another explorer-to-ranger rim swap thread. 225-70-15, 2000 2.5l 2wd

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

i am on a quest for higher gas mileage and my my mechanic buddy recommended i get rid of my 25year old steel rims that are probably deformed at this point and replace them with a $200 set of explorer wheels off craigslist.
from what i have researched in other threads is that i need to acquire 00-02 explorer rims/tires for my truck, otherwise i will have to deal with adding 'wheel spacers' to make up for the 'positive offset'

other concerns:
-explorer rims are OE 235/70R16 so i believe i will also have to buy a new (?used?) set of tires as well. hopefully the set of rims come with tires that have not been sitting in the sun for years. i assume if they are inflated but not installed, they can sit around a year or three without getting degrading or getting weird, spots, ya?
-is the OE 235/70R16 tire size as abundant and cheap as the ranger 225-70-15 tire size?
-any other comparable stock aluminum rims to look out for?
-seems like wheel spacers would add another $100 to the price tag of the swap. can these be found used for cheap?

 

[Blmpkn]

235-70-16s are going to be taller than 225-70-15s, which would reduce fuel efficiency.

Requiring spacers would also add more weight.. which could negate any weight loss by switching setups


Have you done the math to figure how far out your 'break even' point would be? Depending on how much you drive... it could take YEARS for your lighter set of wheels/tires to have saved you enough money on fuel to offset their cost.. essentially making the decision/swap a waste of money.

 

[Blmpkn]

What are you getting for MPGs anyways? You have the king of all rangers when it comes to fuel efficiency as it is..

My 2.3/2.5 trucks have always given me 25+ mpg.. even on 30" tires & steelies. That's pretty much the best you can expect out of a vehicle that has an aerodynamic drag coefficient closer to a semi truck than a Honda civic (literally).

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

I think bigger wheels and tires more than cancel out the steel -> aluminum weight savings anyway.

IIRC my stock 15" steelies were 25lbs and aluminum wheels 20lbs. A quick google shows a 16" Explorer wheel at ~23lbs, so the 15" -> 16" bump eats up more than half the savings. My Geolandars would be 29lbs in 225/70 R15 and 33lbs in 235/70 R16, so your total weight for wheel+tire would go from 25+29 to 23+33, for a net of +2lbs.

Even if the MPG increase from rotating mass reduction was worth a $200 investment, this plan doesn't actually make you lighter.


Regardless, I'm also not sure why you'd need spacers. I've never read anything about Explorer wheels having higher backspacing, but it's possible I'm looking at the wrong years.

 

[Josh B]

Backspacing never crossed my mind when I started taking rims from the 96 Explorer to the 93 Ranger, it was actually more tread made me do that.
I have noticed no ill effects in any way, and really paid very little attention to where they;re tracking, and it's easy for me living on a well maintained dirt-gravel road.
My primary reason for how they get arranged is in wanting the deeper treads to be on the rear axle for better milage

 

[Josh B]

Come to think of it the Explorer lug nuts off my 96 are different from the ones on the 93 Ranger but still work ok by keeping them separate and matched/

When I was considering new tires I used Michelin I believe it was. They had a tire size calculator which gave every aspect of each tire you could ever need. Funny tho that the weight of the wheel wasn't even mentioned that I recall

My previous tires were 265, my current ones are 235, which put me at a loss per revolution of 7%. It also gave the truck more brake HP.
After all was said and done I had more HP and suffered precious little loss in milage.

Knowing what any changes do might also save you a speeding ticket or two, Mine is 7% per hundred miles or MPH, 3.5% @ 50 MPH, so say near 50 I'm actually going 46.5 MPH.

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

my buddy said that steel rims deform over time and abuse and i figure that aluminum rims would diminish the effect of wopped wheels and thus improve my mpg

a bunch of threads i was reading mentioned positive offset for later explorer rims. 03 and later if i have interpreted the threads correctly. i am looking for verification of my findings

 

[racsan]

unless your jumping the truck, bouncing off curbs or concrete parking stops I doubt your steel wheels are bent. Ive had issues with the stock escape wheels (alloy) holding air over time so I bought 4 new steel rims that were normally meant to be the spare on the gen 1’s. They hold air fine. The biggest advantage you get from a alloy wheel is heat transfer from the brakes. My ‘94 2.3 2wd performs best with 225/70/15’s and is running a 4.10 rear end, Ive ran 235/75/15’s and it is noticeably lower on power with them, 21 mpg is the best Ive seen but im fine with that. Right now Im running fwd hhr rims with spacers/adaptors that correct for the positive offset, size is 215/60/16 which is just a little smaller diameter than the 225/70/15’s. Im only running them because I had them and that car is no longer on the road. Spent around $120 on the adapter/spacers. By the time you spend on everything (tires/rims/adaptors) that would of bought quite a bit of fuel. My winter wheels are horribly ugly.

