Looking for 17" or 18" wheel/rim ideas

[JoshT]

As title says I'm looking for wheel and tire ideas for my 99 Ranger. It's a dark gray metallic 4x4, though it will have a stance more like a stock 2wd when I get done with it. I am aware that my locking hubs will be an issue for wheel fitment, but I intend to get rid of them in favor of live axles in the near future, so treat it like you were working on a later 4x4 Ranger.

I'm looking to run a 17" or 18" wheel with a 29-30" tire. Currently got 16s with ~30" tire so fitment will be about the same.

On a spoked wheel, I tend to prefer equal to the number of lugs or some multiple of that. I'm open to straight or split spokes. I also tend to prefer "factory" wheels, though an aftermarket that looks like it belongs on a hotrod or truck would not be dismissed, just don't get too busy/flashy with the design. I might even be tempted away from Ford wheels and towards Dodge or Jeep.

Top of the list I'm considering are some sort of Mustang wheel as I know those will fit with little effort and readily available for the most part. The below are the particular designs I'm considering, but unsure how they would look with more tire around them.

<<Charcoal, definitely charcoal if these.

<<< Have a rough set of these Mach 1 wheels I was going to use on the lowered first gen. Still going to if that project ever progresses. Is two sets too many?

Or the FR500 which isn't so available in theused market, but the Rangers did get a similar styled 16" wheel towards then end and I've seen these with more rubber around them.

I'm not limiting myself to these, just the styles I'm familiar with that I know can fit a Ranger. Like I said, I'm open to other makes and models. If you have pictures of the wheel you are suggesting installed on a truck with a meaty tire thats even better.

 

[Danno1985]

Don't know how much luck you'll have finding a set at a reasonable price, but the Mercury Marauder came with 18"s and those would probably look sweet on a street truck. They look tough and spare/elegant at the same time, which paired well (IMO) with the Marauder's long side profile and would probably work on a Ranger for the same reason. Panther platform Fords share the same bolt pattern as the Ranger but the backspacing is different on the 2003+ cars, so even if they can clear the brakes without, they'd likely require spacers to look right.

 

[superj]

i almost grabbed those marauder wheels when i was at the junkyard last weekend. i couldn;t believe a marauder was there and it was almost complete.

 

[JoshT]

I have considered those, but almost zero availability used in my area. I definitely wouldn't want to buy them new/refurbished. Biggest thing I've got against them is that I've only seen them in chrome, and I don't really want chrome. I'd prefer a machined aluminum and/or painted, probably painted something like the anthracite (gray) found on some Mustang and Ranger wheels.

I'm not against using spacers to get wheels and fitment I like.

i almost grabbed those marauder wheels when i was at the junkyard last weekend. i couldn;t believe a marauder was there and it was almost complete.

I might have tried to grab the whole thing. If I couldn't do that I'd probably live at that yard long enough to remove everything Marauder specific on the outside.

I've thought a few times about getting a Vic and doing a Marauder clone.

 

[Danno1985]

i almost grabbed those marauder wheels when i was at the junkyard last weekend. i couldn;t believe a marauder was there and it was almost complete.

Yeah, every day on my commute I pass a house with a broke-down Marauder with junk piled on top of it.

There was a “Sport” trim of the 98-02 Crown Vic that also had some wheels that may fit the bill. These were 17”s.

 

[superj]

I really like crown vics, and of course, the marauder

 

[JoshT]

Thanks for the suggestion, but for various reasons I don't think the Marauder is going to be the one. Those LX Sport wheels aren;t really doing much for me either, maybe if they had a little more shape to them, but too flat IMO. <Kind of ironic considering what I'm going to post in a minute>

I'm continuing to search for inspiration, and to help later decision I'm going to post pictures of some of what I find. In particular I'm going to post pictures I find of Rangers with Mustang Wheels and "not small" tires.

Lets start with one that was not on my previous wheel example list. This here is wearing '05-'09 Mustang 17x8s. Not at the top of my list, but not bad.

Next up our model is wearing '03-'04 Mustang Mach 17x8 wheels. Pretty high up on the list considering I own a set, but I don't think they're right for long term.

Next up we have 95OffroadX's Ranger wearing 17x9 FR500s. This one gets more pictures because the lasty two are a perfect example of the stance and wheel/tire size combo I'm aiming forand its a 4x4 too. I don't necessarily want these wheels though

I close this post with another example that wasn't in my OP, but may be moving towards the top of the list. The irony is how similar they are to the Crown Vic sport wheels I don't particularly like. These are 18x8.5 wheels from a 2005-2009 Mustang. I think I'd go for the charcoal insert, but plain is on truck.

 

[Danno1985]

I really like crown vics, and of course, the marauder

Yeah, me too. For a while in my 20s I had a '00 HPP with the factory dual exhaust and BBS-clone faux-wire wheels, then I added 3.73s with a trac-lok and all the marauder suspension goodies. It wasn't really that quick, but felt it, and took corners surprisingly flat while still getting mid-20s mpgs. Good car, very easy to work on and cheap to run (when I wasn't blowing paychecks on upgrades) .

Anyways, I do like the way that last truck in the thread looks, but I still think wheels with a littler more "dish" (zero offset or close to it) look better with the decidedly 90s lines of our trucks, but that's just me.

 

[Ranger850]

FYI Explorer Sport Tracs came with factory 17's

 

[rubydist]

I like these, they are from 2000-ish Mustang. I have 1.25" spacers. I got the center caps that have no Mustang logo off eBay. I painted with 2k paint and its holding up well after a couple years.

 

[Blmpkn]

My vote is for the bullitts

Bought some for my old cvpi off ebay for 400 shipped iirc.

 

[superj]

/\ that is one of my all time favorite wheels. a classic hot rod wheel

 

[Ranger850]

View attachment 88169

I like these, they are from 2000-ish Mustang. I have 1.25" spacers. I got the center caps that have no Mustang logo off eBay. I painted with 2k paint and its holding up well after a couple years.

I like the Adrenaline 20's myself. If you still have them and want to gift them to me, I would not object.

 

[JoshT]

My vote is for the bullitts View attachment 88170

Bought some for my old cvpi off ebay for 400 shipped iirc.

Those are definitely being considered, well the pre-'04 version. I think those are the '05+ version with different offset. There a set of those, with the darker gray center, close by for $250 if still available.

A set of the first split spoke wheels in the OP about 1.5 hour drive for $350. Maybe another set of those closer and cheaper.

The second wheels in the OP are about the same distance and price, different direction.

 

[JoshT]

View attachment 88169

I like these, they are from 2000-ish Mustang. I have 1.25" spacers. I got the center caps that have no Mustang logo off eBay. I painted with 2k paint and its holding up well after a couple years.

I do like those on your truck, but I don't think I want them. I hadn't thought to look to eBay for logoless versions of center caps. That's been one of my hesitations. I don't particularly want to be repping the pony logo on the Ranger. Ford emblem is fine, but the pony is Mustang specific.

Not the greatest pic for a variety of reasons (size, lift vs tire size, etc), but here's some Cobra Rs (I think) with big tires.

The wheels in this post <quote included> look good, but with the bigger tires they don't quite look meety enough to me. I think I'll probably end up with a set of the Bullitt wheels even if it's not the long term answer.

Please keep the ideas coming.