2018 Season Prep NE

Bad Horsie

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Hey Gang,

Time to get ready for 2018 here in the Northeast. May is coming and I wanted to make some improvements on the car. have done 3 events last year so im catching on and having a blast!!!

I scored a nice set of used 07-09-GT500 wheels(cheap) 18x9.5 +45 And just ordered a set of T1 sports 275/40/18.under$200.ea I'm on budget and figured these will do fine for my skill level.......Im Just concerned about rubbing in the front. did some thread searching and appears this will work unless I read it wrong....

any thoughts,advise?. type of TPMS to get?.

I have a nice brake duct kit to install, and Hawk-HT10's and a flush on the to do list......Brembos are in the future,, just not now.

I did develop a slight rattle and occasional squeak from the front end. which i'll look into. remember it is a 08GT with only 50k and everything in the suspension is original and Its quite the mush mobile as I have read before, So I knew this going in. The rattle appeared after a few beatings at NJMP

How about some less expensive suspension upgrade options? (was gonna say "cheap" but nothing is cheap with this hobby).
How about a just bushing kit and dampers.? The Bilstein kit is sweet with the camber plates. but that will have to wait till next year. .was thinking about the 1" FR P springs or the Eibach 1" front/ 1.4 rear..
and a WL PHB and sway bar kit. not in this years budget.... figured tires and brakes were more important right now

Thanks
 

Sky Render

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You don't need TPMS for your track tires; you'll just have the light on the dash. If you really want them, you can order a set from American Muscle, but they're kind of expensive.
 

Bad Horsie

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You don't need TPMS for your track tires; you'll just have the light on the dash. If you really want them, you can order a set from American Muscle, but they're kind of expensive.

Thanks sky, the plan is for these to be street DD's this summer. the original set(18x8 235/50/18) is for the colder months. my tire guy carry's the sensors unless I need particular/heavier duty sensor the GT500 wheel. don't want to stare a light all the time. I'm probably only going to go to 3 or 4 events this year....
then there is always the black tape option to cover the light. ;0)


https://www.toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-t1-sport-ultra-high-peformance-summer-tires
 

oldVOR

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You won't have any rubbing issues with that wheel/tire combo.
If you're going to DD the set, it would make sense to install the TPMS and you don't need anything special for the GT500 wheels.
 

Norm Peterson

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I've got about 10 mm clearance between the tire and the strut (Koni yellows) with 265/40-18's on those same GT500 wheels. You'd lose about half of that with 275/40's, but that still leaves about 5 mm.

I did the black tape mod shortly after my '08's TPMS threw a false light at me after driving through a puddle of cold water.

For a short-term solution re: your dampers . . . I'll have to check, but I think I still have my car's originals (about 11,500 miles on the rears, 16,500 on the struts). If I do, they're yours if you want them, and the price will be as good as it gets short of me paying you to get them out of my shed and make them gone.


Norm
 

Norm Peterson

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If you're going to DD the set, it would make sense to install the TPMS and you don't need anything special for the GT500 wheels.
2008's used the band-type sensor. Not sure how commonly available those parts are any more.

If it was a 2006 - a virtually identical car - we wouldn't even be having this part of the conversation.


Norm
 
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Bad Horsie

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I've got about 10 mm clearance between the tire and the strut (Koni yellows) with 265/40-18's on those same GT500 wheels. You'd lose about half of that with 275/40's, but that still leaves about 5 mm.

5mm is pretty close no?. Will Hard cornering and slight lowering be an issue?.

I only really wanted to lower the car .5 in front and 1.0 in the back to level it out at a later time That jacked up factory look is awful.
 

Bad Horsie

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sorry screwed up my cut and paste quote....post below is mine not Norms


5mm is pretty close no?. Will Hard cornering and slight lowering be an issue?.

I only really wanted to lower the car .5 in front and 1.0 in the back to level it out at a later time That jacked up factory look is awful.
 

