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17" SportTrac Wheels on a 2004 Ranger Doble Cabina Argentina


flybeech

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I've got a 2004 Ranger Doble Cabina (Crew Cab) made in Argentina, here in Yucatan, Mexico. It's like any normal Ranger, except it has 4 doors, 1-ton capacity and torsion bar front suspension. While it's a 2004 model, it looks like a 1998 North American model and still has RWABS. Here in Mexico, they deeply love their Rangers and truly nice, older examples are either not for sale, or over $10,000. Even junk for sale is rare and expensive, especially the doble cabinas. Mine was the best dog I could find, free of rust and wrecks, but very tired. Mine's getting a full, body-off restoration at the Ford dealer in Merida. Parts are high, but $25/hour labor for the top mechanics in the shop is a deal.

Sorry to ramble. I want to install 2008? SportTrac 17" wheels with 245/65R17 Michelins. It looks like it should be a nice fit. The bolt pattern, offset and tire height appears correct. Is anyone here successfully running this combination?

I might add that the differential and finned drum brakes are a different and much larger than a NAFTA Ranger. The front brakes appear to be way larger than normal, as well, but the bolt-pattern remains Ranger. The leaf-springs are massive for a Ranger. Mexican trucks are built for the chronic over-loader. To be honest, these items look like they're from some weird, narrowed F-250. Mine's an XL, with 15 inch steel wheels, but some of the XLT's came with that ugly 1997 F150 wheel and other decent F150-style wheels. For the curious, search Ford Ranger doble cabina images and the Argentina wheels can be seen, for clues.

The dealer thinks they'll be fine, but won't touch anything but engine/transmission while the cabina is off the chassis for the brand-new, 2 year guarantee 2.3 DOHC I-4 engine going in. I want to send the body over the the body shop, but they don't, so darn, I'll have to pay another $350 to R&R the body again at their body shop on the other side of town. At least body shop labor rates are cheaper than the heavy-line shop, so the second body R&R should be less than $300 Federal Reserve Notes. When the engine is in the chassis, they'll start the suspension, differential and brakes and I'll get to see what Ford pulled from their parts bag to build a 1-ton Ranger Crew. Commissioned Ford mechanics are paid monthly (rare in Mexico) half of the $25/hour and understandably, my super talented team leader wants to jam as much time as he can by tomorrow, so pulling lug nuts is last on his list, right now. I used to do what he's doing, so I won't even ask. I get it. He definitely gets propinas from me, I could never dream of a body-off restoration of a doggy, old Ranger at a top-line Ford dealer in the US. I've got free reign to go anywhere in the shop, all by myself. I can talk to the mechanics any time I want and the labor is so cheap, I feel like I'm stealing it. It's kinda fun.

Side note: The exciting and new 2019 Ranger Crew Cab was new and exciting here in 2013, with diesels, to boot. Thanks to the chicken tax, we never saw it in the US.
 
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Tecnico

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Hi:
The statement of ford ranger are rarely for sale in that part of the country may apply

Check mercadolibre=ebay Mexico,autotrader Mexico and you will find many ford rangers for sale

Example: https://auto.mercadolibre.com.mx/MLM-634208782-ford-ranger-pickup-aire-buenas-condiciones-factura-original-_JM

Another one: http://www.autotrader.com.mx/autos-usados/m%C3%A9rida/ford/2005-ford-ranger-9191978/

You may have to travel to another state in Mexico to find it instead of locally plus you can find vehicles in better shape

In Mexico City you can find a lot rangers for sale single cab,extended cab or quad cab/crew cabs

About you wheel fitment you might have to use spacers,the wheels may rub against the brake lines or part of the suspension(been there,done that)

Also you may have to bore the inside of the wheel to clear the bearing hub in a machine shop

Just try the wheel with tire in the front first if you have then available

Check this article to get an idea
http://www.therangerstation.com/how-to/wheels_and_brakes/mustang-wheels-on-your-ranger/



Greetings from The South of Disorder
Tecnico
 
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flybeech

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Never having owned a 1-ton Ranger before, I'm adjusting to seeing huge, dual-piston calipers on beefy, oversized rotors and jumbo drums on the rear. It appears to me, my problem adapting the Sport Trac wheel will be the front hub. Whereas the Ranger appears with the the traditional rotor/hub combination, while the later Explorers have the "pop-top" rotors and separate, sealed bearing hubs.

I'm not excited about using spacers, but I'm not opposed to machining my Sport Track wheels out to fit the old-school rotor. Now ruled out as a bolt-on while it's at the dealer, I'll either just resort to the steel 15" stock HD wheels or, since amazing machine-shop services are accessibly priced, I'll just get an old, bad rotor as a pattern and send the wheels and rotor to see what the machine shop can do. I got the Sport Track wheels cheap, so one can be sacrificed for the cause.

With a set of good 17" tires costing almost a thousand Federal Reserve Notes and who knows what the results of hogging out my Sport Track wheels will reveal, those stock 15's are looking better all the time.
 

adsm08

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If they came with F-150 wheels I suspect an ST rim will not fit. The US Rangers and Sport Tracs were always 5x4.5in, while the 97-04 F-150s were 5x150mm
 

85_Ranger4x4

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For what its worth I think my '85 was rated around 1500lbs payload so getting to 2k (or one ton) shouldn't be too much of a stretch.

US Rangers received dual piston front calipers in 1995 and they played with rear drum sizes a few times over the years.
 

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