Will new wheels and tires rub on lowered car?

[DBcooper]

Good evening. I'm pretty new to the forum - I don't have a lot to contribute but have been soaking up a lot of good info. Thank you!

I recently purchased a 2005 GT. I am wanting to put Baer pro plus brakes on the front and rear, and I know they won't fit with the current wheels on the car. I've decided that I'd like to put Velgen 20/9" (+35mm) wheels on the front and 20/10.5" (+45mm) on the back. I'd also like to pair these with Nitto NT05 255/35s on the front and 305/30s on the rear. I understand that these will fit no problem on stock ride height. However, my car has approx. a 1" drop on all 4 corners due to the Ford performance handling pack I recently installed.

My question: will this setup fit without rubbing? And will it fit with the baer brakes? Is anybody running a similar setup? Thanks for your help!

 

[oldVOR]

What are your intentions for the Mustang?
Just cruising, drag racing, autox//hpde, etc?

 

[DBcooper]

What are your intentions for the Mustang?
Just cruising, drag racing, autox//hpde, etc?

I want a drivable street car that can get down the 1/4 mile fairly quickly and also handle the occasional track day. I've replaced the entire suspension, beefed up the rear end, and put in new exhaust. Want to get the brakes done before I pull the engine and forge the internals. Hoping for 650+ to the rear tires when all said and done.

 

[oldVOR]

If you're aiming for track days, I'd recommend a square wheel/tire package, either 18" or 19", 10's with ET 42-45 with 285/35's will fit with no rubbing, 11's with ET 52-56 with 305/35's will fit rear no rubbing and front will need a spacer around 20mm. Or fit 10's front and 11's rear with the above tire sizes. Don't compromise handling with a front 9"/255 wheel/tire setup.

 

[DBcooper]

If you're aiming for track days, I'd recommend a square wheel/tire package, either 18" or 19", 10's with ET 42-45 with 285/35's will fit with no rubbing, 11's with ET 52-56 with 305/35's will fit rear no rubbing and front will need a spacer around 20mm. Or fit 10's front and 11's rear with the above tire sizes. Don't compromise handling with a front 9"/255 wheel/tire setup.

Car will be predominantly for street and strip. I figured a staggered setup would improve handling instead of worsen it. Definitely something to ponder. Thank you

 

[ShelbySteve]

Good evening. I'm pretty new to the forum - I don't have a lot to contribute but have been soaking up a lot of good info. Thank you!

I recently purchased a 2005 GT. I am wanting to put Baer pro plus brakes on the front and rear, and I know they won't fit with the current wheels on the car. I've decided that I'd like to put Velgen 20/9" (+35mm) wheels on the front and 20/10.5" (+45mm) on the back. I'd also like to pair these with Nitto NT05 255/35s on the front and 305/30s on the rear. I understand that these will fit no problem on stock ride height. However, my car has approx. a 1" drop on all 4 corners due to the Ford performance handling pack I recently installed.

My question: will this setup fit without rubbing? And will it fit with the baer brakes? Is anybody running a similar setup? Thanks for your help!

I’m running 20x9.5 40mm front 255/35/20 and 20x11 50mm 285/35/20 rear with no fitment issues and I’m dropped 1.5” all around. Can’t speak on the breakers as mine are still factory for now. I also used willtheyfit.com as it’s a good tool to compare your current setup to a new one.

 

[Gabe]

Good evening. I'm pretty new to the forum - I don't have a lot to contribute but have been soaking up a lot of good info. Thank you!

I recently purchased a 2005 GT. I am wanting to put Baer pro plus brakes on the front and rear, and I know they won't fit with the current wheels on the car. I've decided that I'd like to put Velgen 20/9" (+35mm) wheels on the front and 20/10.5" (+45mm) on the back. I'd also like to pair these with Nitto NT05 255/35s on the front and 305/30s on the rear. I understand that these will fit no problem on stock ride height. However, my car has approx. a 1" drop on all 4 corners due to the Ford performance handling pack I recently installed.

My question: will this setup fit without rubbing? And will it fit with the baer brakes? Is anybody running a similar setup? Thanks for your help!

That rear fitment with that wide a tire will most likely hit the fenders over dips/bumps. You want an offset in the 50-55mm range for a 10.5"-wide rear wheel. The 45 offset will make the outer lip be pretty much flush if not outside the fender a little.

