FX4 Rims on my Sport Trac Questions

[Bannanatruck02]

Hey Guys, I just acquired a set of 4 Fx4 Level II alcoa rims for my Sport trac for $185 on ebay! haha! I initially just wanted to "fill out" the wheel wells a little more on the ST. My old FX4 had a more "aggressive" look and I missed that with the ST. I now want to do the 2" TT lift in the front with Shackles on the rear. My concerns are that I've been told anytime you go higher, you should go wider. Being that these are OEM ford rims, I know that the backspacing is going to be identical, thus the rims will not stick out wider. My question is how wide can I go with 32 or 33 inch tires on these stock 15x7 rims? Am I just pretty much stuck to running 31's on this? ALso, the truck is a daily driver that does some weekend wheeling; nothing over the top, but some fun weekend stuff.

 

[94 lngbd]

I had discount tire test fit 33x12.50 /15s on to my cherokee wheels that I will be running on my ranger & they fit fine & looked great & they are 15x7s also,but these do have a more offset towards the frame then the stock ranger wheels so I have 2" spacers to use which is basically the same if I had 15x10s with an outboard offset

 

[Bannanatruck02]

I had discount tire test fit 33x12.50 /15s on to my cherokee wheels that I will be running on my ranger & they fit fine & looked great & they are 15x7s also,but these do have a more offset towards the frame then the stock ranger wheels so I have 2" spacers to use which is basically the same if I had 15x10s with an outboard offset

Thanks a ton. If I run spacers, how fast do ball joints/ hubs wear out? Also, will ride quality suffer a bunch?

 

[06RangerXLT]

yea you should be good for a 33. though to keep even wear you may have to run lower psi, which = less mpg.

 

[Bannanatruck02]

Awesome... So I could run say 33x10.5x15?

 

[chrwilkins30]

yes 10.5 wide tire is perfect for a 15x7 rim. Do it.

 

[Bannanatruck02]

Thanks everyone for all of the help and input! Will post pics when I get the tires mounted.

 

[Bannanatruck02]

Question, Will 15x8 tires fit on my 15x7 fx4 rims? I know that this may be a stupid question, but I thought I remember somebody telling me that they would work.

 

[Blake.]

yeah you can put 12.50's on a 7 inch rim.

 

[straycat]

As my 4x4 shops have told me over the past years...never mount a 12.5 inch wide tire on a 7 inch rim. 8 inch is what they recomend. I think it has to do with the offset but can't really remember. I tried to do that some years back on one of my Toyota trucks. I had 33x10.5's on the 7 inch rim and I then went to a 12.5 inch width tires and nobody would recomend me using the 7 inch rims. I then found a set of black 15x8 rims and I got them mounted. I thought the shops were trying to get me to buy rims from them until one of the techs showed me a rim/tire chart to prove that is why they would not do it for me. A lot of my truck Magazines and the Truck and Extreme 4x4 TV shows I watch on Spike have all said the same thing. So, maybe it is wise to go to an 8 inch rim.

One thing....that 33x12.5 looks better on an 8 inch rim...much more of a bite to it!! Just want you to be safe, bro!!!!

 

[94 lngbd]

hub / axle wheel bearings should be the same wear as if you was running 15x10" wheels. 15x7 + 2" spacer same as a 15x9 wheel. Factory dually trucks have spacers on the front set ups & never do you hear people talking about those.

 

[straycat]

hub / axle wheel bearings should be the same wear as if you was running 15x10" wheels. 15x7 + 2" spacer same as a 15x9 wheel. Factory dually trucks have spacers on the front set ups & never do you hear people talking about those.

I would jus never run spacers on any of my vehicals. I never have before. You can cause issues with the bearings or hubs. I have heard of people having trouble before running them. My 4x4 shop will sell somebody a well made spacer but lets them know that there are drawbacks so thier are honest about that. They have told me of a few prople who come back later for wheel bearring isses while running spacers. It is just a game of you will or will not have issues. I know two buddies who use them on their full size rigs without any issues and then thay also told me their mid size trucks had problems every once in a while with wheel bearing or hub issues running spacers. Luck of the draw I guess. I just run the right size wheel and tire combo on all my Jeeps and trucks. That way I won't have any issues (fingers crossed)...lol