Ouch... Wheels don't fit...

[BBC71Nova]

Just to wrap this up...

Yesterday my tires showed up so of course I rushed over to drop them off for mount and balance. Late last night I got a chance to throw them under the car and check clearances. They fit awesome! Plenty of clearance throughout the suspension travel, articulation, etc. Whew. That's a huge concern lifted.

I'll try and get some pics this weekend. The Vintage Wheel Works 18"X11" V40 wheels look awesome.

I'm thinking now that a Ridetech setup is gonna have to happen on the front. Those 235 tires on the 8" wheel look tiny .

[MaxHarvard]

FWIW, I had a similar problem with mine and had to use some spacers because I didn't measure my rear-end properly (better too short than too long I suppose).

I needed about a 1/2" at least on the frame side of the wheel for articulation, drive ways and such and another 1/2" on the outer part for the same reason. It's a super tight fit, but you need to make sure you'll have good room for articulation.

On top of that, a small fender bead roll wouldn't hurt and I doubt anyone would notice.

Good luck,

~Eric

[SR71]

so what size tire did you go with?

I went through the exact same ordeal. my fitment logic was the same as yours. but I ended up narrowing my rear 3/4" on each side.

it was worth it though, because those 335's look badass.

[BBC71Nova]

I went with the 305/35-18. I'd rather have a 315 size but never could really find one. As much as I'd like to have the 335, I just can't see those ever fitting. Oh and VWW wheels only come in widths up to 11". As much as I'd love to have some Formula 43 Laguna Gray Profile 5s they just weren't in the budget at the moment. Maybe some day...

I also wanted to go with the R888. I ended up the Nitto 555R. Reasons being:

1. Not sure when i'll get the car on the road so the less I spend on tires the better since they might dry rot
2. Not convinced I would like this size so spending less makes changing later easier
3. Discount Tire was running a Labor Day sale with 100$ rebate on set of 4. That and their free shipping ended up making this 555/555R combo $400 or so cheaper.

[Ripped]

If you have some more inner wheel well clearance, you can always have the inner portion of the wheel, cut and extended. That will "pull" your tire into the wheelhouse more, or might allow you to run a wider tire.

On my front wheels, I used an off the shelf 85-04 mustang wheel (1/4-1/3 the price of custom wheels);
Then I had the backspacing cut and reduced by 1.125"
The wheel still rubbed on the outer edge, so I had the wheel shop, lathe off 0.1875 from the hub face of the wheel, allowing me about another 3/16" clearance.

It doesn't sound like much, but together it all works.

Also using a narrower wheel, example 10.5" instead of 11.5" will "square-up" the tire bulge ad give you a little more room. It might cause your tires to round up a bit and wear sooner, but hell who cares if you're running a lot of HP or cornering hard, you're going to wear them out anyway.

Most wheel modification shops will lathe down the welds, and polish them also, if you want a more finished look.

Hope it all works for you.

[SR71]

my 335's look perfect on an 11" wheel. the section width is 13". I know that 11.5 is the min spec wheel, but the 03-04 cobra guys run them on 10.5's with no problems. an 11.5 just would not fit on my car.

I ended up with 335's because there is no other true street radial bigger than 295 in 18". there is plenty of selection in drag radials, but I wanted real, stiff sidewall, full tread depth, ain't skeered of the rain or cold street tires.