 

[DBcooper]

I’m running 20x9.5 40mm front 255/35/20 and 20x11 50mm 285/35/20 rear with no fitment issues and I’m dropped 1.5” all around. Can’t speak on the breakers as mine are still factory for now. I also used willtheyfit.com as it’s a good tool to compare your current setup to a new one.

Thank you. I’ll have to check that out

 

[DBcooper]

That rear fitment with that wide a tire will most likely hit the fenders over dips/bumps. You want an offset in the 50-55mm range for a 10.5"-wide rear wheel. The 45 offset will make the outer lip be pretty much flush if not outside the fender a little.

I was afraid they might not fit. May have to go down to a 285. Thank you

 

[stevbd]

OP, Apex Race Parts has an awesome tire and wheel fitment guide you can use as a baseline for what works. I think you will be fine in front but may have rubbing in the back. I run 305/30/19 square RE71 on 50 mm offset 19x11 SVE LMR rims and they are flush with the fender in the back, no rubbing even with lowering. 10.5 rim at 45mm offset SHOULD have the rim pretty much flush with the fender but if you put 305's on they might poke?

As mentioned above, I think most people focused solely on performance go with 18 or 19" rims but maybe things are different at the drag strip, I don't know anything about that. Good luck!

 

[Norm Peterson]

Car will be predominantly for street and strip. I figured a staggered setup would improve handling instead of worsen it. Definitely something to ponder. Thank you

The short story here is that on a front engine car the front tires have to do more than half of the cornering work, do it under camber conditions that are less favorable due to chassis roll, and are fully responsible for getting the car to even start turning. You'd consider going staggered if you could benefit more by being able to get into the throttle harder and earlier on corner exit than you'd give up by having to slow down more on corner entry and into the middle. But even then, the way to approach stagger would be to start with a lot of front wheel and tire and go up from there for the back, as opposed to cutting the front sizes down from a "good enough" rear combination.

Especially on a stick-axle car that came stock with a 'square' tire and wheel setup, going to a staggered setup will normally add understeer. What you might feel from that is that some turn-in response and steering precision has been sacrificed compared to a square setup matched to the rear wheel/tire sizing. In hard driving, that means "push" or the front end wanting to wash out. In more moderate driving, maybe think "heavier feel / less nimble". Stable but unrewarding. There are ways of dealing with that, but which might require changing something in the suspension again.

These days, the sweet spot for wheels & tires for a dual-purpose or multi-purpose car is probably 19". And FWIW, 20 mm tire stagger and an inch of wheel width stagger probably represent good upper limits on stagger for any FE/RWD ponycar built with cornering at all in mind. You can always put together a dedicated drag-racing-oriented front setup if you get to the point where you're chasing hundredths of a second rather than whole tenths.

Pictured below is a 285/35-18 tire on an 18 x 11 wheel but no lowering. Half an inch lower on fairly stiff lowering springs still worked without rubbing but I can't vouch for any more lowering than that. Clearances to the strut are as tight as possible without rubbing and I am running about -2° camber, so that's about the smallest amount of poke possible with 11" wheels up front.


Norm

 

[RED09GT]

With the power you are looking to make, get one of the more street-able drag radials for your everyday rear tires. A 305 vs a 285 in a typical street performance compound will make zero difference at 650 hp, both will spin at will.
Does the car have an adjustable panhard bar? You'll probably need it if you want to make the 305 work

 

[DBcooper]

OP, Apex Race Parts has an awesome tire and wheel fitment guide you can use as a baseline for what works. I think you will be fine in front but may have rubbing in the back. I run 305/30/19 square RE71 on 50 mm offset 19x11 SVE LMR rims and they are flush with the fender in the back, no rubbing even with lowering. 10.5 rim at 45mm offset SHOULD have the rim pretty much flush with the fender but if you put 305's on they might poke?

As mentioned above, I think most people focused solely on performance go with 18 or 19" rims but maybe things are different at the drag strip, I don't know anything about that. Good luck!

I’ll have to check that out. Thanks for the input

 

[DBcooper]

The short story here is that on a front engine car the front tires have to do more than half of the cornering work, do it under camber conditions that are less favorable due to chassis roll, and are fully responsible for getting the car to even start turning. You'd consider going staggered if you could benefit more by being able to get into the throttle harder and earlier on corner exit than you'd give up by having to slow down more on corner entry and into the middle. But even then, the way to approach stagger would be to start with a lot of front wheel and tire and go up from there for the back, as opposed to cutting the front sizes down from a "good enough" rear combination.

