Hub swapped drag wheels and tires

driller

driller

El Presidente
Staff member
I'm looking to do a hubswap soon so that means new wheel choices. I've already made the choice for street wheels so now I'm looking for drag wheels for the track.

Since I'll be doing a brake upgrade, I'll assume I'll need bigger wheels than most 5 x 4.5 drag wheel choices. I'm all about light weight for performance and I also need to consider what drag tire choices are available. I'll start with the rear but eventually hope to score a set for the front and run skinnies.

So, what's some good choices out there?
 
Good call, John. Good thing you have the "support vehicle" with the trunk large enough to fit extra wheels, skinnies or not. ;)
 
I used Cragar Super tricks back then as there weren't alot of choices. I did a quick search and found more wheel sources that I care to go thru looking at now. I am sure Driller will be thorough.
 
Well, from what I can tell so far, Welds cost a lot of money! LOL, but yeah they are trick.

It looks like it'll require at least 17" wheels. That'll severely limit the choices but still much more to choose from than the 16" 5 x 4.25!

I may have to go with a set of drag radials for a while until I can find what all will fit.
 
I can tell the welds are worth it if you can justify it. I had 20" forged welds on my f250 before I sold it. The quality of the wheels was great. The aluminum was a much higher grade than the stuff on my cobra r's, like night and day. I could spend 5 minutes polishing each wheel and get the same result as over an hour on the cobra r's.....but the race wheels a re very light as well. You know how much a light wheel will help you as well on the 1/4....
 
95blklsc said:
I can tell the welds are worth it if you can justify it. I had 20" forged welds on my f250 before I sold it. The quality of the wheels was great. The aluminum was a much higher grade than the stuff on my cobra r's, like night and day. I could spend 5 minutes polishing each wheel and get the same result as over an hour on the cobra r's.....but the race wheels a re very light as well. You know how much a light wheel will help you as well on the 1/4....
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Especially compared to those hella-heavy OEM snowflake/honeycomb/cinder block rims!!
 
After looking around, Weld's are actually not the most expensive! LOL :D

The snowflake wheels are what I run now at the track and they are pretty light. But a nice set of Weld rims will even be lighter. :)

There are tons of choices for 15" wheels with a 5x4.5 boltcircle. I hope 15" skinnies will clear the brakes. I know for regular wheels to clear the cobra brakes you need 17" or bigger but I'm thinking with skinnies, that shouldn't be a problem? Like a 26x4.5x15 on a 15x4 rim with 2-1/2" backspace?

What about the rear? Would 15 x 8 work with the right offset(5-1/2" backspace) and a 26x9.5x15 tire?

I'm going to likely wait until the hubswap and brake upgrade to get actual measurements to see what will and will not fit.
 
i always thought my snowflakes were heavy as fawk, especially for 16s. Hell, I bet my 15-spoke OEM 18s are lighter. :p
 
FWIW, I use 17x9 Cobra R's on the rears with 275/40/17 MT DR's. You'll have trouble finding skinnies to clear the Cobra front brakes.
 
Yeah, I'm sure 17s would work and they seem readily available. :)

Trying to find credible info on this is like searching for hen's teeth. Seems like not many have trodden down this path trying to fit true race wheels on a Lincoln.

There's a couple local guys that may be able to help me out once I get the hub swap done. I can test fit their Mustang wheels to see what may work. So far it appears 'some' 15" drag wheels 'may' fit in the rear depending on the shape of the barrel.
 
If you do the Cobra rotors in the rear, with the relocation brackets, then I think you'll need at least 16" wheels to clear the parking brake cable. Look for info on Thunderbirds, that have the Cobra rotors (for the rear) and Cobra's (for the front).
 
I am currently doing mustang bolt pattern swap on my car and will go with 15x8 prostars in the back.I have one set for the rear with 4.5" backspacing and another with 5.5" backspacing and I will try and see which one works better so I may have some info for you soon.
 
Burbank 98 LSC said:
I am currently doing mustang bolt pattern swap on my car and will go with 15x8 prostars in the back.I have one set for the rear with 4.5" backspacing and another with 5.5" backspacing and I will try and see which one works better so I may have some info for you soon.
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Thank you, that would be great! :)
 
JP, The Marauder wheels I had on the car at SSHS8 rubbed a little on the swaybar I believe, but got the job done if that helps any. They were a tight fit though. I would think a 1/4" to 1/2" spacer max would make them clear with no rub. I am pretty sure there was no rub on the Cobra rotors, but not sure about the e-brake. I have the Fast Ed kit with stock Mark calipers. These are for sale too, if anyone is interested! :)

I decided to just put some MT DR's on the car when the current tires are melted. The Brembo's really make it hard for a set of skinnies to fit on the car, and I can't justify a second set of custom rims, and it is a hassle for me to change tires at the track. lol I need a whole pit crew for that. :cool:

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Thanks, all info is appreciated. :)

Mike, from what I recall from SSHS8, you had an entire pit crew! LOL :D
 
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