Huh?

Look here for comparable sizes:

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...48&prmenbr=361

HUH what ?

You just linked to a bunch of MT options that are for 15" and 16" wheels .... ???? If you can find a 15 or 16" wheel to fit our calipers and rotors ... I'll be the first to buy them believe me ....

Bogart said that they could not possibly make a 15 or a 16 to fit ....and once you get into the larger 17 and 18" options, most of them are out of the picture, or don't have any kind of selection .....

I spent numerous hours on the phone with Mickey Thompson, Bogart, BFG, Hoosier ... Tire rack .. my local tire suppliers ....

Some said that they would have other options for "larger" wheels next year .....

[need4speed]

Sorry VVV90 , didn't mean to sound harsh .... I just spent a lot of time on this and had MT, Hoosier and BFG all tell me the same thing .... They did not have any drag tire, or drag radial that would fit a 17", or 18" that would give me as close to 29" overall diameter ..... Unless I could drop down to a 15", they had all kinds of stuff .....but, I don't feel like downgrading my rear brakes right now ....

[vvv90]

Originally Posted by need4speed

Sorry VVV90 , didn't mean to sound harsh .... I just spent a lot of time on this and had MT, Hoosier and BFG all tell me the same thing .... They did not have any drag tire, or drag radial that would fit a 17", or 18" that would give me as close to 29" overall diameter ..... Unless I could drop down to a 15", they had all kinds of stuff .....but, I don't feel like downgrading my rear brakes right now ....

No problem, I keep forgetting how friggin' huge our brakes are. You could swap out rear rotors and calips for 300 limited rear rotors dependig on how small they are and about how that changes the proportioning of the brakes...I dunno, but that IS drastic.

Even though 18's are the biggest DR's on the market, considering the current "Huge wheel" aftermarket boom and the new Vette with 20's standard, and the new Shelby GT500 which I believe has 20's standard, I'm positive the aftermarket will be stepping up shortly.

[X.Modesto]

Well i think i like the 18' rims with the BFG's and wait for the mickey thompson...

why do i ask ? you ask? well this is my neighbors car

[X.Modesto]

This is it's dyno video

it's the one that raced the black convertible cobra.... We need to go faster so we can beat 'em thanks for you suggestion