Wheels That Fit Mark VIII's

[Bangster]

If you like the Grand Marquis 10 tear drop or the Town Car wheels better than the 10 spoke directional wheels, then you should look at what was offered in the Continental. The have less "dish" but more of a flat loo, Something like:

Correct backspacing and bolt pattern.

I think those 4.5x5 Panther wheels would stick out, they are not from 2003+ cars, so real close to zero offset.

 

[SonOfThomp]

View attachment 828469796

That looks REALLY NICE! I'll even check into the hub issue to make this a possibility.
THANKS

 

[SonOfThomp]

Regarding the hub swap from 4.25" to 4.5", are the hubs simply interchangeable, or are other parts required?
thanks in advance

 

[chris2523]

http://members.tccoa.com/dlf/Article.html

RIP DLF

you can get by for cheaper by redrilling the rear hubs, and drilling and resusing the stock brakes.

 

[RobbVII]

17x7.5 Superior Scoundrel's

 

[SonOfThomp]

Will these work? A bit frustrated with the lack of hassle free options ....

http://austin.craigslist.org/pts/4662135060.html

 

[Bangster]

Will these work? A bit frustrated with the lack of hassle free options ....

http://austin.craigslist.org/pts/4662135060.html

Those are the wrong bolt pattern, but likely have the correct backspacing if you did a hub swap to 5x4.5.

 

[enate84]

Beautiful car, thank you for sharing your pics.

 

[SonOfThomp]

Those are the wrong bolt pattern, but likely have the correct backspacing if you did a hub swap to 5x4.5.

I'm trying to avoid the hub swap. Is there any option here, in a 17" Lincoln wheel?
Or, optionally, the meatiest tire for stock 16x7 rims that doesn't hurt handling? Those fender wells just look a bit empty with the 225/60s.

 

[chris2523]

I'm trying to avoid the hub swap. Is there any option here, in a 17" Lincoln wheel?
Or, optionally, the meatiest tire for stock 16x7 rims that doesn't hurt handling? Those fender wells just look a bit empty with the 225/60s.

lowering the car helps quite a bit.

 

[Bangster]

There are some 17 inch LS wheels, but then you need spacers. Some Jag S type wheels as well (I was going to snag some at the you pull it place but they painted them orange to annotate they pulled them and charge a different fee than for you pulling them yourself).

There are also some newer Focus wheels that look pretty nice, that are the right bolt pattern and backspacing (it is only newer ones, the older ones have 4x4.25 BP and many newer FLM cars have 5x4.5)

When I wanted wider tires I went with 17x9 aftermarket wheels, however if I could go back to 2005 I would get 18s. There are way better tire selections in stock diameter and slightly larger. Back then 17 inch tires were the sweet spot, but that has changed.

 

[SonOfThomp]

There are some 17 inch LS wheels, but then you need spacers

Aren't spacers a no-no? In the case of these rims, what would be the thickness needed?
I don't really want to start fooling with lowering and hub swapping. I don't have the time or, frankly, the expertise. I was good enough to mess with my 1961 Bel Air, until i saw that awful crash test video in 2009 with the '59 Chevy and '09 Malibu. But I digress. I just want some bigger wheels that don't look cheesy, that I can just bolt on with no fuss.
Thanks, all

 

[SonOfThomp]

I found some 17" Aviator rims for a good price. Would these work, with 1.25" adapters?
Thanks in Advance

 

[chris2523]

1.25" adapters are going to subtract about 30 mms of offset.
so i'm not sure what the aviator wheel offset is exactly, i suspect about 35-45 mm.
which if so, gives you an effective offset of about 5-15 mm. which no, that will not work.

if you are going to run an adapter, your wheel offset needs to about 60 mm or so.

 

[SonOfThomp]

Thanks. After more consideration, and finally after reading your reply, I have decided to stick with stock.
I think I'll be needing that 'rim money' in the future for this complicated beastie.
THANKS (again)

 

[SonOfThomp]

Found some wheels, with these specs:

17X7.5, 5 LUG, 4 1/2" OR 114.3MM BOLT PATTERN, 44MM OFFSET

If the stock wheels are 39mm offset and 7" wide, the wheels spec'd above would have 13.2mm more backspacing, right? And if I use 1.25" adapters, it would more than compensate, regarding the backspacing, and would work on my MkVIII.

True or False?

 

[Bangster]

7.5 with 44mm offset will have 5.98 inches of backspacing (2.51 front spacing)
7 with 39mm offset will have 5.53 inches of backspacing (2.46 front spacing)

7.5 44mm with 1.25 adapter will have 4.76 backspacing, pushing the front spacing to 3.73 so will stick out 1.25 more than the OEM wheels. Is that the look/effect your after? Not only visual, but possibly tire rubbing on fender.

 

[SonOfThomp]

Thank you for your reply.
I think the extra 1.25" would be negligible, but we can't have any tires rubbing.
The look I want is "Stock But with Better Filling of the Wheel wells".
More meat wouldn't hurt the handling either.

Can we get more opinions on the 'rubbing', with say, 235-60-17s? I ask, with all due respect, because there are some cars on this thread with bigger tires than I mention above, and no problems.

 

[Bangster]

I run 255/45/17s on 9 inch wide wheels with proper offset (well, not proper, I run a 3/16 spacer in front because the wheels contact the spindle) and if I have enough weight in the back and hit a bump the fenders can touch the sidewalls in the back. I have a ton of space between the top of the tire and bottom of the wheel well, but cheapo air-ride replacement steel coils.

If these stuck out 1/4 inch more I think they would rub a lot of the time in the rear ( think these are 36mm offset so a 3.56 front spacing, 1/4 less than your 7.5 example with 1.25 adapter):

front with 3/16 spacer:

 

[Bangster]

1.5 inches larger diameter will fill the wheel well better (235/60/17 versus 225/60/16), mine are actually .5 shorter than stock, I didn't want to go taller knowing I would already rub, and there wasn't a satisfactory for me combo of width and diameter for 17s on a 9 inch wide wheel.

 

[chris2523]

7.5 with 44mm offset will have 5.98 inches of backspacing (1.51 front spacing)
7 with 39mm offset will have 5.53 inches of backspacing (1.46 front spacing)

slight edit to the above.

 

[Bangster]

you add 1/2 an inch to front and back spacing for the lip. It should add up to 8.5 not 7.5 when you add the BS and FS.

so 7.5 with BS of 44mm is half of 7.5 (3.75) + 44mm (1.73) which is 5.48 plus another .5 inch for the lip is 5.98.

front spacing is half of 7.5 - 1.73 + .5 which is 2.52.

My 9 inch wide wheels are actually 10 inches inner lip edge to outer lip edge.

 

[Bangster]

16x7 Cougar XR7 (supercharged) or late Sport wheel (dirty, dull, and my favorite OEM MN12 wheel)

inside to outside is 8 inches

inside lip to inside lip is 7 inches

5.5 backspacing (I am just rounding all of these, nothing precise about this)

2.5 inch front spacing

 

[chris2523]

i do not usually see it measured that way.


http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech...=post-id-19b4750c-deb0-4424-8c39-3f3ad7dc1190

*Backspacing, similar to offset, is the distance from the hub mounting surface to the inside lip of the wheel (measured in inches).

i usually see it measured this way. inside lip.

 

[Bangster]

When your dealing with this kind of clearance (This is WITH 3/16 spacer!) with a 9 inch wide wheel, it is very important. I am picky, I think that the front wheels stick out too far, and it is a matter of a couple of mm's.

versus OEM 16x7 on 89 Cougar with 93+ (mark VIII) spindles: