Finally done with my Alcoa project!! 10's up front, 12's out back..............

[Robert M]

After months of fitting and testing, I like 10" Alcoa's up front with 275/35 Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's and 12" Alcoa's on the rear with 325/30 Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's.

I had two main objectives with this car and both were equally important, Additional rear traction for a 725 Super Snake, and Retain the original Super Snake look............

Also of importance to me was an attempt to match tires on all four corners and not have mis-matched fronts and rears, also an attempt to regain the 1/2" rim width up front that would be lost by using 9" Alcoa's on the front vs. the original 9.5" wheels that were installed by Ford when new.

In the end I got some badly needed rear rubber traction surface and also some additional front tire tread traction surface for a heavy nosed GT500..........and the car stills retains the Super Snake look, without wider tires that look like "love handles" on too narrow rims, or wider rims with tires that are too narrow.

It is a balancing act with the Alcoa's. :thumbsup:


R

 

[breoland]

Congrats and awesome job. This is my next plan of attack once my tvs is resolved.
I know i have asked a few questions in the past but I know you have coil overs in the front and I have the frpp handeling kit. will this change anything for the 10in wheels not fitting properly?
what was the total cost in tires for all four. I know they are pretty expensive. all said and done you got them to work without any spacers and that is key
next is to figure out where to send my wheels. weldcraft does great work but i noteced that there is another guy out there that uses the backing off another wheel leaving one bead of weld instead of 2. and the last question, is it ok to widen the 9in wheel to a 12in? was wondering if there is a stress load in the center of the wheel where the welds will take place making it easier to fail

 

[jfitts23]

can you write up a how to to get all 20x12 to fit. like all the components you have and what you had to do and where u did it at. thanks.

 

[Daffy]

can you write up a how to to get all 20x12 to fit. like all the components you have and what you had to do and where u did it at. thanks.

Yea, love to hear details, especially on how the rears were done, thnx.

And not to state the obvious but your car looks incredible, fantastic job!

 

[09Troublemaker]

looks great and very stock looking! Objective complete:beer:

 

[SCMOKN]

That is one awsome beast of a car!

 

[Genius]

Very nice, well done!

 

[AlanSVT]

Awesome.....Would love to hear the details on this....

 

[ZOMBEAST]

Looks awesome! So what size wheels did you start with and what exactly did you do to them?

 

[Robertt305]

Mmmmmm 12 inch deep dish in the rear would be the poo!!

 

[2Sharpie]

What a great setup....and Awesome looking car. Is this set-up possible, say with the a "stock" GT500, except for maybe lowering springs -- or are coil-overs and other items a necessity to put on this exact combo??

 

[zex-srt10]

Very Nice, i like it.

 

[Robert M]

Congrats and awesome job. This is my next plan of attack once my tvs is resolved.
I know i have asked a few questions in the past but I know you have coil overs in the front and I have the frpp handeling kit. will this change anything for the 10in wheels not fitting properly?
what was the total cost in tires for all four. I know they are pretty expensive. all said and done you got them to work without any spacers and that is key
next is to figure out where to send my wheels. weldcraft does great work but i noteced that there is another guy out there that uses the backing off another wheel leaving one bead of weld instead of 2. and the last question, is it ok to widen the 9in wheel to a 12in? was wondering if there is a stress load in the center of the wheel where the welds will take place making it easier to fail

I spent additional $$$ that most would not spend...........I did not want to cut up my original Super Snake Alcoa's that came with my car as part of the original build, so I first of all had to find a second set of "Super Snake" logo'ed Alcoa's for surgery, and then narrow my plan of attack. I have probably $5K total including the spare set of Alcoa's, maybe a little more. The widening cost me $712 including shipping and $100 of that was smoothing the welds on the inside. This $5K (or so) does not include the new Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's in 275/35 and 335/30 that I also test fitted.

As for structural questions, I would have to refer them to the people who widen the wheels. WeldCraft has been doing wheels for years, and some far wider than 9" to 12". WeldCraft services the full spectrum from cars show-street cars to drag racing to road racing. I would think that if there were issues with their process of widening, the WeldCraft reputation would have gone in the tank years ago.

For my use, car shows, street sprints, I will be on the much lighter side of what their wheels have been put through.


R

 

[Robert M]

Mmmmmm 12 inch deep dish in the rear would be the poo!!

They are 12" deep dish, you were looking at the wrong side............:thumbsup:

^^^^^^^^^^The little bit of stick-on weight that is hidden behind that one Alcoa spoke and the clamp-on at the rear is all that was required after widening to 12". Weldcraft does some NICE work! That is the 335/30 Michelin PS2.

