Fordnatics List Archive

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Mail From: (email redacted) (Warwick Tobin)

>Can you tell me what size tire you are running. I currently have the ROH
>brand and use P245's on them. I was thinking of going larger yet.
>Please email me privately. Thanks.

You didn't mention what size ROH's you have. Are they the 17x8.5's?

I am running Dunlop SP 8000's, 245/40-17's front, 255/40-17's rear [on
17x8.5" rims on an '89 Mustang LX 5.0]. They are currently in need of
replacement, after 10k hard miles. Using different sizes front and rear,
and thus not being able to rotate, definetely hurts tread life. My front
tires are worn on the outside edges (due to an alignment problem), and the
rear tires are worn down the middle (due to too many burnouts I guess).

Once, I tried putting the 255's on the front, and the front left tire
rubbed on the body near full-lock, so I guess 245's are about the widest
you can go up front (on an '89 at least). My car is not lowered (yet), by
the way, and I have had no clearance problems with my current tire
combination.

I'm not convinced that the extra 10mm of width at the back makes a
significant improvement to traction. I probably should have gone with
245's all around so I could rotate. However, I'm still interested in
putting 265's or 275's at the back. I have heard on the list, and read in
magazines, that 275/40-17's will fit at the back with minor body mods,
provided you use the correct offset/backspacing. Do you know anything
about this?

As I said, I'll be needing new tires "real soon now", so I need to decide
what sizes to get. I will either stick with the 245/40's up front, or
maybe go with 245/45's to get closer to the stock diameter. What do you
think? At the back, I would like to go with 275/40's, but will they fit on
8.5" wide rims? Will they hit the quad shocks or my DynoMax 2-1/2"
tailpipes? Will they rub the body over bumps? Will body mods be
necessary? If so, can I do them myself?

I realize that a 17x8.5 rim is not the optimum size for a 275/40-17. But
if it is within the range of acceptable widths, then I wouldn't mind doing
it. I'm thinking about getting the Cobra 13" brake kit sometime in the
future, which would require getting new wheels, so I could get more
appropriately sized rear wheels at that time.

How would a staggered tire combination (245f/275r) affect
handling/tracking? I guess you would get more understeer, but hopefully
the improvement in traction off the line would be worth it.

Finally, any recommended brands? The Dunlops seemed pretty good, but I
would like something a little more sticky. I'm thinking about Bridgestone
RE71's. Any opinions?

I hope you don't mind me sending this to the list. I would like as large
an audience as possible, since this will be an expensive decision I'm about
to make.


Warwick Tobin
(email redacted)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: (email redacted)


>Once, I tried putting the 255's on the front, and the front left tire
>rubbed on the body near full-lock, so I guess 245's are about the widest
>you can go up front (on an '89 at least). My car is not lowered (yet), by
>the way, and I have had no clearance problems with my current tire
>combination.

I had a '90 mustang with 265's in the back and 245's in the front. I cut
off 1-1/2 links from the front coils and 1 link from the rear. I had no
problems with the rears hitting. The tire shop I went to put 275's amd
295's on the back to see how they worked. 295's were right into the quad
shock, 275's were about a 1/4 inch from the quad shock. I would suggest
get rid of the quad shocks in the back and going with the traction bars
instead. This would give plenty of room for the 275's.
>
>Finally, any recommended brands? The Dunlops seemed pretty good, but I
>would like something a little more sticky. I'm thinking about Bridgestone
>RE71's. Any opinions?

I think Goodyear GS-C's are the way to go, I have tried Yokohama's,
Bridgestones and BF Goodrich. I love the way the Goodyears grip, but tread
life isn't excellent. I have the 17" Goodyears ZR's on my new 1994 Mustang
and love the tread wear. I burn out every once in a while and have 37,500
miles on the car with lots of tread left. These might be a little two hard
if you are just looking for traction.

Michael, 1994 Mustang GT -> NOS, flowmasters, Hearst shifter (Love it), and K&N.