We used (2) 3/8” spacers for the 18×11+52 Apex EC-7 setup. For those not good at math, that’s 3/4” or 19mm. With our extended ARP wheel studs, we have miles of thread left. For those concerned about spacers, consider the BOSS 302R that I raced, we had over 1.5” worth of wheel spacers in professional racing on an S197 Mustang; and wheel bearings were not regularly serviced or had failures. I’ve never been concerned about using wheel spacers, especially with extended studs.
We then installed our new wheel.
We had plenty of brake clearance to the spokes, and radially with this 14” GT500 brake package.
3/4″ or 19mm is probably too much but we only had these spacers on hand. In the future, we will change out to a single 15-16mm spacer since we only need 3mm of clearance from the wheel to the strut, and we have over double that right now.
With the rear tire removed, we were ready to install the rears.
Quick Reference:
Page 1 – Intro & Palm Beach Motorsports
Page 2 – Apex EC-7 Tech
Page 3 – EC-7 Weight & Nitto NT01 Tech
Page 4 – NT01 Weight & Mounting
Page 5 – Mounted NT01 and EC-7 Weight and Comparison
Page 6 – Wheel Weight Comparison and Install
Page 7 – Wheel Spacer Tech and Clearances
Page 8 – Rear Wheel Clearance
Page 9 – Installed Pics
12 comments
Hey Billy, great update. Those wheels look great in bronze against your silver car.
I noticed you saved 5lbs per front tire. Did you get a weight on the old rear setup?
Looks like 275/40-19 PS4S are 31lbs new (per Tire Rack) vs 28lbs for the 255s.
The internets say the 19×9.5 PP rear wheels are ~34lbs, so I’d expect about 10lbs saved per rear. Huge!
Unfortunately I lost the pic of the weight of the original rear wheels. I want to say they were a couple pounds heavier than the fronts.
Thanks for the great article again, Billy. I really, really enjoy this series and I can’t wait for the next one! I would love to buy one of these Mustangs and replicate your build, but the market is too crazy for me right now.
What do the 305s up front do to steering response? Does it tramline like crazy? Does the steering get vague? I’d also love to know the front/rear/cross weight balance as well. Sorry for all the questions.
Steering response is pretty similar to stock, but increasing the front width of any tire will increase tramlining. The nose weight should be around 54-55% at the moment. I have not weighed it yet but that will be discussed during the battery relocation kit article.
Hey Billy love this articles. I just received my set of Apex SM-10 19×11 ET26 Front ET52 rears for my 2017 GT track day car. And I can’t wait to put tires on in Europe getting good 305/30 tires is hard so I might get 295/30 instead I hope it will be a step up from my current 275/35/19 on PP1 wheels. Thank you for the lovely read.
I’m glad to hear it. Thank you for the feedback!
Great series Billy! What modifications have you done to address the MT82 Shifting issues? I’ve heard of a ton of solutions from trans mount inserts to Tremec swaps.
Thank you! Stay tuned for the next installement!
This is an extremely informative and well written series. I’m glad to have found your site.
Thank you. I’m glad you’re enjoying the content.
I instruct for NASA & JUST TRACK IT -ATLANTA, Ga. 20-24wkends/year in 2016 Mustang with full STEEDA SUSPENSION & 2-PC ROTOR/BRAKE LINE UPGRD.. I have APEX SM-10 & APEX EC-7-18 /11 & 19/11 WITH TOYO R888R & RR . I . HAVE USED NTO1 IN PRIOR Seasons.. Have U tried TOYO VS. NITTO..( Toyo -OWNER OF both BRANDS)?? FRT NEG CAMBER DO U USE ??? 🏁APPRECIATE UR INFO🏁