Muscle Mustang & Fast Fords Magazine Body Kit Buyer's Guide - Body Beautiful

S197 Wheels For your Fox

Aftermarket Appearance Accessories Ford Racing S197 Wheels

FRPP offers several wheels...

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Bolting SN-95 wheels to Fox-body Mustangs is nothing new, but some have now tried it with the S197 Mustang wheels. The extra offset of the S197 wheels is especially helpful in SN-95 rear disc or 2300-K kit applications as it tucks the wheels/tires under the fender for a more factory appearance. While Ford Racing Performance Parts still offers the Cobra R disc-brake conversion for Fox Mustangs, it no longer carries the special offset Cobra R wheels.

We found the S197 wheels to fit better than the SN-95 rims, which have a tendency to stick out a bit too far. If you plan to use the SN-95 rims, we suggest getting a set of rear caliper relocation brackets from North Race Cars, which will allow you to run stock-length axles, thus bringing the wheels under the fender lips.

Aftermarket Appearance Accessories Fender Rub

The rear disc brake upgrade...

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If you want to keep the brand-new axles that came with your 2300-K disc brake upgrade, then the S197 wheels are for you. We decided to try out a few of FRPP's wheels for looks and to see how the different backspacings fit on our Cobra R disc brake-equipped ProCharged Pony Fox Mustang.

The optional 18x8.5 wheel with its 6.29-inch backspacing just doesn't offer enough back-spacing for the Fox, at least in the rear. Up front, the 8.5-inch wheel was dangerously close to the front strut, so on to the next wheel.

We had hoped the 18x8.5-inch Bullitt-style wheel would fit, as we liked the extended spoke look over the 17s, but it was not to be. With their 6.82-inch backspacing, these hit the front strut, and both 18s rubbed the rear of the lower control arm up front.

The 17x8s were the winners with their 8-inch width and 6.29-inch backspacing. At $140 each, they're quite reasonable, and they clear the front struts as well as the rear quarter-panel lip.

The caliper/rim location is... read full caption The caliper/rim location is the first clearance issue to look at. If you're good here, you can move on to the spoke/caliper area.	Knowing the S197 Mustangs... read full caption Knowing the S197 Mustangs have some pretty comparable brakes, we figured we wouldn't have a problem clearing our Cobra calipers-and we were right. It was close spoke-to-caliper, though, with about 11/44-inch gap.	The strut posed our biggest... read full caption The strut posed our biggest problem fitting the 18s. With the 17s mounted, we had a good 31/48 inch of clearance.
You'll also want to check... read full caption You'll also want to check the clearance to the inner fenderwell and things like brake lines.	With the S197 Wheels, tire... read full caption With the S197 Wheels, tire rubbing on the rear fender lips was resolved thanks to the added backspacing the S197 employs. We could actually use a tad more backspacing on the rear wheels to fit a wider rim/tire combo.	With the 17x8 wheels, we opted... read full caption With the 17x8 wheels, we opted to use Nitto 555 radial tires sized 245/45/17 on our project ProCharged Pony. With its copious power output, Nitto recommended its sticky 555R Drag Radials for the rear, which will give us added traction at the strip, along with good street manners and wear characteristics.