Rust protection (undercarriage) and winter daily driving

[Mach VII]

Good tires and a little skill will get you through even a harsh winter though my experience is that ground clearance is the limiting factor when driving in snow, if it gets too deep/wet it will wedge up under the car and cause loss of traction.

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[Fly2High]

Good tires and a little skill will get you through even a harsh winter though my experience is that ground clearance is the limiting factor when driving in snow, if it gets too deep/wet it will wedge up under the car and cause loss of traction.

agreed. At least in my area, most businesses close when more than 5 inches of snow is reported or they ask you to work from home. For me at least, for as long as the snow is able to fit under the car (5.25" clearance on PP2, 5.75" all other GT), we are good. Also, Long Island gets the plows out around the 4-6 inch amount too. If I just wait a little, they have the roads with enough snow cleared to be passable. Of course I still could get stuck on the sideroads.

We each need to decide what is best for us. For me, my finances and where I live, it was the cheaper and better to just get snow tires and a second set of wheels for them. For others, it might be to stay home or have a 4 x 4.

 

[Bit_the_Bullitt]

I bought my Mustang used and plan to drive it year round. Bought a set of wheels and Michelin X-Ice tires 2 winters ago from Tire Rack. If it gets bad I could borrow my wife's Explorer 4x4, After 2 Iowa winters it haven't left my car in the garage yet. The lack of a spare tire leaves room for some small canvas bags of sand for weight...

Nice! I reckon your IA winters are little rougher than SW OH. Glad to hear another daily is out there!
With my Brembo brakes before one road trip I got the AA spare kit, so that's taking up space in my trunk now. But, after a nice trunk tray from Husky I can just throw in some cat litter (which I think is good for traction if stuck also)...

 

[Bit_the_Bullitt]

agreed. At least in my area, most businesses close when more than 5 inches of snow is reported or they ask you to work from home. For me at least, for as long as the snow is able to fit under the car (5.25" clearance on PP2, 5.75" all other GT), we are good. Also, Long Island gets the plows out around the 4-6 inch amount too. If I just wait a little, they have the roads with enough snow cleared to be passable. Of course I still could get stuck on the sideroads.

We each need to decide what is best for us. For me, my finances and where I live, it was the cheaper and better to just get snow tires and a second set of wheels for them. For others, it might be to stay home or have a 4 x 4.

Yeah, that's the thing. To suggest "one size fits all" doesn't really work, especially in different climates. Plus, it seems that this community (Mustangs in general) are very passionate about their rides. I've had mine only 8mos, but it seems people have strong opinions and passion (which is great).

Good tires and a little skill will get you through even a harsh winter though my experience is that ground clearance is the limiting factor when driving in snow, if it gets too deep/wet it will wedge up under the car and cause loss of traction.

Uh, daum, that's some frontier s*it right there! How much does the bike weigh, can the mustang and hitch handle that?

 

[Mach VII]

Yeah, that's the thing. To suggest "one size fits all" doesn't really work, especially in different climates. Plus, it seems that this community (Mustangs in general) are very passionate about their rides. I've had mine only 8mos, but it seems people have strong opinions and passion (which is great).



Uh, daum, that's some frontier s*it right there! How much does the bike weigh, can the mustang and hitch handle that?

Mustang is rated for 1000 lb max and 200 lb tongue weight. 2 bikes (like the one shown) with mount is about 140 lbs.

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/conten...al/pdf/guides/19Towing_Ford_Mustang_Oct25.pdf

 

[Hack]

I'm loving people's inputs on these, I'm glad I'm getting lot of ideas and thoughts. I do plan on driving my Bullitt daily even through the winter.

I've booked the Krown oil spray, $129.99 before tax, it'll take 'em 2hrs, pretty good deal in my opinion. I am on stock Pilot 4s. Took them to a track one day 2 months ago and when it's low 30s in SW OH, they get slick.

What's your winter setup, including tires and rim styles? I seem to get lot of opinions on "you don't need to keep the staggered setup," but I'm scared not to.

I had MMD Axim wheels in a 19 x 8.5 size and Blizzak LM60 tires on my GT350. I've since sold the car and wheels/tires. I'm driving my Fiesta ST this winter. The GT350 came with staggered wheels and different tire sizes front vs. rear, but I never had a problem with smaller rims/tires. There's nothing to be concerned about with going to a smaller and uniform wheel/tire size on our Mustangs. That's only on four wheel drive vehicles where changing tire sizes is a major deal.

 

[Mach VII]

I had MMD Axim wheels in a 19 x 8.5 size and Blizzak LM60 tires on my GT350. I've since sold the car and wheels/tires. I'm driving my Fiesta ST this winter. The GT350 came with staggered wheels and different tire sizes front vs. rear, but I never had a problem with smaller rims/tires. There's nothing to be concerned about with going to a smaller and uniform wheel/tire size on our Mustangs. That's only on four wheel drive vehicles where changing tire sizes is a major deal.

What size tire did you go with? I love that you drive your Shelby in the snow, most won't!

 

[Hack]

What size tire did you go with? I love that you drive your Shelby in the snow, most won't!

They were 255 40R19 tires. I used them on my 2011 Brembo brake GT and then when I sold that car I used them on my 2015 GT as well. They lasted quite a while and worked great on the Shelby. I have a set of Blizzaks on the Fiesta and they work great on that car as well.

I drove my 2011 and 2015 GTs year round as my only car, but the GT350 I drove mostly on nice days. I forget why I drove it that particular day, but I think I had an appointment for work to be done on the car on a day that happened to have a snow storm. The GT350 was excellent in poor weather if you had it in the right mode and were careful. I think Ford did a good job in that respect with all Mustangs. The Voodoo engine if you keep it at lower RPMs is tame enough. I think the Coyote is similar, which is really helpful in having the car work for all different types of weather, on the road, on track, etc.

