Legendary Wheel Alloy version of '69-70 Shelby Wheels

[stangs-R-me 120]

Been drooling over these for about a week.

Want to upgrade my old 14x6 Argent GT wheels & 30 year old BFG Radial T/A's.   First was wanting the '69 Boss 302 Argent/Nickel center 15x7 Magnums / 85 Series from Wheel Vintiques ... but contacted them asking them a question about the wheels and this was their reply ...

Unfortunately, we don’t have the 85 series wheels in stock.

The wheels are back ordered until further notice. We don’t have the correct paint for the centers.

We don’t have an ETA at this time.

So I started looking for something else and ended up on Legendary Wheel's site.   Their Alloy Magnums are nice and I would go 16" if I went that route ... just wish they offered something that replicated the unique '69 B-302 argent center look.

I really think Alloy is the way to go due to the reduced weight and precision machining (vs. welded steel).

Like the look of Legendary's version of the Magstar too, but think the GT9 / 1969 Shelby is really the best look of all.   Too bad they don't offer these in the 16x8 size like the all too common Magnums.

Anyone here have these new '69 Shelby wheels from Legendary ??

Doug 

 

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Paradise Wheels in Ca still make the correct type 15x7 Shelby rims. Aluminum center with steel outer.

http://paradisewheels.biz/power/shop/1969-1970-shelby-gt-350-gt-500-five-spoke-wheels-15-x-7/

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

2 hours ago, stangs-R-me said:

So I started looking for something else and ended up on Legendary Wheel's site.

Where on their site are these rims? I do not see them on their Products page.

https://www.legendarywheel.com/products

[stangs-R-me 120]

14 hours ago, 69ShelbyGT350H said:

Where on their site are these rims? I do not see them on their Products page.

https://www.legendarywheel.com/products

For whatever reason, they are NOT on the Legendary site yet.  

They are however on the Scott Drake site and listed for sale on some vendors sites as well  ... CJP, Dallas Mustang, Stang-Ahollics, to name a few. 

LW69-50754 A = Black Painted Inserts ... B = Charcoal Painted Inserts ... C = Natural Inserts (like original).

Doug  

[stangs-R-me 120]

On ‎8‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 10:42 PM, 69ShelbyGT350H said:

Paradise Wheels in Ca still make the correct type 15x7 Shelby rims. Aluminum center with steel outer.

http://paradisewheels.biz/power/shop/1969-1970-shelby-gt-350-gt-500-five-spoke-wheels-15-x-7/

I saw those listed on a couple of sites while searching for where to buy the Legndary version.   

If I had a real Shelby I'd go this route ... but for a lowly Mustang GT Hardtop, the all aluminum replica's at half the cost are more my speed.   Scott Drake even lists tall lug nuts (similar in appearance to the O.E. style ones shown on the Paradise site) for use with the Legendary wheels: kit # LW-LN001-20 ... $99.95 / set of 20 (vs. $39.95 for the std lug nut sets in either 13/16" or 3/4" hex).   However, I have not seen these tall lug nuts for sale anywhere yet.

The LW69 / GT9 wheels accept LW-HC025 Shelby Center Caps (shown on wheel in 1st post), or you can use any of the other Legendary Center Caps (Magnum Running Pony, etc.) but require an adapter kit # LW-HC69A ... $5.95 / set of 4.

Doug  

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Too bad they do not make them in a 17" version.

http://www.drakeautomotivegroup.com/Store/Category/Wheels.aspx?wid=141

[stangs-R-me 120]

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 5:22 PM, 69ShelbyGT350H said:

Too bad they do not make them in a 17" version.

http://www.drakeautomotivegroup.com/Store/Category/Wheels.aspx?wid=141

After all the research I did on new wheels, I can honestly say I'm not a fan of 17" on a classic Mustang ... just not enough sidewall / section height for a classic car.  

A 16" with either 225/55-16 or 245/50-16 tires has a side wall height I could live with though at 4.87" or 4.82".   Both my 1998 & 2004 V6 Mustangs had 225/55-16 size tires on 16x7.5" rims, so I'm at least ways familiar with the look as well as ride / handling of the size I would likely go with in an UHP-A/S tire.

Take a look at the red '70 Boss 302 on Legendary's site ...

https://www.legendarywheel.com/gallery

... it has the 16x8" Satin finish Magnums with 245/50-16 BFG G-Force Comp-2 tires on it.   I could live with this look, just want something other than your basic and all too common Magnum in either satin rim & satin black pockets or machined rim & gloss black pockets.

