Wheels For My 86 Svo

[john boschma]

John, I am only going to repeat myself ONCE here and tell you to DROP the attitude(see "but what would i know")....stop playing victim and smartass...this is your FINAL warning.

well you are giving an example of a STANDARD Mustang....are you aware the suspension is WIDER on an SVO?!? This means that while those wheels fit a Std Fox, they will stick out on an SVO...but what do you know? right? The SVO Control arms are wider and the rear end is wider with the disc brakes vs. drum brakes....but what do you know? right?

.

Ok paul.
explain this, if a standard fox body has a narrower rearend then why wouldn't it make a difference if it was swapped into a svo?
you just told me twice that swapping to a 8.8 would not change the rear dimensions of the svo.
but then you just told me that the svo is wider front and rear. i knew the front was wider, and i was pretty sure the rear was wider with the disc brakes.
a little clarification.


and eric, my wheels sit exactly parallel to the fender in the rear. if you hold a flat edge up against the wheel it will hit the fender. it does not stick out past the fender lip. if that was the case i would take them off myself,cause that looks like crap.

[john boschma]

John Boschma

The rims you have are Sweet!!!!
I guess the 8.5's would be my style just inside the wheel arch
dont want to destroy the rubber on a high speed turn or my quarter

Thank You ROBERTO. i think you would do very well with a set of 18x8.5 front and rear with 35mm offset. no rubbing or sticking out to far.

[SVOPaul]

Ok paul.
explain this, if a standard fox body has a narrower rearend then why wouldn't it make a difference if it was swapped into a svo?

Have you ever measured them? The standard Fox body has drum brakes....the SVO has discs. The disc axles are LONGER than the drum axles...the housings are IDENTICAL, you can install all your 7.5 axles and brakes into a standard Fox drum brake rear end as the parts are interchangeable. The entire reason there is a length difference has to do with drum vs. disc brakes...not the housing.

you just told me twice that swapping to a 8.8 would not change the rear dimensions of the svo.

Yes I did....and I just explained it above.

but then you just told me that the svo is wider front and rear. i knew the front was wider, and i was pretty sure the rear was wider with the disc brakes.
a little clarification.

The simple fact that is has the discs makes it wider...the ONLY way a standard fox rear end would be narrower by just swapping the rear end is if you left the drum brakes on it and converted your SVO to drum rear brakes....and that would make no sense.

This is why the method I used on my SVO and my customers red SVO I pictured that allows 9" and 10" wheels works so well...because you use custom axles and custom caliper mounting brackets that retain the fox drum width but give you disc brakes.

[SVOPaul]

Thank You ROBERTO. i think you would do very well with a set of 18x8.5 front and rear with 35mm offset. no rubbing or sticking out to far.

Agreed....18X 8.5 does work well....I've personally fitted those as well. Here is a picture of my SVO with 18X8.5 Shelby CS66 wheels...direct bolt on, clears the hub, no center cap interference. Used with a 255/35 18 it is the same overall diameter as the original SVO wheel/tire diameter so there is no change in speedometer reading.

I didn't keep these wheels on the car for a couple of reasons....I wanted more width and the black would have looked better on a black SVO, not teal.

[speedfreak78]

Ok paul.
explain this, if a standard fox body has a narrower rearend then why wouldn't it make a difference if it was swapped into a svo?
you just told me twice that swapping to a 8.8 would not change the rear dimensions of the svo.
but then you just told me that the svo is wider front and rear. i knew the front was wider, and i was pretty sure the rear was wider with the disc brakes.
a little clarification.


and eric, my wheels sit exactly parallel to the fender in the rear. if you hold a flat edge up against the wheel it will hit the fender. it does not stick out past the fender lip. if that was the case i would take them off myself,cause that looks like crap.

Ok, I'll explain. The 8.8 rear end "housing" and 7.5 rear end "housing" are the same length. The difference is in the length of the axle shafts themselves. SVO shafts are longer than standard Fox shafts. This has nothing to do with the brakes it's the length of the axle shaft itself. The "housings" are the same length.

Now, when you simply switch to an 8.8 you retain the same SVO axles so you've changed nothing but the axle housing and size of the differential unit. Therefore, just switching to an 8.8 rear end won't change your fitment issues.

