If there is an American car that’s most beloved in the enthusiast and tuning community, it’s the Ford Mustang. The American pony icon is still a hell of a muscle car in a straight line like its predecessors, but now with better handling and drivability. If you want to one a sports car, chances are you want a Mustang.
From the factory, Ford offers several different versions of the Mustang.
They come in different power outputs, different suspension components, and different body kits. The body kits are very interesting for the tuning community because they give more credibility to the muscle car aura that surrounds the ‘Stang. Those versions can be very expensive however and that’s why we will tell you about a much cheaper way to widen the stance of your Mustang – wheel spacers.
Sure, I want that. What other benefits they have?
You already know that wheel spacers can offset the wheels of your Mustang so that it appears wider, angrier and sportier. But it’s not just the appearance. Wheel spacers can improve the handling of the Mustang and help highway stability. It’s a cheap way of improving the cornering performance of your vehicle thanks to more uniform tire loading and better grip.
There are other performance aspects of installing wheel spacers, like installing bigger brakes. Most aftermarket braking systems won’t fit into the standard wheels, but they will after you install wheel spacer. Or maybe you want to change your rims with new, shiny ones, but they have different bolt pattern? There are wheel spacers that can do that too! As a matter of fact, wheel spacers should be used even if the design of the rim is different to the factory one, or when you just want to install bigger wheels and tires on your Mustang.
What kind of wheel spacers are out there?
We strongly advise you to install hub centric wheel spacers. These types of wheel spacers carry the weight of the vehicle on themselves and are a better fit for every vehicle. Non-hub centric wheel spacers leave most of the weight of the bolts, which is not desirable from a safety standpoint.
How much wheel offset will I get?
It all depends on your personal needs and desires. Generally speaking, you should go for small to medium wheel offset, or as far as the wheels and tires are flush with the Mustang. Going further than that and the tires may start touching the bodywork of the Mustang. Always stay within factory limits and you should be okay.
That is unless you want to make bigger modifications on your Mustang, like installing a wide body kit (look for some amazing wheel spacers before & after pictures of the Mustang on the web). In that case, you can install bigger wheel spacers, but keep in mind that those will put more strain on your suspension components. It’s best to upgrade your suspension components as well if you go that route.
How to install wheel spacers on the Ford Mustang?
There are numerous automotive shops and garages that will be happy to help you install wheel spacers on your Mustang, but you can do the same thing yourself. Of course, you still need a jack, jack stands and the proper tools and equipment for removal of the wheel.
- Jack up the Mustang (one wheel at a time)
- Put a jack stand under the jacking points designated by the manufacturer so it holds the vehicle
- Remove the wheels by unscrewing the lug nuts with a lug nut wrench
- Install the wheel spacers. Always use the nuts provided with the spacers
- Mount the wheels back and tighten them with torque wrench according to factory specification
*You may want to install longer bolts than the factory ones. To choose the right length, just add the width of the wheel spacers to the length of the factory bolts and you’ll get the length of the new bolts.
Leave a Reply