retro fitting mustang wheels help

[ParanoidSVT]

Hello, my grandfather left me his 04 ranger in 2015 when he passed. I have taken very good care of it since, people say I shouldn’t be investing the money I have into it but it was his and I’ve been trying to make it last as long as I can

I am having it painted in 2 weeks, I’ve done a few upgrades, small things like LED head lights, new grill. Rebuilt the front end, water pump, timing chain, cam phaser. All routine maintenance stuff

I discovered this forum when looking for how to adapt mustang wheels on the 04 ranger

I am trying to figure out if these wheels will fit on my truck

https://lmr.com/item/WTK-1007SHS/mustang-sve-series-1-wheel-tire-kit-gold-94-04-z2

I’ve seen on site a list of factory mustang wheels and the combo those guys have made to make it work

I was curious if anyone here could tell off the top of their head if the wheels would fit or rub? Would I need 1/4” spacers? And if I go with the spacers what exact lug nuts do I need to get?

Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you all

2004 ranger. 2wd, auto, ext cab, 3.0

 

[rubydist]

You will need a spacer/adapter of approximately 1" thickness to make those work. I have 1.25" adapters on mine.

 

[ParanoidSVT]

You will need a spacer/adapter of approximately 1" thickness to make those work. I have 1.25" adapters on mine.
View attachment 98846

thank you for responding! Do you happen to have a link to the exact same ones you bought? I wicked appreciate the response!

 

[ParanoidSVT]

I’ve been making much progress in the introduction thread, I forgot I posted this here as well

I want to thank everyone for contributing, the info that was linked to me is incredible. I spent the whole afternoon reading the mustang adaption page.

so much info it’s incredible

 

[ParanoidSVT]

Another question I had, with 1.25” spacer/adapter, do I need to cut my factory studs?

 

[stmitch]

On a 2wd truck with 94-04 Mustang offsets, spacers are typically only needed in cases where the Mustang wheel center bore is too small to clear the Ranger hub/dust cap. 7/16" or 1/2" are plenty thick to achieve that. Depending on specific wheel geometry, you may or may not be able to run a center cap in the front like that.

You'd only need a huge 1.25" adapter if you're using 05+ Mustang offsets, or perhaps if you have a 4wd with even larger spindle hub diameters (as rubydist does).

Aftermarket wheel fitment is hard to really pinpoint because little things tend to vary a lot between manufacturers. I always just try the wheels on my vehicle first before I worry myself with spacers, extended lugs, etc. You might get lucky and not need any spacers at all.

 

[Blmpkn]

The wheels he has linked aren't OE mustang wheels..

He's gonna have to get under the truck with a tape measure and figure things out. Much wider than stock, staggered, and lots of backspacing

 

[ParanoidSVT]

Guys, first off I can’t thank you enough for chiming and and helping

little update, I talked to Truman at LMR just now. I am going to order one 18x9, throw that on and see if I can clear everything

if it doesn’t work then I’ll turn this one wheel into a table or something..

With it being a 9” wheel and almost 6” back space I’m thinking I’m probably going to need to add a spacer

but like Blmpkn said, I won’t know until I have them one in hand
Would still like to get everyone’s opinion on what brand spacer to buy. I don’t really want something cheap

I just looked at DJMs 2/3 lowering kit with shocks, I need shocks anyway..so it’s a good excuse to drop the truck at the same time right?

 

[ParanoidSVT]

Fooling around with some math…

the 18x9 has a 5.9 back space.. which gives me a 3.1 front space

factory 15x 7 wheels I have on the truck now when I measure come up with a 4” front space

if I add a 1 inch adapter it should bring the wheel out to almost the factory front face.. just curious if that now 5” back space will have clearance

again.. won’t be able to tell until I have this wheel in hand

having too much fun thinking..

 

[don4331]

The wheels @ParanoidSVT is looking at aren't that bad...they have 22mm (f)/25mm (r) offset. So, 25mm (aka 1" adapters) puts track back where Ford engineers designed it (more/less)

He'd want adapter (even though same pattern) as 25mm is too deep even for extended length studs.

Bolt the adapter to the existing studs (loctite blue to ensure they don't back off). Then, the studs in the adapter bolt on the wheels.​

Note: if only using 1" adapters, make absolute sure that the rim is "seated" on the adapter, not resting on the original studs (bad things happed when rims aren't on the adapters). You can check this with straight edge after bolting the adapter in place - in the stud extend past, they need to be trimmed (aka ground down).​

If you go with a little thicker adapters, you don't need to worry about the studs as much.​

 

[Blmpkn]

Don't order the wheel.


Crawl under the truck with a tape measure and see if it will work for yourself. It's super simple as long as you know the current wheels width and backspacing.

 

[ParanoidSVT]

The wheels @ParanoidSVT is looking at aren't that bad...they have 22mm (f)/25mm (r) offset. So, 25mm (aka 1" adapters) puts track back where Ford engineers designed it (more/less)

He'd want adapter (even though same pattern) as 25mm is too deep even for extended length studs.

Bolt the adapter to the existing studs (loctite blue to ensure they don't back off). Then, the studs in the adapter bolt on the wheels.​

Note: if only using 1" adapters, make absolute sure that the rim is "seated" on the adapter, not resting on the original studs (bad things happed when rims aren't on the adapters). You can check this with straight edge after bolting the adapter in place - in the stud extend past, they need to be trimmed (aka ground down).​

If you go with a little thicker adapters, you don't need to worry about the studs as much.​

thank you for taking the time and explaining! Sounds like 1.25 may be the way to go…

 

[ParanoidSVT]

Don't order the wheel.


Crawl under the truck with a tape measure and see if it will work for yourself. It's super simple as long as you know the current wheels width and backspacing.

do you know of a YouTube video visually explaining what must be done with the tape measure? I have all the specs of the wheel

diameter 18”
Width 9”
Bolt circle 5x114mm
Off set +22mm
Back space 5.9”
Center bore 70.6mm

 

[ParanoidSVT]

Blmpkn, I found this interesting

I didn’t even think of the “front” brake surface clearance….

 

[ParanoidSVT]

Omg, this is perfect for me. At the end he shows how he does it with a welding rod…