What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[SenorNoob]

I see now. It's weird that there are apparently a couple different patterns used on 06 Explorers...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I see now. It's weird that there are apparently a couple different patterns used on 06 Explorers...

You had me worried for a minute and I just did some extra searching. Bolt pattern is the same but for some reason some places are listing it as a metric size (something like 114.3 mm) but it’s the 5x4.5” according to all sources I’ve seen. I couldn’t find much about the center bore but I’m guessing it should be fine on a 2000 Ranger with the live front axle. Soon as I can find my cable for the laptop I want to try getting them swapped on.

 

[SenorNoob]

114.3mm is 4.5"

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So, the bolt pattern is correct. The center hub is not. For whatever reason there is some sort of pad bulging into where the center bore is from each lug pad. If those were not there and the bore was round (like it is beyond these projections, I may have to take pictures) they should fit. So apparently 06+ Explorers have a smaller center bore than previous Explorers? (Keep in mind, what is under my green Ranger is the axles from the donor 2nd Gen Explorer). If I can mill or get it milled out, they should fit.

 

[Bgunner]

So, the bolt pattern is correct. The center hub is not. For whatever reason there is some sort of pad bulging into where the center bore is from each lug pad. If those were not there and the bore was round (like it is beyond these projections, I may have to take pictures) they should fit. So apparently 06+ Explorers have a smaller center bore than previous Explorers? (Keep in mind, what is under my green Ranger is the axles from the donor 2nd Gen Explorer). If I can mill or get it milled out, they should fit.

Somewhere in the Tech Section about the factory rims/what rims fit. It does say what years do not fit the older axles. They did change the center bore at a particular year but for the life of me I can not remember what that year was. I just remember reading it there. Ill try and look for it and link it here in this post if I can find it.

EDIT: I found it. https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/ford-ranger-wheel-fitment-guide/
It is under the quick guide at the top of the page. Its the last two sentences of the quick guide.
1983-2011 Ford Ranger Wheel Fitment Guide
98+ will not fit 83-97 axles because the bore changed and the locking hubs will not fit through the new bore spacing.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Somewhere in the Tech Section about the factory rims/what rims fit. It does say what years do not fit the older axles. They did change the center bore at a particular year but for the life of me I can not remember what that year was. I just remember reading it there. Ill try and look for it and link it here in this post if I can find it.

EDIT: I found it. https://www.therangerstation.com/tech/ford-ranger-wheel-fitment-guide/
It is under the quick guide at the top of the page. Its the last two sentences of the quick guide.
1983-2011 Ford Ranger Wheel Fitment Guide
98+ will not fit 83-97 axles because the bore changed and the locking hubs will not fit through the new bore spacing.

Yup, that’s the same information I had…

The bore change was because of the front axle hubs.

Donor axles were from a 98 Explorer. Same suspension as the 98+ Ranger and used the “live” front like the 2000-2011 Ranger.

These rims supposedly came off of a 2006 Explorer. I haven’t read anything that says they shouldn’t fit, yet they do not, in fact, fit. If the center bore was opened up instead of 5 lobes bumping into the area, it would fit just fine. It’s kind of weird.

 

[superj]

And you can grind them down to test one using a file or dremel?


We used a torch on chevy 6 lug steel wheels to fit my old isuzu trooper2.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

And you can grind them down to test one using a file or dremel?


We used a torch on chevy 6 lug steel wheels to fit my old isuzu trooper2.

I thought about taking a die grinder and just clean it up. They’re aluminum and I do have an aluminum grinding burr. Not sure if that will screw anything up. Wish I knew someone local with a mill.

 

[JoshT]

Took the Ranger out for a spin. It also brought back new-to-me rims and tires for itself…

View attachment 119655

I thought those were a different bolt pattern? Adapters?

Not to be an ass, but I thought it was fairly common knowledge that 5x4.5 and 5x114.3 were the same lug pattern, just one is standard and the other is metric. The Explorer and Ranger (and CV, Mustang, and various other small Fords) all used that lug pattern, the major differences aside from diameter and width came from hub bore, as noted, and offset/backspace.