R

 

[rdsnk46]

That is high quality! Good job

 

[Robert M]

Thank you to ALL for the positive feedback!!

This started out as a regular production 725 Super Snake with the 20x9 and 20x10 Alcoa's with 255/35 front and 275/35 rear Pirelli P Zero's.

First obvious points of interest, downsizing to 275/35's on the rear while adding 225hp to the car, and then a narrower 9" wheel on the front vs. the 9.5" that was factory Ford installed on this car to begin with........

One day while leaving a car show, my 9 year old daughter was playing her Nintendo DS while sitting in the front passenger seat and "Daddy" wanted to very mildly sprint the car in second gear from approx. a 35mph roll, you know, just to hear the KB, well, the car broke loose and started to the right, I backed out of it and it straightened out, my daughter said, "What was that, it scared me!". Daddy said, "That scared me too, we won't be doing that again". Not that it scared me, but my daughter was in the car and it broke loose much quicker than I expected for such a low speed/dry street environment. From this point on, the tire project was the TOP priority, and the 3.6LC upgrade, cooling system and H/E upgrade would be side lined while the tire/wheel project moved to the top of the list.

I had followed the Team Shelby Super Snake forum asking questions and reading responses, it seemed that most were doing the 11.75" - 12" with their rear Alcoa's and 315 or 335 rear tires. I ask multiple times, "Has anyone moved their 10's to the front for fitment purposes?", no replies.

I chose to do the 12's and the 335/30 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's for the rear and 275/35 PS2's for the front 9" Alcoa's.

^^^^This set-up required removal of the rear brake ducts that were part of the original Super Snake install and then the shock dust boot on the rear Eibachs was either going to have to be trimmed or removed for 335 clearance, I chose to remove the dust boots.

The boots removed...........

The metal spacer removed from the shock boot re-installed on the shaft of the shock.............

After extending the axle on one side and compressing it on the other I had slight contact with the inner fender well area. I added 1/8" spacers on both sides and the 335/30 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's are on, driven approx. 40 miles and no issues.

^^^^^Shown above, the 335/30 PS2's are on the rear 12's (with 1/8" spacers) and the 275/35 PS2's on the front 9" Alcoa's. No problem, all is well..............but I kept thinking...............9" Alcoa's now, 9.5" SVT wheels originally?? Is there another option? to also upgrade the front through all of this?? :shrug:


There was nothing the matter with the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's, the 335/30's were a little meatier looking than I really wanted but the 275/35 PS2's fit nicely on the front as shown above.

Since my original 10" Alcoa's w/Pirelli P Zero's were now off of the car, I took the 9's with the 275/35 PS2's off and checked for the 10" fit. they appeared to be just right with clearance between the strut and tire, tuned lock to lock, rolled the car, no issues. I decided to spec out the Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's. The 325/30's were slightly narrower than the 335/30 Michelin's and the Dunlop's were also the same exact 27.7" tall like the Shelby installed rear 275's vs. the 335/30 28" tall. I also realized that the 275/35 Dunlop's spec'ed wider than the 275/35 PS2's, so there may be a fit on a 10 for the front. <<They did fit nicely.

As the car now sits, 275/35 and 325/30 Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's, no spacers front or rear.


The question that most are asking.............why all of the concern about cutting the welded-on bumpstop brackets off of the car, tire/rim clearance issues, etc?

Well these issues are still here on my car and the question is, what driving circumstances do you encounter? My 12" Alcoa's do overlap the protruding portion of the bumpstop bracket and I believe any Alcoa 11.5" or wider will contact this bracket.

Shown below is the amount that my axle will have to drop for contact. If you drive your car and your axle drops this far, there is going to be contact.

My drive way is a 45 degree turn-up into situation, I have no contact entering or exiting.


So, that is the story with the Alcoa 10's up front and the 12's out back, and my preference of the Dunlop look vs. the Michelin look.



R

 

[me32]

nevermind i just saw what you had to do, looks great congrats

 

[Robert M]

nevermind i just saw what you had to do, looks great congrats

That's why I try to take and add pictures, they tell much more than words in projects like this.

Thanks!

R

 

[Robert M]

When comparing the two pictures below, the first with the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's and the second with the Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's, it is hard to believe that the first picture 275/35 is on a 9" Alcoa and the second picture 275/35 is on 10" a Alcoa...........

There is only a very slight difference in sidewall look, but a 1" difference in rim width between the two.


R

 

[me32]

That's why I try to take and add pictures, they tell much more than words in projects like this.

Thanks!

R

thanks for posting