Norm Peterson

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Depends on your experience . . . I happen to think 5 mm is a lot ;)

My current track day setup runs with probably a little less than 1/16" clearance. Before I swapped the FRPP hubs in, I was running down around 0.045" and didn't get any rub until the OE bearings developed a tiny bit of play. Pictures are of the 0.045-ish situation.

DSC03378-web.jpg DSC03379-web.jpg

You might need a little more than 1/16" because you aren't putting those tires on max-recommended width wheels, and they might deflect a bit further.


Norm
 

Pentalab

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2008's used the band-type sensor. Not sure how commonly available those parts are any more.

If it was a 2006 - a virtually identical car - we wouldn't even be having this part of the conversation.


Norm

The band type TPMS sensor is still being sold by AM. On a similar note, folks have used the valve stem mounted TPMS sensors on their 05-09 cars and they still work just fine. The valve type TPMS sensors were used on the 10+ cars.
 

Bad Horsie

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Went with the valve stem type. and got a steal of a deal on a set of Toyo T1 sports.

thanks for all the input
 

Pentalab

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stevbd

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OP, I use that same size rim and tire but with a 35 mm offset instead of the 45 on your rims. (I have the Apex EC7). Plenty of space everywhere, all the time, no rubbing at all and the wheels sit exactly flush with the outside of the fenders. Maybe consider some 10 mm spacers.
 

Norm Peterson

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Best to not use spacers unless you absolutely need to for clearance. In that specific case, it's best to use the thinnest one you can get away with, and even then you're likely to need extended-length (and stronger) studs. ARP being the go-to name here.

Now if all you need is less than 1 mm to go from a very light tire rub to none at all, the longer studs probably aren't going to be required. But anything that thin most likely means you're going to be making them up yourself (yes, this is entirely do-able; the one shown below is 0.025" thick / about 0.6 mm).

Shim-thickness spacer.JPG


Norm
 

Pentalab

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A 3mm spacer (.118") doesn't require longer front studs. Even with a 3mm spacer, you still end up with excess thread. 5mm and more, the longer studs are required.
 

Bad Horsie

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So I guess now I screwed up(sort of) reading a million posts about the GT500 wheels and I understood the 275/40/18 would work fine with these wheels 18x9.5 with +45mm offset....so many variations it seems I missed something
I'm not a fan of spacers. but I guess I don't have choice now .cant return the tires now they're already mounted. didn't put them on yet because the weather here in NJ....

so what's the bottom line ? 3mm 5 mm 10mm? Norms photos suggest I will need a min 5mm spacer...but now we're talking changing the studs too..? didn't really want to get involved with that...and also don't want to run staggered either and buy another pair of tires

Now I was browsing around checking out spec iron rules out of curiosity and noticed they limit the tire size to *(235)* /40/18 and suggest the gt500 wheels that I have. so I also assumed this this would work on my car and the 5% difference in Aspect ratio would not matter.
I got the wheels cheap and they look nice.This is why I went this route. Now what?. Apex Ec7's are nice just not in the budget

Oh btw and how will a 1.0"-1.5" lowering in the future affect this as well?

Ill try and test fit tomorrow if its nice out

Thanks in advance for more solutions.
 

Norm Peterson

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I really don't think you'll need any spacers - even if you're getting 1/8" lateral deflection at the tops of the tires, that's still not going to use up all the room I think you've got up there. However, that's assuming that you aren't using aftermarket "camber bolts" to get a little more negative camber.

Those pics were 18x11's with a different amount of positive offset than +45, and your setup's narrower width moves the inboard flange and tire sidewall outward by more than your bigger +offset pulls them back inward. It's another way of saying your 18x9.5's have less backspacing.

Lowering won't affect strut-side clearance at all.


I showed those tight-clearance pictures to show that you don't need anywhere near the ~10 mm of tire to strut clearances that Ford provided on the GT500. Even 5 mm clearance is more than necessary.


Norm
 

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