I'll drop these here:

Later Explorer wheels on Ranger

I'm not a mechanic. So I need to ask. What is the advantage to a larger wheel and a smaller tire? Does it reduce unsprung weight? No, as described above it actually increases unsprung weight, sometimes by a lot! But they do fit larger brakes which is sometimes important. I put the 20"...

www.therangerstation.com

Speaking of the explorer wheels, and since everyone is showing off their new wheels, I guess I'll show off my future wheels. I bought these to go on my dark gray metallic 99 Ranger after I lower it and convert to live axle. These won't be the "forever wheels" but they were cheap way to get into a size I was interested in for settintg up and testing out suspensio and ride height. The wheels are 2011-2017 Explorer 18x8 and the tires are 245/60R18, so about 29.5" tall. Well worn so probably closer to the 255/55R18 that I want to run.

Dad wanted to try out the smaller diameter on his truck and see how it responded so I was able to get a sneak peak of how they will look on a 4x4 Ranger. My truck will hopefully end up sitting a little lower than this.

View attachment 96038

(Click attachment link, picture isn't showing up in the quote for some reason)

FWIW they should be using 1" front and 1.5" rear spacers in that picture of dad's truck. I think that we had the same issue as you encountered with the hub bore, but in our opinion these wheels have too much offset to run without spacers.

Apparently I'm loosing my mind because I could have sworn that I posted pictures of them on my truck when I lowered it down during the engine rebuild. Here's one that I uploaded to an album here, but apparently never actually posted anywhere.



That's the same spacers and tires. Front suspension has lowering keys, bump stops removed, and raised juseenough to clear tires while still looking good. For height reference, the rear is on stock ranger springs with the lift block deleted.

I had to go back up to be alignable so I put my stock wheels and tires back on for now, lots of life left in them.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Ok, so spacers can fix it. I’m ok with running spacers. I was wondering about how it was going to fit, if I was going to end up set in too deep. That’s part of why I was trying to fit them. I have some shims coming today that will let me bolt these on as-is and determine exactly what I need to do to make them fit right. Really kinda like the look of these rims and other than a gouge in one, they’re almost brand new looking.

@JoshT , is there a specific reason for the different thickness of spacers between front and rear?

 

[superj]

the back end track inward of the front, probably. like an inch or something shorter track on the back than the front

 

[JoshT]

is there a specific reason for the different thickness of spacers between front and rear?

It's cosmetic. As superj mentioned the track width is different front to rear, the wider spacers was to push them out to better match the front. The truck will be getting an explorer axle eventually, so with the spacers it kind of approximates that axle width as well.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

It's cosmetic. As superj mentioned the track width is different front to rear, the wider spacers was to push them out to better match the front. The truck will be getting an explorer axle eventually, so with the spacers it kind of approximates that axle width as well.

Ok, so results may vary. I have the Explorer axle already so I guess probably I should see where they need to sit to look right with the body and go from there

 

[Rick W]

If you use wheel spacers, make sure you look up the torque specs, and look up what kind of thread lock you’re supposed to use.

When Ford/Lincoln designed my Continental Mark V, they were working on an agreement with Michelin to design special wide wheels and tires specifically for that car. Michelin never did it, and Ford used turban wheels from the parts bin. If you think about every one you’ve seen with the original wheels, the cars look great, but they look like they’re sitting on rollerskate wheels, tucked in too far.

I think the original tires were 225/75/15. I put on some 255/60/15 (??), but then the tires didn’t clear on the inside. I got 2 inch wheel spacers and put them all around. The set up looks great, it looks like what it’s supposed to be from the design of the car. Everything cleared when I tested it in the driveway, But if I am driving, and I make a hard turn to left or right and hit the slightest bump, the front tires will scuff the inner fender. I bought some inch and a half spacers to replace the 2 inch spacers a couple years ago, and I think I’ve got two or three years before I have to put them in…

From the safety standpoint, I vaguely remember that the spacers were supposed to be torqued to something like 120 with red thread lock, and then the wheels were supposed to be torqued to 90 with no thread lock or blue thread lock. The concept is you want the wheel to come off before the spacer comes loose.

Point being, don’t just check your clearances, check your clearances including the up-and-down vehicle travel relative to the wheel spindle.

My two cents, hope it helps

 

[Dantheman1540]

Redid most of the rear suspension over the last few days, not done but happy with it so far. I did notice however most of the fuel pump connector has dissolved. Anyone ever see that before?

Also did a little burnout to test the lack of wheel hop.

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