And the longer I owned the GT350 the more trouble I had driving in poor weather. I just loved the car so much I didn't want it to degrade. And then I foolishly sold it because I wanted to try something else. Hopefully in a few more years I'll be in a good position to buy another. I really miss it.

 

[Bit_the_Bullitt]

They were 255 40R19 tires. I used them on my 2011 Brembo brake GT and then when I sold that car I used them on my 2015 GT as well. They lasted quite a while and worked great on the Shelby. I have a set of Blizzaks on the Fiesta and they work great on that car as well.

I drove my 2011 and 2015 GTs year round as my only car, but the GT350 I drove mostly on nice days. I forget why I drove it that particular day, but I think I had an appointment for work to be done on the car on a day that happened to have a snow storm. The GT350 was excellent in poor weather if you had it in the right mode and were careful. I think Ford did a good job in that respect with all Mustangs. The Voodoo engine if you keep it at lower RPMs is tame enough. I think the Coyote is similar, which is really helpful in having the car work for all different types of weather, on the road, on track, etc.

And the longer I owned the GT350 the more trouble I had driving in poor weather. I just loved the car so much I didn't want it to degrade. And then I foolishly sold it because I wanted to try something else. Hopefully in a few more years I'll be in a good position to buy another. I really miss it.

Honestly, seeing the Mustang in all that snow is looking really freaking bad*ss. NICE!!

 

[Bit_the_Bullitt]

They were 255 40R19 tires. I used them on my 2011 Brembo brake GT and then when I sold that car I used them on my 2015 GT as well. They lasted quite a while and worked great on the Shelby. I have a set of Blizzaks on the Fiesta and they work great on that car as well.

I drove my 2011 and 2015 GTs year round as my only car, but the GT350 I drove mostly on nice days. I forget why I drove it that particular day, but I think I had an appointment for work to be done on the car on a day that happened to have a snow storm. The GT350 was excellent in poor weather if you had it in the right mode and were careful. I think Ford did a good job in that respect with all Mustangs. The Voodoo engine if you keep it at lower RPMs is tame enough. I think the Coyote is similar, which is really helpful in having the car work for all different types of weather, on the road, on track, etc.

And the longer I owned the GT350 the more trouble I had driving in poor weather. I just loved the car so much I didn't want it to degrade. And then I foolishly sold it because I wanted to try something else. Hopefully in a few more years I'll be in a good position to buy another. I really miss it.

Can you remember what exact specs the wheels had, especially offset etc? I've been through and through the Tirerack site, they don't even carry staggered anymore, so I looked into 255/40R19, since most people (including you) recommend that. The rims is what makes me worry, with 8.5"-10" the Sottozero 3s ask for, rims are limited. I was told offset of 35mm is best, 40 is pushing and 45mm not recommended. I think the offset is confusing a bit anyway, but can you share what offset you got/had?

 

[Fly2High]

Can you remember what exact specs the wheels had, especially offset etc? I've been through and through the Tirerack site, they don't even carry staggered anymore, so I looked into 255/40R19, since most people (including you) recommend that. The rims is what makes me worry, with 8.5"-10" the Sottozero 3s ask for, rims are limited. I was told offset of 35mm is best, 40 is pushing and 45mm not recommended. I think the offset is confusing a bit anyway, but can you share what offset you got/had?

Go to this website:

https://www.wheel-size.com/size/ford/mustang/

Select your year and they will show you all the tires and rims that fit along with the hub diameter, lug spacing, offset, etc.

 

[Bit_the_Bullitt]

Go to this website:

https://www.wheel-size.com/size/ford/mustang/

Select your year and they will show you all the tires and rims that fit along with the hub diameter, lug spacing, offset, etc.

I did that, but it does show 255/40R19 that lot of GT PP1 owners (so same brakes etc) are reporting to be totally fine. Just the offset is still escaping me. I'm looking in the realm of 38-42mm I think.

 

[Fly2High]

I found this:
The highlighted section is what comes in a PP1. The Front is the 255 while the rear are 275.

If I were to look for winter tires for a PP1, I would use those offsets listed (Front: ET45, Rear: ET52.5) or as close as possible. I would see if I could get a 235 -255 sized tire and just stick with a 19X9 wheel. Get a center bore of 70.5 mm and lug spacing of 5 x 114.3. Have them drill a 60 degree seat, preferably at 1.1" wide or , if they drill it to 0.92", get narrower lug nuts like Gorilla 41148HT

 

[GP2017GT]

no rust isn’t a problem. It’s all the other things I mentioned above. Chips, suspension, bent or dented rims,. Plows destroy the roads up north. Leave holes that will swallow your car. Especially if you live in the city. Ohio is better than Michigan but still.

Wisconsin is a beast also. For all the same reasons. Plus my car sits low. I would never make it over some of the snow drifts. I park it in the winter like most of us here. Not ashamed.

 

[Bit_the_Bullitt]

I found this:
The highlighted section is what comes in a PP1. The Front is the 255 while the rear are 275.

If I were to look for winter tires for a PP1, I would use those offsets listed (Front: ET45, Rear: ET52.5) or as close as possible. I would see if I could get a 235 -255 sized tire and just stick with a 19X9 wheel. Get a center bore of 70.5 mm and lug spacing of 5 x 114.3. Have them drill a 60 degree seat, preferably at 1.1" wide or , if they drill it to 0.92", get narrower lug nuts like Gorilla 41148HT

I've kind of looked, but man, it's super easy to get confused in that and have paralysis by analysis.
Would you be willing to look at a link and compare? I'm not sure I'm reading things right. Also, not sure if I really need the large offset on the back. I do trust what Tirerack is saying and I don't want to buy a staggered set unless I have to.

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