Explorer Center Cap Attachment?

[powerplaytwo]

Here are pictures of the wheel and caps. They are supposed to be 2001 Explorer, but I really don’t know as I bought them both used. The caps sit right in the center recess, but the retaining collars do not extend into the wheel area to come in contact with the lugs nuts.

I forgot to say it is a 2-wheel drive, manual tranny, 2.3L, XLT.

 

[JoshT]

Thank you for your reply. The lug bolts on the truck look like those, but I still don’t see how the clips on the caps could clip on the lugs and hold, as there is about a 2” space between them.

Well if those pictures are actually of your truck and not borrowed from the internet, then this is an example of the style lug nuts you have installed.

Those lug nuts do not look like these lug nuts:

...that sgtsandman posted, and not the proper type for the center cap you posted. These have a center cap retention lip that trhe cap snaps onto.

FYI/IMO the lugnuts pictured on your wheels aren't really the type of seat you want on an aluminum wheel, with a plain lug nut on an aluminum wheel you want a larger seat than those provide. What you want for aluminum is typically sold as a bulged seat, the cone section is larger and fills more of the seat in the wheel. It provides better clamping force on the wheel and less likely to damage the soft aluminum seat.

Also... Those are not the correct center caps for the wheels you have. The lug nut recess of these wheels is too deep for those caps. The correct center caps look like below and still use the style of lugnut that sgtsandman posted.

EDIT: I posted wrong center caps the first time due to missidentified wheel.

You do not have a 2001 Explorer wheel. They may have been installed on an Explorer, but they don't match any wheel used on the '01 Explorers. The picture you posted is a good match for 2001 Escape wheels, and it had the same lug pattern. Be careful about fitment on those, they have the right lug pattern, but they are actually a 15x6.5 and they have a much different offset than what should be on a Ranger. The offset will pull the tire in towards the center of the vehicle by 1 inch to 1.5 inches.

This is what your wheel and center cap should look like:

These center caps use a similar lug nut to the ones that @sgtsandman posted, but I can't say if it will work with the ones that fit the Ranger. The Escape used a metric wheel stud vs satandard on the Ranger and Explorer, there is no good way to verify if the retention lip on the nut is the same size without having both lug nuts or just trying it.

 

[powerplaytwo]

Great information! Thank you for taking the time to explain all of that. Maybe the guy I bought the wheels from didn’t know the difference between an Explorer vs an Escape.
I liked the style of the center cap I bought with those wheels and they are being sold as for those wheels. Sure was confusing to me and now I am not sure what I am going to do.
Thank you so much for all the help guys.

 

[powerplaytwo]

The factory lug nuts should look like this. The center cap should clip onto them.

I have been looking on line for these and am having a difficult time finding a set. I made the mistake of buying ”one” for $17.00 thinking that it was one “set”! So, does anybody know where I can find them at a reasonable price like a few bucks a piece. It seem everyone on line, eBay, sells 1 for a ridiculous price. I have already gone to the local junkyard and found one out of several hundred that I search through.
Thank you.

 

[2011Supercab]

They're not hard to find. $0.51 a piece at Rock Auto

More Information for DORMAN 611199

www.rockauto.com

 

[powerplaytwo]

Wow! You in a matter of minutes showed me how weak my searching has been! Thank you very much.

 

[pjtoledo]

friendly FYI, those nuts can also be found on some Crown Vics. usually with the steelie wheels and cheap caps.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

They're not hard to find. $0.51 a piece at Rock Auto

More Information for DORMAN 611199

www.rockauto.com

Better jump on those. Its a wholesaler closeout and 17 left.

 

[JoshT]

I made the mistake of buying ”one” for $17.00 thinking that it was one “set”!

Ouch! I hate people that list stuff like that.

Even if you don't manage to get the clearance ones, that site also sells them in 10 packs @ 79¢ each. Not quite as good, but not terrible. Figure on adding around $10 for shipping through RockAuto, at least thats what it usually is for me.

If you don't like ordering online your local store will likely have them for around $4 each, but might have to order to get quantity you need.

 

[powerplaytwo]

Thanks everyone! You all have been very helpful. I ordered them from RockAuto at the $.51. They have shipped and should be here next Wed.

 

[don4331]

To the Mods, this thread should be moved to the wheel/tire section.

@powerplaytwo: You may put the '01 Escape rims on you '97 Ranger and have the caps fit. You don't need the fancy lugnuts, you need spacers.

If you buy the correct spacers (5x4.5 pattern, 30mm thick and 67.1mm center bore(2.531")), they will a. clear the center caps, and b. they will 'push' the rims out so the centerline is where it is supposed to be (reversing @JoshT 's concern that the Escape rims are 'pulling' the centerline in.​

​

It isn't as important on the rear if the centerline is moved, but on the front, Ford designed the steering so the kingpin inclination axis met with the center of the tire. That way, when you steer your Ranger the tire rotates about its center (easy steering). If the axis is off, e.g. with Escape rims, when you turn the tire, you have to move the tire ahead/back in addition to turning it. (You would really notice it if you had manual steering).

If you've decided on other rims, feel free to ignore me

 

[JoshT]

You don't need the fancy lugnuts, you need spacers.

Except that the Escape center cap clips to the lug nuts, so the fancy lugnuts are needed. Right?

The start of his problem was that the Explorer caps don't physically fit the Escape wheels. They may fit the face of the wheel, but they aren't deep enough to latch on the lug nuts.

Good catch on the bore size, I didn't catch that. Wasn't concerned about the offset, just noting that it should be taken into account.

 

[powerplaytwo]

To the Mods, this thread should be moved to the wheel/tire section.

@powerplaytwo: You may put the '01 Escape rims on you '97 Ranger and have the caps fit. You don't need the fancy lugnuts, you need spacers.

If you buy the correct spacers (5x4.5 pattern, 30mm thick and 67.1mm center bore(2.531")), they will a. clear the center caps, and b. they will 'push' the rims out so the centerline is where it is supposed to be (reversing @JoshT 's concern that the Escape rims are 'pulling' the centerline in.​

​

It isn't as important on the rear if the centerline is moved, but on the front, Ford designed the steering so the kingpin inclination axis met with the center of the tire. That way, when you steer your Ranger the tire rotates about its center (easy steering). If the axis is off, e.g. with Escape rims, when you turn the tire, you have to move the tire ahead/back in addition to turning it. (You would really notice it if you had manual steering).

If you've decided on other rims, feel free to ignore me

Thanks for the info on the spacers, but the existing studs won’t be long enough to get the nuts on after putting the spacer in there. I think I would have to replace all of the studs with 30mm longer studs.

 

[don4331]

@JoshT : You may be correct that you need 12 (3 for each wheel fancy nuts) for the covers. We sold the Escape a couple years back and my memory isn't what it used to be.

@powerplaytwo : Spacers bolt to your existing studs, then have their own studs to mount your rims on, see below.

The challenge will be getting hub centric ones with the small Escape center bore. And you have to be real careful about the ones you get - newer Escapes change to the 5x4.25 (108mm) bolt pattern.

 

[JoshT]

@don4331 the 2001 Escape that those wheels are from were 5x4.5 bolt pattern.

He won't need to worry about "hubcentric" spacers, just get spacers without the raised lip that center the wheel. He'll be running the wheels as lugcentric which won't be a problem. Being hubcentric is a lot more important for wheels that have a flat lug seat like on my old F-250.