Especially on a stick-axle car that came stock with a 'square' tire and wheel setup, going to a staggered setup will normally add understeer. What you might feel from that is that some turn-in response and steering precision has been sacrificed compared to a square setup matched to the rear wheel/tire sizing. In hard driving, that means "push" or the front end wanting to wash out. In more moderate driving, maybe think "heavier feel / less nimble". Stable but unrewarding. There are ways of dealing with that, but which might require changing something in the suspension again.

These days, the sweet spot for wheels & tires for a dual-purpose or multi-purpose car is probably 19". And FWIW, 20 mm tire stagger and an inch of wheel width stagger probably represent good upper limits on stagger for any FE/RWD ponycar built with cornering at all in mind. You can always put together a dedicated drag-racing-oriented front setup if you get to the point where you're chasing hundredths of a second rather than whole tenths.

Pictured below is a 285/35-18 tire on an 18 x 11 wheel but no lowering. Half an inch lower on fairly stiff lowering springs still worked without rubbing but I can't vouch for any more lowering than that. Clearances to the strut are as tight as possible without rubbing and I am running about -2° camber, so that's about the smallest amount of poke possible with 11" wheels up front.


Norm

Thanks for explaining. Makes a lot of sense. I appreciate it

 

[DBcooper]

With the power you are looking to make, get one of the more street-able drag radials for your everyday rear tires. A 305 vs a 285 in a typical street performance compound will make zero difference at 650 hp, both will spin at will.
Does the car have an adjustable panhard bar? You'll probably need it if you want to make the 305 work

Car does have an adjustable panhard. I’d rather be safe than sorry. Probably have to go with 285s. Those should fit without issue

 

[DBcooper]

With the power you are looking to make, get one of the more street-able drag radials for your everyday rear tires. A 305 vs a 285 in a typical street performance compound will make zero difference at 650 hp, both will spin at will.
Does the car have an adjustable panhard bar? You'll probably need it if you want to make the 305 work

Car does have an adjustable panhard. I’d rather be safe than sorry. Probably have to go with 285s. Those should fit without issue

 

[Norm Peterson]

285/35-18 on 18x11, mid +50's offset. 285/30-19 on 11" with offset in the low to mid +50 range would look similar. Car is not lowered in this picture but has run with about 5/8" lowering without rubbing even in a road course setting. PHB has had its bushings stiffened (not replaced) but is otherwise OE.




Noirm

 

[DBcooper]

After thinking this over. A lot. I’ve decided that I want to stick with a staggered setup. I’ve also decided against the 305s in the rear. Just don’t want to make a 800 dollar investment that rubs.

If I stick with the NT05s, I would have to drop down to a 275 which is a little more narrow than I want to go. By switching to nitto invos, I could run a 295 35 20 on the back and a 255 35 20 on the front. These shouldn’t rub with my lowering kit.

how much performance would I lose by switching from the nt05 to the invo? Would there be any benefits?

 

[DBcooper]

I’ve also though about dropping down to a 19” wheel, but then I miss out on a bunch of tire options (not a popular size) and I run into a higher probability of running into clearance issues with my brakes

 

[oldVOR]

A 305 on a 11 with ET 52-56 will fit the rear without rubbing.
A 285 on a 10 with ET 42-45 will fit the front without rubbing and no spacers needed.
Forgestars, APEXs and several other brands can be had in those sizes and offsets.
If you're hooked on the Velgens, then you're stuck with what they offer. If you're hooked on Nitto tires, you're limiting yourself since there are many other sticky brands on the market.

Several 18" wheels will fit many big brake kits, including 15" rotor setups on S197 Mustangs and 19s clear by an even larger margin. The design of the wheels barrel and spokes are the determining factor. Typically, if they are designed to clear the GT500 15" brakes, they will also clear most aftermarket brake setups.

Baer's website states the Pro+ brake setup will clear most 18"+ wheel designs.
Baer's website even has templates to determine if a certain wheel will clear the rotor/caliper setup.

 

[Gabe]

Nitro Invo is a horrible tire. No traction if you're putting down any power.
Had them in a 285/30/20 on the back of the wife's Shelby when it was at about 540 rwhp. They spun if she even breathed on the gas pedal.