Bullit wheels without spacers?

[sixt9stang 36]

Did some searching but haven't found what I am looking for. I know that with the stock setup I can run the newer Mustang wheels with spacers but I don't really feel like spending a couple hundred dollars on them. I would rather put the money towards something more useful.

 

I got a set of take-offs for dirt cheap and I like the way they look so what I am asking is what would I have to run for a front suspension to fit the rims without spacers? Would I just need different upper control arms or would I need a whole setup? Would I just need different spindles? Again, I would rather improve the suspension and gain the ability to run the wheels than buy spacers.

 

Also my car has factory disk brakes if that helps any advice.

[SM69Mach 68]

There are certainly options for you to run those wheels with redoing the front suspension, but it usually comes to how much you can and want to spend on redoing the suspension to run a set of dirt cheap wheels.

 

The main item that usually needs to be removed in the set up is the upper control arm as that creates the most clearence issues. However even eliminating that just to run the wheels you have, the backspacing still may not be correct even when the upper control arm is not there on these cars. The late model Bullit wheels, depnding on what year, usually require that a spacer to be run.

 

I have Bullitt wheels on mine from 94-04 year and only run a 1.25 spacer up front, and noe in the rear, and at roughly $100 for the spacers, it was hard to justify $1500+ on the suspension or hi-dollar custom wheels.

 

I hear you about updating the suspension to get better ride and ability, but you would just need to compare the costs. For me it wasnt worth was I was doing with my car.

 

Scott

[lseann 10]

I ran 1.25" spacers front and rear on my 69 coupe with 03 Mach 1 rims. Bought all 4 spacers on eBay for 100.00.

[69gmachine 15]

My coil over front suspension is designed to use SN-95 or Enkei light weight racing wheels without spacers. It can fit a P275 on 17 x 9 or a P295 on an 18 x 10 wheel in the stock wheel well with only rolling the front fender lips and modifying the outer shock tower for clearance.

 

I use the Wilwood spindle with a combination rear steer arm and caliper bracket. Although it will fit the original upper and lower control arms, it will work best with my coil over kit which is designed for the slightly shorter (0.4") Wilwood spindle.

 

The shorter steering arm results in a much smaller turn radius and also a faster turn rate. I can turn with any modern car.

 

The spindle kit was designed to work with my rack and pinion kit, as they require less travel than the OEM spindles. The power r&p kit will eliminate bump steer and drop around 30 lbs as compared to a factory p/s set up. If you run really wide tires you will need power steering.

 

I have several brake packages, but the 2 best bang for the buck are the C5 and M1. Both of these use Wilwood alum hubs and hats with a bolt on rotor. The C5 is 12.72 x 1.25, while the M1 is 12.2 x 1.1. Both use an OEM type PBR floating 2 piston caliper. Even with the big rotor, the C5 kit still weighs less than the stock iron stuff. At the low end of the price spectrum I have a 2 piece iron 11.73 x 1.25 rotor that will fit inside a 15" wheel, and at the other end of the spectrum are a couple of high end race 6 piston caliper kits for 1.1 and 1.25 x 12.88" rotors.

 

I use the C5 kit on my car. When I last had a track day, my rotors stayed cool enough to prevent brake fade after 20 minutes of hard track time. The SN 95 Mustangs with stock Cobra 13 x 1.1" brakes had to back off the turns by the end of the session due to the heat induced brake fade. One of the S197 GT Mustangs with stock 12.4 x 1.2 brakes cracked both of their front rotors by the end of the session. I drove 500 miles back home without incident.

 

If you ever plan to autocross (and I highly recommend it) you will need the widest tire you can fit in the fender.

 

PM me if interested in any of the above.

Edited March 2, 2013 by 69gmachine
extra word

[sixt9stang 36]

I didn't realize I could get spacers for that cheap. I have already redone my suspension with factory components and put some money into the stock power steering setup. I hate the factory power steering. No effort at all so I am really interested in 69gmachine's setup. I know that people say the stock stuff is fine if completely go through properly but I would rather not waste the time or money again.

 

I may get spacers if I can find them that cheap to run for a short time but ultimately I want to upgrade the suspension further.

[Boogerschnot 12]

Spacers can be found on ebay for cheap.. I went that route when looking for wheels.. Mustang take-off's are pretty busy heap and well worth it.

[buening 63]

Just make sure they aren't just the through-spacer, meaning you just need longer studs. These should bolt onto your existing studs and have their own studs sticking out for your wheels to bolt too.

[cphsonic 11]

Another way to run modern wheels (SN95 especially) is to do the math and some cutting on the front rims. Check my recipe here: http://www.1969stang.com/mustang/forum/showthread.php?t=3467