Doug

 

[stangs-R-me 120]

So ... YES ... I did order up a set of the 1969 Shelby / Legendary GT9 15x7" wheels (natural centers / machined rim version) yesterday along with a Installation Kit, regular Magnum 500 Black / Running Pony center caps, and the adapters to mount this style center cap.   Lug nuts & center caps were stock, the wheels are supposedly 5-7 days lead time.   Also ordered BFG Radial T/A's in 225/60-15 today, so hopefully I'll have everything in a couple of weeks.

$649.80 Set of 4 Wheels

$111.16 Set of 4 Center Caps

$37.99 Lug Nut / Valve Stem Kit

$6.29 Center Cap Adapter Set

$516.00 Set of 4 Tires (-$50 MIR)

$84.00 mounting & balancing

$1,355.24 total

Edited October 7, 2017 by stangs-R-me
Updated cost list

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

17 minutes ago, stangs-R-me said:

After all the research I did on new wheels, I can honestly say I'm not a fan of 17" on a classic Mustang ... just not enough sidewall / section height for a classic car.  

My thought would be to change my rear gear from its current 3:1 to something taller than a 3.50, then run the 17" rims with taller tires for every day/highway driving, leave my original Shelby rims with Polyglass tires for show, and my 15x10" Centerline's with drag radials for sport events.

[stangs-R-me 120]

39 minutes ago, 69ShelbyGT350H said:

My thought would be to change my rear gear from its current 3:1 to something taller than a 3.50, then run the 17" rims with taller tires for every day/highway driving, leave my original Shelby rims with Polyglass tires for show, and my 15x10" Centerline's with drag radials for sport events.

I've got 3.50 gears in mine and go through the thought of putting a T5 or Tremec in place of my Top-Loader often enough since 80 MPH is around 3500 RPM.   Switching from 225/70-14 tires to 0.9" shorter 225/60-15 as I'm doing now is going to affect my speedo & RPM's by 3.4% ... the wrong way though so I'll now be doing 77 @ 3500 RPM.   My speedo currently reads a few MPH faster than actual now, so it is going to be now be off by 5-6 MPH.    

Tallest tires put on a '69 Mustang from the factory as far as I'm aware were the F70-14 = 225/70-14 = 26.5" dia ... F60-15 I'd guess was the next tallest at 26.27".   I've always been a fan of all 4 being the same and since the front is where problems are, I never gave any thought to taller out back vs. just wider.

Up until 2004, Mustangs rode on tires similar in diameter to classic Mustangs, but 2005-up Mustangs have 27~28" tall tires.

My previous 2011 & current 2016 Mustang have 235/50-18 tires which are 27.25" ... and my winter tires are 215/65-17 (which was stock 2011-14 V6 A/T) are 28" tall.   That 3/4" of extra diameter affects my speedo by about 4.3%.   

I'd be curious to know what the tallest tire one could fit in the back of a '69-70 Mustang ... suppose I could mount my 28" tall winter wheels on the back of my '69 to see how they fit.   A 235/70-15 tire would be the same 28" diameter and going from a 25.6" dia. 225/60-15 that would affect the speedo by about 8.6% or the difference between ...

3.25 & 3.00 gears

3.50 & 3.22 gears

3.91 & 3.60 gears

If you can fit taller than 28", then it will obviously make an even bigger difference.

Doug      

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

I bought mine from Branda ...not cheap but very nice .They weigh a ton and the rim is such thick steel i dont think you could ever bend them

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

$90 more each than Paradise Wheels. Actually more as PW includes the lug nuts. I wonder who makes the ones Branda sells? 

[stangs-R-me 120]

Tires were just delivered today and center cap adapters should be here by mid-next week.  

Wheels from CJP were 5~7 days L-T so these along with center caps & lug-nut set that I ordered last Friday I'm hopeful they ship sometime next week.

Per BFG ...

Current 225/70-14 has a tread width of 6.8", my 30 yr old versions measure 6.5".  

The new 225/60-15's are 7.5", so I've got an extra inch of tread even though I stayed with the same theoretical width. 

Doug 

[stangs-R-me 120]

CJP shipped on Monday and wheels arrived Thursday UPS.   Center Caps & Installation Kit (lug nuts & valve stems) were shipped separate UPS/USPS and were supposed to arrive Friday but ended up here later on Thursday.   Left for vacation early Friday morning so not going to get them mounted until after we get back.

