Spas got BULLITTS >:D

Hey, gang! Bet you were expecting to see pics of my new 2001 GT grey spoke Bullitts, huh? No dice just yet, but since you're already here, maybe you can help me answer a few questions

I won them off of a 2001 Gt Mustang on ebay for a ridiculously low price (They're used, but I won't tell you how much I paid because there might be a few jealous 'bullitts' launched at my head, lol) They're 17x8 and I need to hunt down some sporty tires for them. It'll be three weeks before I can post pics for everybody to see, and for that I'm sorry, but it gives me a few weeks to get everything together to get them on the truck. On to the HELP ME PLEASE section:

1) Am I gonna need spacers? My truck's only dropped an inch up front

2) Is this going to mess up my speedo?

3) I need to get stick on wheel weights, and put them inSIDE the rims to keep it clean looking, right?
This one's probably the most important:

4) What tires should I get? I need good snow, water, and mud traction, with sporty handling. I also want to keep the overall TIRE size as close to the 255/70 that I have now..by that I mean that I want a good bit of sidewall (I hate the idea of low profile tires on my ride with all that wheelwell space) Michelin? Pirelli? What???

5) Any stress on steering, suspension, or other components that I should be worried about?

6) How much do you think book value is on my premium factory rims with goodyear ATS's (that still have 80% of their tread left)? They're in pretty decent shape for 4 year old rims...

Thanks guys, you all are priceless when it comes to helping out fellow Explorians!

 

[Spas]

This thread is back form the dead! LOL

Yeah really, right? Everytime I think it's been forgotten...
Love my truck, huh? Like the way I love yours?

Willie Chu was kind enough to send me back my old centercaps (THANKS WILLIE!), now I have to figure out what to do with them..

I have two choices:
1) Buy the stick on Ford caps and slap them on flat SVT caps I already have (here's the link, btw- thanks aSilly50!) Ford Racing center cap stick ons

OR

2) Take a Dremel to the originals and cut down to the chrome ponies (Can't get them out, i tried), sand them flat and paint over them, stuff some chrome lettering "GT"s in there, finish off with a nice clear coat!

>>note: I find that ESCAPE, EXCURSION, EXPLORER and EXPEDITION are all minus that much needed little "G", but "NAVIGATOR" works juuuuust fine

Open to ideas here gang....clock is ticking and Carlisle's only a month away...

 

[Black Magic]

Go for the SVT caps, like me. That way I can have a friend to play with!

 

[5.0Dad]

OK, so the reason I resurrected this thing and called you all here is that I want to change out my ctr. caps too. What I'm looking at is the caps that are on some Ranger and F150 Alloy's. They are dark gray, slightly domed, with a Ford oval inset in the center. A local dealer looked them up for me and they're only about $7.50 per. The only question is whether the diameter is the same.

 

[Spas]

Check me out! No more moonvisor, but now I have carbon fiber altezzas and clear corners, bwa ha haaaa!

Holy crap does it make a difference with no more flapping from up top..! The Bullitts suffered much through this past winter on account of me not being able to afford beater tires for my old rims Ran one of them into a curb in the snow and had to dremel off part of the rim's outer lip, but I apparently did a good enough job that you can't see it unless I show you...Got stuck in my now ex-boyfriend's yard in the pine trees on Christmas day and had to listen to my poor Blackjack getting beaten all night by 30mph winds because he was too ignorant to help pull me out (this one reason why he's an "ex" now).

The tires are wearing pretty well despite the crazy amount of burnouts I've been doing, lol. I'm still looking into making myself some GT center caps, but it's slow going. I may just opt to be like 'Magic and get the nicer SVT ones

 

[Spas]

That's the Tydings Bridge in Havre DeGrace, MD, over the Susquehanna River, in case anyone was wondering...

 

[Texplorer]

I like it a lot better without the visor and the tails blend in nicely.

 

[Spas]

Thank you, Tex


The moonvisor found a far more appropriate home on the East Coast's *other* striped Explorer

 

[james t]

looks 100% better without that visor.

 

[TarHeel085]

Originally posted by james t
looks 100% better without that visor.

YES it does!!!

 

[X~FACTOR]

Aren't those the same 17 X 8 Bullitt wheels that EE advertised for around $150 but with the correct back spacing?

 

[Spas]

Aren't those the same 17 X 8 Bullitt wheels that EE advertised for around $150 but with the correct back spacing?

Got me on that one...I got all four of mine for a whopping $300 For the record, the rims don't rub- it's the tires, and I think they only rub because I got such a huge size.

There's a few places out there that make reliable spacers (they incorporate the studs into the spacer so as not to put undo stress on the factory studs), but at $200 a pair, they're a bit out of reach for me just now

Hopefully by the end of summer though: I'm tired of having my back tires stuffed so far under the lip of my fender flares and having the front ones rub on the sway bar!

Maybe 1/2"- 1" for the front and 1 1/2"-2" for the back, depending on what I can find...

 

[Hartman]

Spas, remember when I used to give you crap all the time for the visor? You finally took it off, looks great without it. Have you experienced any leaking with your altezzas yet?

 

[Spas]

Heck yah, I remember! Actually, you were the first person I thought of when I broke out the hammer to get the damn thing off You guys are seeing the "AFTER" pics..as in after the paintjob to fix the dents I put in it trying to get the damn thing to let go of my roof!

I put a healthy dose of epoxy all around the clear corners and altezzas- no major leakage yet, although they fog up after heavy rain (which is all the time here lately )

To make the altezzas look marginally better I cut up my old slotted tail light covers and put them back on around the edges

 

[5.0Dad]

Looks great w/out the visor and w/ the tails the whole package looks sweet. Two thumbs up from me!

Have you checked out the group buy for spaces?

 

[james t]

spas, i think you should leave the front alone and just run a 3/4" or 1" spacer on the back. that would bring the rear out equal to or a little farther than the front, and look damn good IMHO.

 

[benchpress450lb]

I've got a full set of Bullits sitting in my garage if anyone wants to purchase them. They are my dads rims but I can see how much he wants for them. He just got the 17x9 and 17x10.5 chrome cobra r's and these have been taking up room in my garage for a month now.

Anyone interested shoot me an email at benchpress450lbs@hotmail.com

Jon

 

[Spas]

spas, i think you should leave the front alone and just run a 3/4" or 1" spacer on the back. that would bring the rear out equal to or a little farther than the front, and look damn good IMHO.

But I'd still have the problem up front with the Upper control arm I think the rims fill the fender flare out nicely up front as is too, though.

Jeff and I measured the front and rear track...the front is 1" wider than the rear (If I recall correctly, but I may be wrong)

Will making the rear track wider than the front cause any serious weirdness in handling?

(Didn't know there was a group buy for spacers, thanks Dad! )

 

[Spas]

Hee hee, I'm such a picture junkie

 

[IAmTodd]

Have you lifted the rear at all? In that picture it looks a little higher than in the front.

 

[Spas]

Nope, the rear isn't lifted....Used the Torsion bar twist on the front end to lower it a little over an inch though