leesonic
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- Joined
- Jan 25, 2018
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- Location
- Southern NJ
- Vehicle(s)
- 2017 GT 6-speed Grabber Blue, Perf Pack
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- #1
Like the title says, I have come up with an easy and cheap (relatively) spare tire solution for Performance Pack Mustangs.
Back in December 2017 I bought myself a very low mileage 2017 Grabber Blue GT with a 6-speed and the Performance Pack. I have always been nervous about not having a spare tire, since these models only come with an inflation kit. So after some thought, I decided to try a little bit of British ingenuity on this American Classic.
Here is my car, jacked up and ready to have the front wheel removed. This tire wasn't flat, rather I found a big screw in it when I was washing it, and wanted to take the wheel in to get the tire fixed.
With the wheel removed from the car, I cleaned up the surface of the rotor with a wire brush.
This is a 2" wheel spacer mounted to the hub. I found a pair on eBay, be careful to get ones that are hub-centric, I always try to buy spacers that are either American or European made. I have used German made H&R Trak+ spacers on a couple of my Merkur XR4Ti's and my Focus, with no problems. The nuts holding this spacer on are 19mm, not 21mm like the factory lug nuts. Our Mustangs are 5 x 4.5" (5 x 114.3mm) lug pattern, with M14x1.5mm studs, and a 70.5mm center bore. The screwdriver you see in the bottom of the picture is one I stuck in the vented rotor so I could tighten the nuts up. If you are travelling with a passenger, you could just have them put their foot on the brake while you tighten these.
And here it is, a factory 18" Ford spare saver spare, sitting on the car. I bought this as a kit on eBay, it came with the jack and hold down clamp. When I said "cheap" above, this cost me $200 as it was brand new, but you might be able to get a used one for less. The prices vary on eBay, see if you can get someone to come down a little on their price. The part number is FR3Z-1K007-C.
As you can see here, there is now plenty of clearance between the wheel and the caliper.
After I took the car around the block to settle the suspension, it doesn't look too bad does it? I chose the black spare to go with my black wheels, if you have silver wheels I think they do a silver spare. It fills the arch a little more with the 2" spacer on it. OK, so nobody is going to think your car looks cool with a donut on, but this way, they might not notice it. Remember, these donut spares are only rated for 50mph, so take care not to exceed this speed driving home. Also, the donut is about half the width of the Performance Pack front tires, so be careful on the corners as well.
So to recap, what you'll need in your trunk is :
A factory 18" space saver spare. I went with the Ford kit, as it has the jack and hold down clamp.
A jack if you don't have the spare tire kit above.
A 50mm or 2" hub-centric wheel spacer.
A 21mm deep socket, 1/2" drive.
A 19mm deep socket, 1/2" drive.
A 1/2 drive breaker bar or torque wrench.
An old screwdriver to lock the hub as you tighten the spacer nuts.
I keep all my stuff under the factory spare tire cover. The spacer and the sockets are wrapped in bubble wrap and put in a small cardboard box, stuffed in the corner of the spare tire well. The breaker bar I have inside a pool noodle just sitting in the trunk, maybe one day I will Velcro it somewhere.
I hope this helps.
Lee.
Back in December 2017 I bought myself a very low mileage 2017 Grabber Blue GT with a 6-speed and the Performance Pack. I have always been nervous about not having a spare tire, since these models only come with an inflation kit. So after some thought, I decided to try a little bit of British ingenuity on this American Classic.
Here is my car, jacked up and ready to have the front wheel removed. This tire wasn't flat, rather I found a big screw in it when I was washing it, and wanted to take the wheel in to get the tire fixed.
With the wheel removed from the car, I cleaned up the surface of the rotor with a wire brush.
This is a 2" wheel spacer mounted to the hub. I found a pair on eBay, be careful to get ones that are hub-centric, I always try to buy spacers that are either American or European made. I have used German made H&R Trak+ spacers on a couple of my Merkur XR4Ti's and my Focus, with no problems. The nuts holding this spacer on are 19mm, not 21mm like the factory lug nuts. Our Mustangs are 5 x 4.5" (5 x 114.3mm) lug pattern, with M14x1.5mm studs, and a 70.5mm center bore. The screwdriver you see in the bottom of the picture is one I stuck in the vented rotor so I could tighten the nuts up. If you are travelling with a passenger, you could just have them put their foot on the brake while you tighten these.
And here it is, a factory 18" Ford spare saver spare, sitting on the car. I bought this as a kit on eBay, it came with the jack and hold down clamp. When I said "cheap" above, this cost me $200 as it was brand new, but you might be able to get a used one for less. The prices vary on eBay, see if you can get someone to come down a little on their price. The part number is FR3Z-1K007-C.
As you can see here, there is now plenty of clearance between the wheel and the caliper.
After I took the car around the block to settle the suspension, it doesn't look too bad does it? I chose the black spare to go with my black wheels, if you have silver wheels I think they do a silver spare. It fills the arch a little more with the 2" spacer on it. OK, so nobody is going to think your car looks cool with a donut on, but this way, they might not notice it. Remember, these donut spares are only rated for 50mph, so take care not to exceed this speed driving home. Also, the donut is about half the width of the Performance Pack front tires, so be careful on the corners as well.
So to recap, what you'll need in your trunk is :
A factory 18" space saver spare. I went with the Ford kit, as it has the jack and hold down clamp.
A jack if you don't have the spare tire kit above.
A 50mm or 2" hub-centric wheel spacer.
A 21mm deep socket, 1/2" drive.
A 19mm deep socket, 1/2" drive.
A 1/2 drive breaker bar or torque wrench.
An old screwdriver to lock the hub as you tighten the spacer nuts.
I keep all my stuff under the factory spare tire cover. The spacer and the sockets are wrapped in bubble wrap and put in a small cardboard box, stuffed in the corner of the spare tire well. The breaker bar I have inside a pool noodle just sitting in the trunk, maybe one day I will Velcro it somewhere.
I hope this helps.
Lee.
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