Best Ford Factory Rims for 85 BII

[tidmarshsmiths5]

What do y'all think would be the best Ford Factory rims for a 85 BII?

I have found a set of Sport Trac rims (15x7) that I think would look awesome...I wonder if they would fit without any mods?

I'm not into running big tires as I'm a street user with some riding through pastures, power lines and gravel roads with a little mud for hunting but nothing serious in off road. Plus the smaller tires give me better gas mileage.

Until I saw those Sport Trac rims I was leaning toward the bullet hole rims, but will have to educate myself on the size of those - wouldn't run any bigger tire than a 235/75/15, but that's just me

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/wheel_fitment.html

 

[AdamEvans69]

Anything off of a jeep wrangler or cherokee should bolt right up. They're all 5 on 4.5 just like the bronco 2.

 

[Flat Toy]

86 with 99 Explorer rims with 235/75/15's

Same with 94 Explorer rims and I think 225/70/15's

 

[adsm08]

Pretty much any Ranger or Explorer wheel will fit correctly. The only thing you really have to watch out for is grabbing a 16 inch wheel and trying to put a 15 inch tire on it.

 

[tidmarshsmiths5]

I like those rims (Explorer rims) and I think the 75s feel the fender a little better.

Found a guy here who has bullet hole rims that painted them black for a decent price, but I've got to see them to see how hard of a paint he used and if I can get them back to stainless without ruining them.

I'm on the hunt for a "great priced" set now...I think it will make mine stand out better.

If I don't find any soon, I'll definitely repaint mine in the center with the Ford Grey - I like those as the beauty rims set them off rather nicely for my old tastes anyway until I can find a Ranger or Explorer set.

I don't think I will and hope I do not get any fender rub with 235/75s as that is what'll probably net out running (I have 205/70s on it now - it's what I bought it with and they're new tires so hard to trash them).

 

[Twister]

Anything off of a jeep wrangler or cherokee should bolt right up. They're all 5 on 4.5 just like the bronco 2.

Not all, my brother had a set from a wrangler that rubbed on the caliper. I really like the typical star aluminum ones that came on the bronco II's and Rangers.

Sent from, wait how did this get here?

 

[Scrambler82]

Ford had Outlaw IIs on my ’88 STX and my wife’s ’94 Navajo had some nice thick 5-spoke designs.
No pics but if you want them I can get some.

 

[wildbill23c]

So a great way to find out if a certain wheel would fit a certain vehicle is to goto a pick a part lot and get a wheel and tire off of xxx vehicle to try on xxx vehicle? That's kind of what I was thinking about doing just to be sure. When you are on a tight budget the last thing I would want to do is waste my money on a set of wheels that I drove 35 miles to get to find out they won't work then you are out all that money. I think a pick a part lot would be a great trial and error way of finding out pretty easily for sure if a certain wheel will work or not.

 

[tidmarshsmiths5]

Picked up a set of 4 for $60...now the work begins...wow, not so easy to remove the black paint.

Gonna call a buddy of mine that has a shop and find out what he'll charge to blast them...if not, I'll do 1 at a time until I get them looking right. Hey, it's got tires on it now so I've got plenty of time.

The worst part is as I get under the black paint I find some clear coat worn places or whatever it's technical term is...if my truck was blue, gray, black or white I'd paint them gunmetal gray and just throw them on, but that crazy tan and brown just wouldn't match up right and I can't afford a paint job for a long time.

If I was smart, I'd just clean them up, repaint them black and throw 'em on...but I did buy a 27yr old vehicle so we know where my intelligence rests...

Although, the black doesn't look so bad with the tan...

 

[PetesPonies]

Here si what you do. Use a semi paste paint stripper. Use it to remove the black paint and the old clear. The old clear was probably crap to begin with. If you get it all off, then you can polish them by hand with some Mother's or other aluminum polishes. If you go over them lightly every couple months, they will stay looking good and no worry of the clear peeling off. Aluminum corrodes immediately, so it is very difficult to get clear to stick to it long term. Just keep them polished.

 

[wildbill23c]

I like those rims (Explorer rims) and I think the 75s feel the fender a little better.

Found a guy here who has bullet hole rims that painted them black for a decent price, but I've got to see them to see how hard of a paint he used and if I can get them back to stainless without ruining them.

I'm on the hunt for a "great priced" set now...I think it will make mine stand out better.

If I don't find any soon, I'll definitely repaint mine in the center with the Ford Grey - I like those as the beauty rims set them off rather nicely for my old tastes anyway until I can find a Ranger or Explorer set.

I don't think I will and hope I do not get any fender rub with 235/75s as that is what'll probably net out running (I have 205/70s on it now - it's what I bought it with and they're new tires so hard to trash them).

The 235/75's will fit just fine, my 84 Bronco 2 came with that size and there's no rubbing anywhere, plenty of room for them. I'm trying to get back to closer to the factory 195/75-15's but that's going to be around a 205/75-15 because the 195's aren't made anymore. Trying to get my bronco 2 back to where its supposed to be, not to mention trying to find matching wheels, and get new tires this year somehow.

Not sure on fitment still trying to find that out myself actually, plan on going over to a pick & pull here soon to try some different wheel combinations to find what fits.

