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**STANCE/FITMENT THREAD** Have Questions About Wheel Fitment and Adjustable Suspension? Ask Here!

Kilroy said:
One thing about running spacers is making sure you have enough thread engagement to run the spacer you want. The minimum engagement of a lug nut should be six full turns with a spacer. IMO the wheel studs on the Contour seem pretty short... I was thinking like the stock studs on the Cobra were somewhat longer but can't say for certain. I know the maximum spacer size you can run on my Cobra is 1/4", or you can possibly go 3/8" if you have extended reach lug nuts. I'd say on the Contour about 1/8" is all I'd feel comfortable going... you might be able to do 1/4".

I've ran 1/2" spacers on the rear of my Cobra for several years now... it has no effect on a bearings lifespan due to spacing the wheel out. My car still has the IRS so there are hub bearings for it in the rear ;)



Shannon
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Thanks for pointing that out, I'd never run any width spacer without an extended stud on my car (VERY SHORT studs), so it kind of slipped my mind.
 
TourEnvy said:
I have been running a 1/4" (~6mm?) consistantly now for a few years on stock studs. I have also heard, in regard to thread engagement in general is, the nut should thread no less then the width of the stud. If the stud i 12mm then it should thread on 12mm.

I like to keep my lugs a little extra tight.
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I didn't say you couldn't run more than 1/8th inch spacer... I just seemed to think the studs were a little short for it ;) a 1/4" spacer would be the maximum you could go on a stock stud, unless you went to longer ones and then it really doesn't matter lol.

You are right as well concerning minimum thread engagement rules. That goes for practically all types of fastners... a bolt/nut should thread in at minimum the width of the thread deep in the hole.



Shannon
 
As an FYI, the studs that came on my GL (factory steel wheels) were BARELY long enough to accommodate E0 wheels. Steelies don't have the thick sleeve that alloy wheels do. I can't vouch for anyone who owns a vehicle that came with alloy wheels that isn't an SVT (as we know the limitations of spacers on stock SVT studs), but I'd assume they are the same. So, if your car came with factory steelies, you CANNOT install wheels with spacers!
 
cobrawannabe said:
Ian, you certainly can, you just need to install longer studs, which takes about 10 minutes for the entire car.
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Well naturally! That was the point of my post is that there are different size lug studs that come on the Contour already, so, for example, I'd HAVE to install longer studs with spacers, if I so choose to install spacers.
 
TourEnvy said:
It wasn't for argument sake, im sorry if i came off that way. I just want to let people know what was possible.
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Yeah sure... you're just wanting to pick a fight with me aren't ya ;) :laugh:

Just kidding of course :) I'm curious as to where you can get extended studs for a Contour, and if they're still the same M12 X 1.5 thread pattern. I have 3" ARP studs on the Cobra... however they're a lot longer than would be needed on the Contour and they're 1/2-20 thread.



Shannon
 
Well, due to differing information about lug nut engagement, I see nothing wrong with the philosophy of always pairing spacers with extended lug studs, especially for this platform, as these lug studs are barely long enough. It may be a bit overly cautious, but, IMO, there's nothing wrong with it. :shrug:
 
100-7708 ARP studs 2.5" Long

You probably can get the same in an OEM application at the parts store. an old threads says M12 x 1.5 60* taper. Just get the length.

Honestly If I had to deal with a parts person, I would ask for studs for your application, once thats successful. Ask for them X.XX" longer.
 
Thanks for the good info, TourEnvy. As for parts guys, it's all in who you speak to. There are guys out there who know what they're talking about. look for one, and don't talk to anyone else :D
 
zorrex said:
As an FYI, the studs that came on my GL (factory steel wheels) were BARELY long enough to accommodate E0 wheels. Steelies don't have the thick sleeve that alloy wheels do. I can't vouch for anyone who owns a vehicle that came with alloy wheels that isn't an SVT (as we know the limitations of spacers on stock SVT studs), but I'd assume they are the same. So, if your car came with factory steelies, you CANNOT install wheels with spacers!
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Years ago I posted on this very thing - that the studs on my car seemed kind of short for E0 wheels. Since when I bought the car it had some weird brand alloy wheels on it, my guess is that the previous own installed shorter studs on the car so that he could use the nuts that came with the wheels. Maybe when I'm putting the new suspension on I'll change the studs out to longer ones.
Karl
 
zorrex said:
As an FYI, the studs that came on my GL (factory steel wheels) were BARELY long enough to accommodate E0 wheels. Steelies don't have the thick sleeve that alloy wheels do. I can't vouch for anyone who owns a vehicle that came with alloy wheels that isn't an SVT (as we know the limitations of spacers on stock SVT studs), but I'd assume they are the same. So, if your car came with factory steelies, you CANNOT install wheels with spacers!
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well all of my cars had factory alloy wheels, never had a problem with E0 wheels on any of them. nor E1 or SVTF wheels either.
 
Okay I kinda understand the offset thing, but my questions are.
I see alot of rims that have the 4x108 bolt pattern but the all very in offset.(38-40)
Should I asume they all will fit? I'm looking at 18x7.5 wheels,now I know the fourm
suggests 42-45 ofset I think for 18's. Can I make any of those work?
 
you CANT make ANY wheel fit, like rims for a fox body will stick way out, the focus wheels will be sucked in. you can make up the difference IF its sucked in useing spacers, but spacers CAN be bad for your bearings, you should install longer studs when using spacers, for safety. hope this helps.
 
newb said:
you CANT make ANY wheel fit, like rims for a fox body will stick way out, the focus wheels will be sucked in. you can make up the difference IF its sucked in useing spacers, but spacers CAN be bad for your bearings, you should install longer studs when using spacers, for safety. hope this helps.
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I beg to differ. You CAN make ANY wheel fit with resources (time, money, and know how, or any combination of two basically)

With that being said, I want to address the first comment

MISTILLPHIX said:
Okay I kinda understand the offset thing, but my questions are.
I see alot of rims that have the 4x108 bolt pattern but the all very in offset.(38-40)
Should I asume they all will fit? I'm looking at 18x7.5 wheels,now I know the fourm
suggests 42-45 ofset I think for 18's. Can I make any of those work?
Click to expand...

You can make those work. The only thing to take into consideration is the hub size of rims if they are all the same pattern. Then again, with our cars, 4x108 isn't shared among many cars. 4 off the top of my head that I know are interchangable. You can have a rim that's 4x108, but with a hub that's less than the Contour's, which I believe is 63.1? Someone please correct me. Than the rim will not sit properly onto the hub surface. Then again, I've never heard of a rim not fitting because of hub sizes lololololololol Anyways, with the offset that you are looking for, it means that the rim will be pushed out slightly more than what the recommended offset suggests, but not by much. But, the wider you go, you need to make sure you have a lower offset to push the rim out more to clear your shock body. An 18x7.5 with an offset of 38-40 like you suggested should be fine with clearance I believe.
 
ok, fox stang rims, stick way out past the fenders right?(i saw a contour with stang rims today, ugly)
how would you fix that? get full custom rims with different backspacing made, cust control arms, cvshafts.
 
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