Mustang Off-road?

[CrazedHoosier]

Hi! I recently bought a 2018 Mustang Ecoboost with just 15,000 miles on it, and I love it. It’s easily the best vehicle I’ve ever driven. That said, I was actually in the market for a truck. I do a lot of outdoor type of stuff like camping, drive-ins, hiking, etc. I know my Mustang has plenty of power to do all of these things, but my worry is ground clearance. I’ve read online that it’s about 5 inches, but also read it’s as low as 4 inches at some points.

I’m just wondering—do you guys ever struggle with ground clearance in your daily endeavors? If I were to scrape, which part of the vehicle would it mostly likely be?

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[KewlWinter]

Hi! I recently bought a 2018 Mustang Ecoboost with just 15,000 miles on it, and I love it. It’s easily the best vehicle I’ve ever driven. That said, I was actually in the market for a truck. I do a lot of outdoor type of stuff like camping, drive-ins, hiking, etc. I know my Mustang has plenty of power to do all of these things, but my worry is ground clearance. I’ve read online that it’s about 5 inches, but also read it’s as low as 4 inches at some points.

I’m just wondering—do you guys ever struggle with ground clearance in your daily endeavors? If I were to scrape, which part of the vehicle would it mostly likely be?

Get yourself some jacking rails. The will absorb a lot of speedbump punishment! Just take off and refresh the paint every so often. Better than banging up your pinch welds, skirts, etc...

 

[K4fxd]

I'd put some 29 inch tall tires on it

 

[The Demon]

Get yourself some jacking rails. The will absorb a lot of speedbump punishment! Just take off and refresh the paint every so often. Better than banging up your pinch welds, skirts, etc...

Off subject but this is the first time I think I am seeing your ride. I went to your showcase. Nice car.

How much was it to do the gull wings if you don't mind telling?

 

[Dana Pants]

I'd put some 29 inch tall tires on it

Anything taller than ~28.3 inches will rub the spring perches.

That being said, at stock ride height a Mustang can do a lot of things without hurting itself with some care and common sense.

Or you can drive like this:

 

[K4fxd]

Anything taller than ~28.3 inches will rub the spring perches.

Good to know, I'm assuming the front?

That being said, at stock ride height a Mustang can do a lot of things without hurting itself with some care and common sense.

Thats a s197 they have more ground clearance than a s550

 

[Dana Pants]

Good to know, I'm assuming the front?

Yeah front.

 

[Strokercrate]

You could do these mods

 

[glockholiday]

This https://www.universalcarlifts.com/p...-kit-with-struts-shocks-fit-22-24-26-28-rims/

Then get you some BFGs

 

[KewlWinter]

Off subject but this is the first time I think I am seeing your ride. I went to your showcase. Nice car.

How much was it to do the gull wings if you don't mind telling?

Thanks for the appreciation. I bought the hinges directly from Vertical Doors Inc. They have, hands down, the best design and they use heavy carbon steel. Do not get the knock-offs as I know 2 different people that did and ending up replacing them in a year when they wore out. After a promotion discount and a military discount, the hinges cost $800. The labor was free since I installed them myself. This was the second install for me; the first was on my 2015 that ended up getting totaled by a grocery getter. The install took me about a day and a half. Most of the work is disassembly of bumper, fenders, liners, securing the door and making reference marks, and getting the body lines right again once installed. In my case from the factory, my doors had some gaps, so that got fixed with the install.

 

[CORNYOTE]

Anything taller than ~28.3 inches will rub the spring perches.

That being said, at stock ride height a Mustang can do a lot of things without hurting itself with some care and common sense.

Or you can drive like this:

I run 315/60R15's in the rear and they're damn near 30", but if you run coilovers up front you can probably fit a taller tire up front too.

 

[KewlWinter]

I'm running AirLift 3H and you can get some serious wheel gap airing it way up, but unless you are going to run it at the tall height and have it aligned for that height, you will eat your tires off. Additionally, its not good to set your ride height toward the top of your suspension travel as you will have nothing left for rebound when going over variable surfaces and bumps.

 

[CORNYOTE]

I'm running AirLift 3H and you can get some serious wheel gap airing it way up, but unless you are going to run it at the tall height and have it aligned for that height, you will eat your tires off. Additionally, its not good to set your ride height toward the top of your suspension travel as you will have nothing left for rebound when going over variable surfaces and bumps.

Oh for sure. I run a fixed rear height and it's not anywhere near the end of travel. My comment was just you can definitely run a taller tire than 28.3"

 

[KewlWinter]

True enough. I'm running 305/30ZR-20 in the rear and they are 27.2" tall compared to your 29.9". Definitely could fit taller, but then you have to start considering the clearance issue you mentioned, some of which can be mitigated with the correct wheel offsets, replacing the OEM upper shock mounts for one of the BMR or Steeda replacements, and alignment camber adjustments to get more clearance. And of course if you are going for the flush look, this is more critical, whereas if you like "poke", then the main thing is to ensure the clearance between the top of the tire and bottom of fender have enough clearance for max suspension compression so they don't touch.

 

[CORNYOTE]

True enough. I'm running 305/30ZR-20 in the rear and they are 27.2" tall compared to your 29.9". Definitely could fit taller, but then you have to start considering the clearance issue you mentioned, some of which can be mitigated with the correct wheel offsets, replacing the OEM upper shock mounts for one of the BMR or Steeda replacements, and alignment camber adjustments to get more clearance. And of course if you are going for the flush look, this is more critical, whereas if you like "poke", then the main thing is to ensure the clearance between the top of the tire and bottom of fender have enough clearance for max suspension compression so they don't touch.

For sure. I have a fortune in my rear suspension to be able to run that setup. Just the billet knuckles are over $2K alone.

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