Now, if you were to change axle shafts as well to a shorter length than you would free up some more space for fitment. BUT this isn't as simple as just swapping rear ends because you'd now have to change the brake setup etc to work with the shorter axle.

So, when changing nothig but the 7.5 for an 8.8 in an SVO no change in overall width is made to the rear end. Is that clear?

[speedfreak78]

Damn Paul, you beat me to it!

[rusty]

Wheels

Thanks for all of the comments. We all need to pool our knowledge to see what is available for wheels for the SVO.
The representative from American Racing gave up after 2 sets of wheels that did not fit. 17 x 9.5 was too wide, especially for the back. If I am going to pay for a set of wheels then I would like them to fit. Afterall this is an 86 Mustang not a 61 Corvair. How much more common can we get? Even if there is a spacer or adapter plate, at least make it to fit in the wheelwell.
Thanks for the specifications, pictures and other providers that have wheels for the Svo. All of the information is helpful.
I am suprised that wheel manufacturers do not have a better database for wheels to fit on a certain car. I called the big advertisers for wheels in the car magazines and none had a wheel that would fit the 86 SVO without modifications. It cannot be that difficult to make an aftermarket wheel for an SVO. Five lug, Ford 16 inch.
I do like like the Bullet style and would have bought a crome version of that wheel or even the Darth Vader signature version. (The dark side of the force)
The Raceline solution, making the wheel to fit the car came after I had run out of other options. I am sure that I missed other options so thanks to those that offered other options. As much as I enjoy the SVO styling, I do like a change of pace.
Thanks again for submitting your suggestions.
Rusty

[SVOeric]

and eric, my wheels sit exactly parallel to the fender in the rear. if you hold a flat edge up against the wheel it will hit the fender. it does not stick out past the fender lip. if that was the case i would take them off myself,cause that looks like crap.

Your pic don't look like they sit flat, but I won't argue that point, what about the 1 inch lip under the fender, did you roll it, or cut it? -- you've already said they rub (which IMHO means they don't fit right)

[SVOPaul]

I am suprised that wheel manufacturers do not have a better database for wheels to fit on a certain car. I called the big advertisers for wheels in the car magazines and none had a wheel that would fit the 86 SVO without modifications. It cannot be that difficult to make an aftermarket wheel for an SVO. Five lug, Ford 16 inch.

That's really simple.....They don't care much about a car over 20 years old, they care about new cars. At the same time 99% of the people answering the phone have no "real world" experience and only regurgitate what they read in the catalog or computer in front of them. The only way to get a real world answer is to interact with those in the trenches that have actually fitted wheels.

[john boschma]

Have you ever measured them? The standard Fox body has drum brakes....the SVO has discs. The disc axles are LONGER than the drum axles...the housings are IDENTICAL, you can install all your 7.5 axles and brakes into a standard Fox drum brake rear end as the parts are interchangeable. The entire reason there is a length difference has to do with drum vs. disc brakes...not the housing.



Yes I did....and I just explained it above.



The simple fact that is has the discs makes it wider...the ONLY way a standard fox rear end would be narrower by just swapping the rear end is if you left the drum brakes on it and converted your SVO to drum rear brakes....and that would make no sense.

This is why the method I used on my SVO and my customers red SVO I pictured that allows 9" and 10" wheels works so well...because you use custom axles and custom caliper mounting brackets that retain the fox drum width but give you disc brakes.

i know the difference and why, i just wanted to hear someone say it. now if you convert to an 8.8 with 5 lug conversion axles and disc brake conversion. the modifications really aren't that pricey.
heres a simple fix. if you wanna narrow the track in the rear and not swap rear ends. just buy five lug fox body conversion axles. you can get them for $135 http://www.themustangdepot.com/servl...-dsh-93/Detail ,and then buy this little bracket right here http://www.northracecars.com/brackets.jpg for $150 and you can use your stock svo calipers and brackets. so for $285 dollars you can narrow the rearend.without buying custom axles.

[SVOPaul]

i know the difference and why, i just wanted to hear someone say it.

