American Muscle "Mustang" wheels

[1973dust]

I've found a good deal on a set of "Bullitt" knockoff wheels and tires sold by American Muscle. They are 17 x 8 with 30mm offset. Can anyone tell me if these have the same clearance issues on 73-up front discs as the factory Ford Bullitt wheels? I'm also wondering if I'll be looking at installing longer wheel studs. I know from searching that a lot of people end up running small spacers or machining the wheel id and/or rotor od when using the factory Ford wheels. None of this is necessarily a deal-breaker but I would just like to know what I might be getting into. I've already got spacers in the rear that will allow for the extra backspacing.

 

[Tsully]

My profile picture has 2012 GT wheels that were on the car when I got it. They were 17x8 all around and I have the '73 up disk brakes on mine and there were no issues with KH brakes or fender rubbing. The rear did have a spacer because it is a 8.8 rear and the springs were in the factory location. I have since moved the the springs inward with the Doc. Diff kit and once I did that, I no longer needed the spacers. So I can't speak towards what it will be like with a factory Mopar rear, only that you will not need longer studs, just make sure you have the correct ones that work with the Bullitt wheels.

The Bullitt Wheels also come in 17x9 and 17x10, the BS on the 10" is to much for a factory wheelhouse on the rear as the BS is 6.5" and will not work Unless it has been mini tubbed.

I have since switched out the wheel to US Mags that have 17x8 on the front and 17x9 on rear with the correct BS for the F&R.

You also have to make sure that the Centers are deep enough on the front or else you will have to take out the Center Cap to allow for the Center Hub and bearing cover room so they will bolt up properly. If they are aftermarket this may not be an issue but, you never know until you test fit them.

Andy F. also has a kit for that for this issue: Center cap, Bullit wheel | AR Engineering

Hope this helps!

 

[MRGTX]

The 30mm offset will be pretty close to fitting ok. This is going to be tiresome advice but take a look at what you have and measure how much clearance you have, then look at the specs and see how much the new wheel/tire combo will change the position and determine if it will still work. It's a headache but it will save you a lot of money. There used to be a tool for this on line (it was called the "Rims 'n Tires Calculator" or something like that) but I believe the website is gone now.

Along those lines, you'll want to watch your tire outer diameter. Tires that are too tall run the risk of rubbing, especially in the lower front corner of the wheel arch. Crank your steering over and take a look at how much clearance you have currently. This problem will get worse if you run more caster than stock. Just as a reference...not to be taken as gospel; I have 5* of positive caster in my setup (much more than most cars here) and I had run a 245/40/17 on a wheel with a similar effective offset which was just shy of 25" (a little shorter than what most would run) and they cleared everything fine.

You'll also want to watch the center bore on these wheels In addition to what Tsully said about the cap height requirement, these brakes need a 73mm bore which seems to be larger than what most cars call for. For example, the stock Mustang wheels usually needed to be machined-out to fit our cars...but I don't know about these aftermarket wheels.

Good luck!

 

[67Dart273]

There are at least TWO DIFFERENT offset configurations for the Ford wheels. All you can do is measure them.

I don't remember the years/ differences anymore. I used to be able to tell by looking at the valve stem positioning, "I think"

 

[DionR]

I run 1997 GT wheels that are 17x8 with a 30mm offset with 245/45R17 tires.

Pretty sure the 8” wide factory wheels had a 30mm offset for the 94-04 years (or about that time anyway) and the 9” wide factory wheels for the same years were 24mm offset.

In my case, the OEM +30mm offset works ok, but probably only because I run a home brewed big brake kit with 13” Cobra rotors that act like a 3 or 5 millimeter spacer. I don’t have any issues with crashing with the outer tie rod, but is is close. I do have an issue with the tires rubbing on the frame rails, haven’t really gotten to the bottom of that yet (guessing the steering stops are wrong?).

Be aware that (I think) aftermarket UCA’s like the QA1 with the big gusset around the upper ball joint will probably crash with a +30mm offset wheel. Not certain, but based on my setup, I don’t think I could run my wheels with them. Could be wrong though.

And yes, plan on aftermarket wheel studs. Maybe the originals work without a spacer, but I don’t think I had more than a thread or two on mine with the Cobra rotor and aluminum wheels.

 

[1973dust]

Unfortunately, the rims and tires I found were not what I thought so I didn't end up getting them. Still looking for the "perfect" combo. Thanks for all the replies.