 

[tidmarshsmiths5]

Thanks PetesPonies...I'll head out in a bit and look around at strippers (mineral spirits isn't getting it done); not to mention that my hands are tired from rub a dub dubbin' with a scotch brite, sandpaper and steel wool. I've got a drill and some brushes but am trying to avoid getting overzealous so I don't ruin them. Need to get the tires knocked off of them so they're easier to work on too. I like the idea of getting it all down to bare and starting over; rather it be done right than 1/2. Polishing sounds right to me and I've seen some that look awesome polished. I ruined a pair of rims on a Blazer I had in my 20s - didn't know how to repair them when I knocked the clear coat off of them with some wheel cleaner - today, I would know to fix them.

wildbill - I think I'll head back to 205/75s as well...with an aggressive A/T tire such as a Destination or General Grabber at2 they won't look so small to me - I like white letters as well and it looks good to me. The 205s will get me better gas mileage and at worst I'll go to a 215/75. I like the good gas mileage and I think, at least for me, that it produces less wear and tear on the old truck.

I'll put the shocks and rims on at the same time...looking forward to that. There's a guy that works nearby that has one and I'm basically copying his - it looks perfect to me (he has rancho rs 5000s and 235s on his 88 Blue BII).

 

[wildbill23c]

Thanks PetesPonies...I'll head out in a bit and look around at strippers (mineral spirits isn't getting it done); not to mention that my hands are tired from rub a dub dubbin' with a scotch brite, sandpaper and steel wool. I've got a drill and some brushes but am trying to avoid getting overzealous so I don't ruin them. Need to get the tires knocked off of them so they're easier to work on too. I like the idea of getting it all down to bare and starting over; rather it be done right than 1/2. Polishing sounds right to me and I've seen some that look awesome polished. I ruined a pair of rims on a Blazer I had in my 20s - didn't know how to repair them when I knocked the clear coat off of them with some wheel cleaner - today, I would know to fix them.

wildbill - I think I'll head back to 205/75s as well...with an aggressive A/T tire such as a Destination or General Grabber at2 they won't look so small to me - I like white letters as well and it looks good to me. The 205s will get me better gas mileage and at worst I'll go to a 215/75. I like the good gas mileage and I think, at least for me, that it produces less wear and tear on the old truck.

I'll put the shocks and rims on at the same time...looking forward to that. There's a guy that works nearby that has one and I'm basically copying his - it looks perfect to me (he has rancho rs 5000s and 235s on his 88 Blue BII).

Right now I'm looking at just some all season tires, as I don't have any plans to do any serious offroading, just a few dirt/gravel roads for camping. I have the manual transmission in my Bronco 2, with the 235/75-15 tires it seems to have plenty of get up and go, but I'm sure it would make a huge difference putting closer to the stock size tires on it, and getting matching wheels as well. I've been quoted about $460 for the all season tires I'm looking at. Still quite a bit of money on a very tight budget, but is going to need to be done soon the tires on my bronco 2 right now are crap, luckily its been in the shop most of the winter so I haven't driven it much in any bad weather. Bronco 2 will be my daily driver when I get it running correctly, the full size truck just kills me in gas every week and a half at $70 a fillup in the truck compared to about $45 to fillup the bronco 2 it saves quite a bit actually. Shocks are my next thing on my list, then tons of body work to fix the rust problems and the few dents I have found.

 

[superds]

If you can't find the product Pete mentioned also look for Klean-Strip Aircraft Remover. You should be able to find it at most auto parts stores for about $9 per aersosol can. You'll probably need two to do your wheels. I used this recently to do a set of wheels, much easier than sandblasting, which I also tried prior to purchasing the aircraft remover.

 

[tidmarshsmiths5]

So, an update...

The aircraft stripper worked well. I need to do just a little more cleaning and the bullet hole rims will be ready. Tires sometime next year or this fall...I really can't see ridding myself of the tires on it (they were new when I bought it) and the gas mileage is good so I'm in no hurry although I did find Wrangler RT/S for 90 bucks a tire doing some internet searching - they were my absolute favorite tire I had on my Escape - they rode fantastic and were decent for getting out of a pasture powerline with only 2wd (it was a front wheel drive vehicle).

New shocks are on...maybe a leaf helper later for the rear maybe not...

Bought some mother's to wax them up once I get them as clean as I can. I was lucky, 1 can did a great job with the wire wheel and my drill. I think I'll buy one more can and do another cleaning to get a few hiccups out of each rim and then I'll keep looking for a "great deal" on tires when I can save up enough money for them.

You guys are the best because I would have given up without your knowledge...that paint and clear coat was a mess (found some more clear in the center hubs when I was pressure washing them so I will need to do just a tad more stripping and they'll be ready). When it's done, I'll post pics. I'll also paint my hubs (whatever the technical term is) for the black center pieces so they look new...need to polish the lug nuts or find some OEM new ones cheap...it's getting there...played with taking the dash off today as well (gotta paint it or ???).

Oh yeah, and since I'm dreaming...paint choices one day...back tan and walnut...tan and canyon red (saw a guy's on here that is awesome and close to my Dad's)...charcoal grey...white looks awesome on these rigs as does blue...the guy up the road has his a Dodge blue (a darker blue but I don't know the technical name for it) and I like that a lot...the rims should dress it up and I added a set of Pilot lights in the bush guard (hey, I got an autozone gift card for purchasing shocks)...

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