Can anyone confirm that 245/40/17 and 315/35/17 tires fit correctly under a stock body Pantera without doing any modifications to the wheel wells.
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Have you read the discussions under Sticky #8? I had 315/35/ZR17 on my stock rear car. I could only get one finger between the tire and the muffler but I don't have stock mufflers. Sticky #8 discusses the decent tire availability. Since you are 17 front and rear maybe there isn't a problem. The 285/40/ZR17s that I put on look real nice. Plenty wide.
Dear Steve,
Assuming that your seventeen inch diameter wheels have the correct backspacing/offset, then yes.
One of my Panteras is shod with Sumitomo tires in exactly the size you mention. The other one has 255/45?/17 in front (Kuhmo) and 315/35/17s in the rear.
Full disclosure: both use PPC Koni shocks and springs. Both have 4+degrees of positive caster. Both have had some special massaging of the middle portion of the front fender edge due to the combination of high caster and wide tires.....
Obviously, 225/50?/17 size should fit without any drama, but it is a bit small in proportion to the 315s in the rear.
No problems with 315/35/17s in the rear.
Warmest regards, Chuck Engles
Assuming that your seventeen inch diameter wheels have the correct backspacing/offset, then yes.
One of my Panteras is shod with Sumitomo tires in exactly the size you mention. The other one has 255/45?/17 in front (Kuhmo) and 315/35/17s in the rear.
Full disclosure: both use PPC Koni shocks and springs. Both have 4+degrees of positive caster. Both have had some special massaging of the middle portion of the front fender edge due to the combination of high caster and wide tires.....
Obviously, 225/50?/17 size should fit without any drama, but it is a bit small in proportion to the 315s in the rear.
No problems with 315/35/17s in the rear.
Warmest regards, Chuck Engles
Those are max-width front tires for unflared front fenders. Some cars are worse than others in the full-lock turn clearance they need, for unknown reasons. A few only rub on the right side. As Chuck said, the 9-1/2" wide tread 245 fronts should fit but there WILL be some metal-massaging necessary, which can be done with a ball-pein hammer and some care. The OEM tires had 6" wide treads.
Some areas that rub only show up in full-lock turns, even at parking-lot speeds. Besides contouring the inside fender edges as mentioned in the Ford TSBs, the right side wiper motor splash shield may need modifying; Larry Stock has modified ones in stock with a core charge on your old one.
And removing the headlight-height/bumper-height spring spacers (U.S. only) plus any lowering or adding extra caster for more stable high speed handling may cause these minor clearance areas to need redoing. Caster pulls the entire wheel back towards the cabin, changing clearances.
Some areas that rub only show up in full-lock turns, even at parking-lot speeds. Besides contouring the inside fender edges as mentioned in the Ford TSBs, the right side wiper motor splash shield may need modifying; Larry Stock has modified ones in stock with a core charge on your old one.
And removing the headlight-height/bumper-height spring spacers (U.S. only) plus any lowering or adding extra caster for more stable high speed handling may cause these minor clearance areas to need redoing. Caster pulls the entire wheel back towards the cabin, changing clearances.
Thanks all. Great information.