LEE-RS

how hard is it to fit 18" wheels to a mk 4 escort ? total arch job or what and
anyone got any pics of some fitted

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

Do-able but fuck me it's alot of work, never mind just getting them under but under lock there's alot of contact.

Good luck !!!!!

tonyturbo

If your gonna do it, get wheels with a focus offset, i think its around 44mm, not 100% sure! I used 7.5x18's with a 37mm offset and it was alot of work. Still didnt rub in the finish up with a 70mm drop but far easier with focus offset. i had to trim from bottom of back bumper right round to about 6"s up from the sill. major aggro.

lazy_arse_pie

mate of mine had 18" back in 1999 on his mk4 s2 turbo , went on no probs with minimal arch work and was lowerd also

GOT2BZETEC

tonyturbo
Looks stunning

Dan

Took the words right out my mouth, I had 18 inch Masitaly VT5r's on my Mk4 Xr3i, that was about 4-5 years ago, went on no probs and was lowered -40mm on Spax springs

Do it, it will look good, handling does suffer but hey!If it's what u wanna do!

What wheels ya got in mind?

Dan

I did trim the arches in the end tho, think I went to -60mm springs, took the arch liner right out, and rolled and lipped the arch and was fine, no probs!

tonyturbo

i removed arch liners in front, cut lip off and bonded kit back on.
on rear i cut the lip into 1" sections and folded them up bit by bit till it was all tight, seam sealed it and bonded kit back on, trimmed back bumper as well.
was dropped 70mm and i got 3 in back and it never rubbed. was deffo worth it tho cos it looks so mental..

i have had 19" tsw reflex's from a focus on mine just to see if they would go on. rubbed on full lock but that was it. meant to get pics but my camera was broke at the time!!!!

Dan

Shame you got no pics of that Tony, would have looked great I reckon!

What was the mod that Performance Ford were talking about in your feature, mounting the shocks lower in the hubs or something? Care to explain?

tonyturbo

on the front shocks you have a flat plate that sticks out of the side near the bottom where the bolt goes through which clamps it to the hub.
i modified the hole in this by redrilling it 10mm further up, which brings the bottom of the shock down to just above the cv joinh, gave me the extra 10mm lowering that i wanted. half hour job each side.

Dan

Sweet, what about the rear's, how did you get them to match so well?

Must admit it's one of the best sitting Mk4's ive seen! Had I of kept mine it would have been very similar by now!

tonyturbo

the rears were done with chopped springs and i had the threads on the shockstaken 30mm further down so as it kept the springs tight at all times.

was just to tight to buy coil overs.

Dan

Well at least you did something to stop the spring moving around! Did it handle ok with the springs chopped?

Would coilovers have given you the same or better results you think?

LEE-RS

im thinking about buying my mates arospeed rs-gts there off his focus ive wanted some since i saw them on soys old s2 turbo

Ian3dr

What do 18's handle like on an RST? On a 3dr it aint brilliant!

Ezzy Danny

looks the business but foook me looks like a lot of work

NasRs

Looks nice with the 18's, usually i thought any bigger than 17's and the handling deteriorates on mk4 escorts, although i could be completely wrong???

tonyturbo

i dont think coilovers would have gained me much really. it would have been done properly with coilovers but thats life

the handling was ok. i suppose if you were to push it hard it would be a bit scary but i never really went that crazy in it as i was running it in when i had it, it was a lot more fragile with the 18's as aposed to the escossie rims. potholes were a worry.