That makes absolutely NO sense given what you posted prior...

now if you convert to an 8.8 with 5 lug conversion axles and disc brake conversion. the modifications really aren't that pricey.
heres a simple fix. if you wanna narrow the track in the rear and not swap rear ends. just buy five lug fox body conversion axles. you can get them for $135 http://www.themustangdepot.com/servl...-dsh-93/Detail ,and then buy this little bracket right here http://www.northracecars.com/brackets.jpg for $150 and you can use your stock svo calipers and brackets. so for $285 dollars you can narrow the rearend.without buying custom axles.

You really have NO CLUE as to what you are talking about, do you?!? Have you even done this swap yourself?!? I seriously doubt it...in fact given your post I KNOW you haven't!

First off...those brackets from North Race cars are SN95 Caliper brackets!!! NOT SVO brackets...VERY different and will not work.

Second...SN95 Rotors require a hubcentric axle...of which the Fox conversion axles you mentioned ARE NOT...you need to use the North Race car axles.

If you have some sort of "magic wand" that allows SVO calipers to fit SN95 brackets then go for it and let us know how it works for you. But until you did what I did and ACTUALLY do the research, try it, test it, etc and know it fits for a fact, don't speculate from parts catalogs what will work and what will not because someone might think you know that info for fact and waste their money on parts that don't actually work together.

[speedfreak78]

i know the difference and why, i just wanted to hear someone say it. now if you convert to an 8.8 with 5 lug conversion axles and disc brake conversion. the modifications really aren't that pricey.
heres a simple fix. if you wanna narrow the track in the rear and not swap rear ends. just buy five lug fox body conversion axles. you can get them for $135 http://www.themustangdepot.com/servl...-dsh-93/Detail ,and then buy this little bracket right here http://www.northracecars.com/brackets.jpg for $150 and you can use your stock svo calipers and brackets. so for $285 dollars you can narrow the rearend.without buying custom axles.

John, please drop the shovel and stop digging. You need to know when to stop. What good does it do anybody to make this a competition about who knows more. Nobody cares....we just want the correct information to be available for the people who DON'T KNOW what to do and would like to know the correct solutions. Spreading misinformation based on what you "think" helps nobody and arguing with administrators is bad business.

You're just making the thread more confusing to people who don't know better and would like to. It's not helping your popularity here either. Unless, you can document with pictures what you know will work and have done it personally leave it be. You've already proven that what you said would work fine really only worked fine in your eyes and in reality didn't work for people who would rather drive a functional SVO than one that "looks cool" but can't take a corner over 10mph.

We're all here for a common goal. Having fun in SVOs!

[S8V6O]

Actually that's not exactly what I said....the 10th anniversary wheels are 17x9 and on the SVO factory suspension will stick out...it's not a quad shock problem with those wheels. Also if memory serves me the front rotors will not clear the hub diameter of the anniversary wheels....it's been a while since I played with those.

......I may be incorrect in it may have been someone @ 4eyedpride that said
the quad shocks would hit the Anni wheels.



And once again....bolting an 8.8 rear end in your car WILL NOT change your wheel fitment. The 8.8 is the same dimensions as the 7.5....UNLESS you go to the 94 up rear ends which are wider and in that case would stick your wheels out even further.

......The 8.8 I have is earlier than 94, believe its an 88, so I knew it would
bolt right in otherwise I would have spent money foolishly (tho I've done
that before...!)



Now, on your 82 GT it will be easier because your wheel mounting points are narrower than the SVO...you may still have hub clearance issues in the front and of course would have to convert to 5 lug and the rear would work fine if you just did a 5 lug drum brake conversion.

......The 82 is already converted to 5 lug using the rear SVO shafts and the
related brakes: it all bolted up to the 82's 7.5 housing. The quads had a bit
more work involved but they're there too. The front is all SVO including the
Koni struts and the LCA's, tho I used the 82's K member. I may be in the
market for another set of Roberto2000's re-balljointed LCA's, the SVO will
get the first set he will soon send back to me.

[S8V6O]

Will those wheels fit my 61 Corvair??

Didn't know you had a Corvair....had 2 of them myself as Ralf Nader didn't
deter me in the least!

[SVOPaul]

Ralph Nader is Gators Hero!! Just ask him!