 

[Blmpkn]

my buddy said that steel rims deform over time and abuse and i figure that aluminum rims would diminish the effect of wopped wheels and thus improve my mpg

a bunch of threads i was reading mentioned positive offset for later explorer rims. 03 and later if i have interpreted the threads correctly. i am looking for verification of my findings

If your goal is to save money... spending money on new wheels, tires, possibly spacers, mount/balance/disposal fees.. isn't gonna help you realize that goal.

Even If the switch managed to get you another 2mpg, which would be extremely generous.. it would take hundreds of tanks of fuel at that rate to recoup your costs.. not hundreds of gallons.. hundreds of full tanks. Years and years worth of driving.

With interest rates the way they are right now.. putting whatever money you can in a simple savings account and not touching it would make you more money..

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

I would disagree with your buddy. Steel wheels should be more durable overall. They're also hypothetically possible to repair if you bend one. If your wheels are bent or won't balance, sure, replace them, but don't go chasing silver bullet cures for low MPG.

I know I'm coming in here with a ton of math, but I'm seeing people post saving "a few pounds" per wheel might increase MPG "a few (<5) percent". So even if you did save weight by mounting your current tires on 15" aluminum wheels, if you start at 20mpg and add 1/2mpg, it would take 4 years of average driving @ $3/gal to save your $200 up-front cost.

If you get junkyard wheels for $15/ea. and drop that down to 15mos. to break even, I guess maybe you're accomplishing something, but are you set up to remount you own tires, or is that another $80?
At the end of the day, you'd be better served by watching how hard you stomp on the go pedal.


On fitment, it doesn't matter if Explorer wheels have positive offset. If it wasn't clear, I don't like offset for "will this fit?" at the best of times, because backspacing makes a lot more sense, but the point is that you care about the difference between the wheels you're looking at and the wheels you have now. 5.5" BS is stupid high for us, but you could put that on a TJ without spacers because that's what it came with.

 

[sgtsandman]

The tires you buy will have more effect (rolling resistance) than the type of wheel you choose. Even then it isn't going to be a huge difference but there will be a difference. A mud tire, all terrain tire, and a winter tire will have more rolling resistance than an all season tire or highway tire, the mud tire tending to be the worst of the lot. But if you plan on driving on anything less than a gravel road, an all season or highway tire isn't going to serve you well. All season tires can have issues on wet grass, let alone mud depending on tread design. So, you are going to have to decide what tire is going to serve your needs best, what compromises you are willing to deal with, and go from there.

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

low speed pursuit, you wrote:
"On fitment, it doesn't matter if Explorer wheels have positive offset. "
I was told that due to backspacing issues, some explorer rims wont fit on some ranger hubs. also doesnt wheel offset/backspacing affect the handling of the vehicle?
im actually very confused by the last paragraph of that post.
"but don't go chasing silver bullet cures for low MPG. "
im looking for small changes here and there to improve my overall mpg.

joshB, you said -
"My primary reason for how they get arranged is in wanting the deeper treads to be on the rear axle for better milage"
could you elaborate on these deeper grooves in the rear giving better mpg?

also if anyone is wondering. i usually run used $50 hwy tires.
i need to replace two tires right now, so i feel if there was a good time to make a wheel switch, it is right now.
*my current newest two tires are the only too have ever given me problems in my past ten years of buying used tires*

 

[superj]

i would keep the steelies too. just get some skinnier taller sidewall tires. get the lightest thinnest tires you can find that are similar diamater to your current set and you should be good

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

i do offroad a decent amount (ive been driving through a lot of patches of sugar sand lately) so i am kinda wearing of going towards thinner tires, but from what i understand they significantly help improve mpg.
will skinny tires ride decently well offroad as long as i deflate down to 25 or 20psi?

thnx for the suggestions yall. my mechanic buddy who knows my cheapness and driving habits and vehicle goals has been begging to switch to alum rims.
...hes also been begging me to wash my truck, lol

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

On fitment, I've been wrong before, I'll be wrong again, and I'm not looking at the wheels in question. If you want to link the discussion you're talking about, I can take a closer look.

I can imagine a scenario where stock wheels barely clear caliper, so replacement wheels of a slightly different shape, or slightly thicker, don't clear with the same BS and would need to be spaced out. That only really makes sense for the same diameter wheels, though, not 15" -> 16".

There are also issues like wheels with a smaller centerbore wouldn't fit on my old 2wd front hubs without a spacer, but that's a centerbore problem, not a backspacing/offset problem.