I saw no mention on either Scot Drake or Legendary web sites as to "country of origin" of their wheels so I assumed China and yes that is what is stamped on the boxes and cast on the back side of the wheels.   Very nice quality though, so hopefully the finish (clear-coat) holds up ... unlike the cheapie MB wheels I bought from D-T-D for winter duty on my DD that the clear coat was already lifting after one winter (and really look like crap after 7 winters).   The '69 being a fair weather only car it would be pretty sad if I ever had finish issues though.   O.E. Ford Aluminum wheels have not been US made for many years though and they hold up well.   Think my '18 Mustang wheels may be China too.   Anyway ...  

They supply a generic Legendary Wheel center caps with each wheel (held in place like my 2011 O.E. Mustang caps were with a wire ring on the back of the plastic ears).   They are chromed plastic and the Legendary logo appears to just be a sticker ... I'm going to look to see if anyone makes a "GT" emblem (like O.E. '68-69 wheel center but smaller to fit the center cap) as that would be a unique look.   The Mag 500 center caps look great / look like they belong there too so no loss if I don't find anything "GT" that would fit or look right.

I'm happy to say that the clear-coated natural spokes (box says "sandblasted" finish) do give them an "Argent paint" type look which I was after.   They are going to look nice, just sucks that I had to wait 3 weeks for them to arrive and I now got to wait almost 2 weeks more before I get to see them mounted on the car !!

Doug

 

    

 

[MAC390 327]

Nice looking wheels,.

[RPM 1,190]

Nice,  real nice.  

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

On this page it states the Scott Drake LW69 rims are available in 17" sizes?

http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/wheels-tires/1709-buyers-guide-to-aftermarket-mustang-wheels/

 

[stangs-R-me 120]

On ‎9‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 12:16 PM, 69ShelbyGT350H said:

On this page it states the Scott Drake LW69 rims are available in 17" sizes?

http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/wheels-tires/1709-buyers-guide-to-aftermarket-mustang-wheels/

 

Have not seem them listed anywhere in the 17" sizes yet and personally would have no interest as 17" just does not look right to me on classic Mustangs.

Right above that listing though was something I had not seen yet and if I had known about, may have gone with ...

LW60 
The LW60 wheel is a beautiful recreation of Ford’s 10-slot rims that were used on almost every model in the late ’60s, including Mach 1s, California Specials, Sport Sprints, and GT Mustangs and Fairlanes. They are available in four- or five-lug in Black, Charcoal, or Silver, but the sizes are limited to just one—15x7 only.

[stangs-R-me 120]

Finally got the tires mounted on the rims yesterday and had time today to mount them on the car.   Just drove it around town and it rides nice ... least ways up to 40-50 MPH.   Did not really notice any more steering effort with the 1" extra width per side either.   Really changes the look of the car and I'm a happy camper !!

Put it out in the cul-de-sac trying to duplicate my picture from 2011 (less the snow bank) that CJP borrowed for their tire section header.   Did not get the angle quite right but close, nice n' sunny April 1st vs. dreary Oct 6th ...

   

[stangs-R-me 120]

Forgot to mention ...

Read a few complaints on various sites about these repro center caps in that if you over tighten the screws they can pop the center cap from the backing plate.   Well, there is not much thread depth before the screw can hit the back side of the emblem so you need to be careful.   They supply star washers which can flatten out if you over tighten, maybe this is part of the issue.   I ended up putting a dab of silicone under each screw head before installing then just slowly tightening each screw a little more going around the 4-screw pattern 3-4 times till they were snug.   Silicone once cured will keep screws from backing out but still easy enough to remove when required.

Also figured I should post a pic of the back side of the wheel.

 Interestingly, these wheels are NOT HUB CENTRIC.   Center Bore on these wheels is 83.8 MM ... vs. 61.5~61.7 MM that I measured on the car (rear axles measured 2.423" & front rotors 2.430").   Legendary's lugnuts have a taper but also a reduced diameter that fits into the holes in the wheels ... so they are lug-centric like old school magnums except they do have a bored hub that I'm assuming is used for balancing (unlike magnums). 

Doug 

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Just spoke to Drake Automotive Group's support line and was told the 17" versions of the LW69 will be available mid November.

[stangs-R-me 120]

Switching from steel to aluminum wheels got me wondering if there was going to be any weight savings in my new set up.

Got a chance to weigh both the old & new on the UPS scale this week and here is the findings:

45.86 lbs. = OE 14x6 Steel Wheel, Trim Ring, Center Cap, Lug-nut set, & 225/70-14 BFG Radial T/A

vs.

