Mustang Wheel Tech Guide

Mustang Wheel Tech Guide

We’ve all heard auto techs mention terms like “offset” and “backspacing” and “bolt pattern” when talking to them about mustang wheels. And we’ve all nodded our heads like we knew what they were talking about, even when we didn’t. Here’s a secret for you: most Mustang owners don’t know everything about buying wheels for their mustang.

We’ve covered the basics and taken the guess work out of buying mustang wheels in our Mustang Wheel Buying Guide

But we know that there are a few people out there that do want to know what their technician is talking about. For you, we have created this guide, filled with the technical information that you don’t really need to know.

Mustang Wheel Offset
The offset of a mustang wheel is the distance from the hub mounting surface to the centerline of the mustang wheel. It is very important to purchase a wheel with the correct offset for your year Mustang. If the offset is not right for your mustang, the steering and handling will be affected.

There are three types of offset:

1. Zero Mustang Offset: This means that the hub mounting surface is even with the centerline of the wheel.
2. Positive Mustang Offset: The hub mounting surface is toward the front (face or wheel side) of the wheel. Positive offset wheels are generally found on front wheel drive cars, as well as on newer rear-wheel drive cars.
3. Negative Mustang Offset: This means that the hub mounting surface is toward the back (or brake side) of the wheel’s centerline.

Mustang Wheel Backspacing:

Backspacing is distance from the back edge of a wheel rim to the back of the center section. Measured in inches, backspacing is closely related to offset. This measurement is important because it determines the clearance of the wheel in the well, and the amount the wheel will stick out.

You can measure a wheel’s backspacing by running a straight edge across the rim bead and dropping another straight edge down to the wheel face, measuring that distance.

Mustang Wheel Bolt Pattern:
The bolt pattern is the diameter of the circle made by the centers of the wheel lugs. So, for our 5-lug wheels, a bolt pattern of 5 x 4.5 inches means that the lug pattern falls on a circle that is 4.5 inches in diameter.