15" tires on 14" truck?

[scotts90ranger]

I've never looked, all I know is the stock first gen steelies are narrow as heck even some of the 15's, the first set of 225 70 15's I put on my '97 I had some Ranger steelies up front that made those things look like balloons and some stock Jeep aluminum in the back that must have been 8" and they looked silly narrow... couldn't put the Jeep wheels up front because of the center hole and the offset is goofy...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I've never looked, all I know is the stock first gen steelies are narrow as heck even some of the 15's, the first set of 225 70 15's I put on my '97 I had some Ranger steelies up front that made those things look like balloons and some stock Jeep aluminum in the back that must have been 8" and they looked silly narrow... couldn't put the Jeep wheels up front because of the center hole and the offset is goofy...

15’s had both 6” and 7” width stock, not sure any got 8” wide stock. I run aftermarket 15x8 steel wagon wheels on my Choptop. With not running beadlocks yet, I prefer sucking the beads in some to help keep them seated with lower air pressure. Of course, that also forces me to run a lower pressure to keep my contact patch proper… running 35x12.50 tires on that…

 

[JoshT]

Then he’s still wrong because the Ranger 14” rims are 14”x6”

There were definitely some 14x5.5 steel Ranger wheels, but don't know the years. I think I even seen some personally. Maybe the set that Dad used to use on his utility trailer which were originally on an 84.

 

[superj]

and if you find some cheap enough jeep wheels, they are 5x4.5 from 87-06 on the wranglers, all comanche years, 84-99 or 00 on the grand cherokee, 84-01 on all regular xj cherokees. they have some decent looking wheels on some jeeps and the center cap hole is sometimes the same size as ford center caps ( i have ford center caps painted silver on my wrangler 16 inch wheels)

 

[RobbieD]

I've never looked, all I know is the stock first gen steelies are narrow as heck even some of the 15's

As far as I've been able to put together . . .

For Ranger, the sales brochures and the specification books list 14 x 5.0 for 1983 through 1987 for steelies, and 14 x 5.5 or 14 x 6.0 for the cast styles.

1988 the two sources disagree on the 5.0 and 5.5 being the smallest width, but 1989 onward (through '94) the minimum width 14" wheel of any type is 5.5. Also starting in 1989 the sales brochures stopped listing wheel dimensions, and only the spec books had them.

In 15" wheels for Rangers, 15 x 5.0 was listed through '86 (15 x 6.0 available all years).

Bronco II and Explorers were 15" wheels only. The B2 offered a 15 x 5.5 through '88 (15 x 6.0 available '84-'88 and standard '89-'90); the first gen Explorers ('91-'94) were 15 x 6.0 standard minimum with 7.0 as the upgrade.

That's for the 1983 through 1994 trucks only (being the years I collect).

You have dig into the (many!) footnotes in those sources, but certain towing packages and the cab chassis version could get some oddball wheel and tire sizes.


In a nutshell, factory wheels on 1983-94 Rangers, the Bronco II, and the first gen Explorer were 14" or 15" diameter, with widths of 5.0", 5.5", 6.0" or 7.0".

 

[moretsky99]

The side panel on the 96 Ranger calls for 225/70/14.

I bought the Ranger years ago with 215/75/14's all around.
I just bought 2 - $50, 215/70/14's to install on the rear tires at Walmart. They refused to install with the other 2 tires on the front.

I only use this as a farm vehicle so I'm sure it's OK, but I'll have to figure something else out.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The side panel on the 96 Ranger calls for 225/70/14.

I bought the Ranger years ago with 215/75/14's all around.
I just bought 2 - $50, 215/70/14's to install on the rear tires at Walmart. They refused to install with the other 2 tires on the front.

I only use this as a farm vehicle so I'm sure it's OK, but I'll have to figure something else out.

Walmart is notorious for refusing to install anything but a tire size that matches the door sticker and refusing to touch it if it’s already been changed. Some other bigger tire shops are like that too. They worry about liability.

For years I made friends with people that ran shops with a tire machine and did my own tires after having a shop ignore my instructions (mount the tires on the rims in the back of the truck, use internal balance media, and put them back in the back of the truck). Instead they did me a “favor” and put the new rims/tires on the truck and the old ones in the bed. They over-torqued the lug nuts to the point where I broke studs driving down the road. Fortunately it was noticed before I lost a wheel, but I had to literally jump on a 6’ cheater pipe on a breaker bar to free the rest of the lug nuts so I could replace studs. When I went back and complained they swore up and down they would never do that. Uh huh.

I have my own tire machine now…

 

[SenorNoob]

^ Sounds like my own adventures. Yours is a little more extreme but similar.

Here if WalMart refuses, I bring them one wheel at a time off the truck. I did it once with the truck in their parking lot. LOL Brought one in and had it changed, took it back and put in place of another. Rinse and repeat.