44.72 lbs. = GT9 15x7 Alum. Wheel, Center Cap, Lug-nut set, & 225/60-15 BFG Radial T/A

a wopping 1.14 lbs savings per corner / 4.56 lbs. overall ... better than being heavier I guess !!

Doug 

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Legendary GT9's are now available in 17x7 and 17x8 versions as well as the older 15x7 versions. CJ Pony is offering them individually, as a set of 4, or the 17" as a staggered set. 

https://www.cjponyparts.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=GT9+Alloy+Wheel

I'll be keeping my factory aluminum/steel 15" rims with the Goodyear Poly Glass tires for "Show" purposes, but am interested in getting a set of performance tires for spirited driving (drag racing, road racing, etc). As mentioned, I am looking at the Legendary Wheel Co GT9 rim. Rear gear change is an option as I currently have the 3.0 LS. A high 3.xx with Truetrac sounds like a lot of fun! 

The 69 Shelby has an enlarged front wheel fender opening and the larger 1970 KK spindles that Ford installed for the larger 15" rims. The rear is still the stock 69 Mustang (Mach 1) setup with one smaller lower leaf spring AO Smith added that (does not affect tire fitment). So my choice is either the 15" or 17" Legendary GT9 Shelby style rims. The question is, what tires to run on the front and rear that will keep the classic look while putting as much rubber on the road. I currently have a set of Center Line Drag Lite 15" rims that I will not keep for this car. On the rear I have a set of Nitto 555 P275/50R15 101V, 25.71 diameter, 11.10 wide for 7.5-(8.5)-9.5" rims. They are short and fat, but they fit, and I have no problem not using them for a more appropriate size (pending a change in gear). 

So, just to get an idea, who has tires that keeps the classic tall (vs low profile) sidewall that fills the rear without rubbing or making modifications. 15" and 17" versions welcome. Backspacing: 4.25” on the 15x7", 4.5" on the 17x8". Note: I have no interest in rolling the rear fender lip.

The CJ Pony 17" Combo tire options is as shown, tires are BF Goodrich G-FORCE Sport COMP-2:

 

Edited May 16, 2018 by 69ShelbyGT350H
Displayed tire type

[stangs-R-me 120]

225/60-15 = 5.31" Section Height & 25.63" Dia. (stock '69 Shelby)

235/45-17 = 4.16" Section Height & 25.33" Dia

245/45-17 = 4.34" Section Height & 25.68" Dia.

255/45-17 = 4.52" Section Height & 26.04" Dia.

265/40 or 265/45 do not exist on Tire Rack so likely do not exist at all

275/50-15 = 5.41" Section Height & 25.83" Dia. (your existing rears)

275/40-17 = 4.33" Section Height & 25.66" Dia. but needs a 9-11" Wide rim so not an option for use with the 17x8" GT9.   However if you can find a 9" rim with the right offset, I'd guess it would fit as it is slightly shorter than your 15's that you say DO fit.

As far as the front's, CJPP offers the 245/45-17's as an option, so they must have experience with these fitting something ... most likely a '69-70.

Doug

 

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

2 hours ago, stangs-R-me said:

225/60-15 = 5.31" Section Height & 25.63" Dia. (stock '69 Shelby)

235/45-17 = 4.16" Section Height & 25.33" Dia

245/45-17 = 4.34" Section Height & 25.68" Dia.

255/45-17 = 4.52" Section Height & 26.04" Dia.

265/40 or 265/45 do not exist on Tire Rack so likely do not exist at all

275/50-15 = 5.41" Section Height & 25.83" Dia. (your existing rears)

275/40-17 = 4.33" Section Height & 25.66" Dia. but needs a 9-11" Wide rim so not an option for use with the 17x8" GT9.   However if you can find a 9" rim with the right offset, I'd guess it would fit as it is slightly shorter than your 15's that you say DO fit.

As far as the front's, CJPP offers the 245/45-17's as an option, so they must have experience with these fitting something ... most likely a '69-70.

Doug

 

Ok, so they DO fit, but I guess that would only be until the suspension travels too far. Maybe its because the car is not finished but there is like 6" between the tire and fender. Guess I should get something that goes inside the fender?  Guess t The Nitto NT01 sounds like a nice tire. 245/45ZR17 95W, 6.3 tread depth, 25.55 diameter,  9.72 actual tread width on an 8" wide rim. 

Enjoy some photos of the Nitto NT555's I have on there now which are P275/50R15 101V, 6.3 tread depth,  25.71 diameter,  11.10 actual tread width.

Edited May 16, 2018 by 69ShelbyGT350H
Updated info and grammar, hey, its early for me.