Rejuvinating project "Outrangerous" wheel questions

[rjaaaaaa2]

So I'm on my way, as I stated I want to stuff some large tires under the rear end. I'm thinking something like 17" rims about 12" wide with wide street tire. I haven't pulled the bed yet to measure the free space behind the wheel hub, how much room is there behind the hub to the frame? What kind of offset will fit?

 

[RonD]

Have a read here: https://therangerstation.com/tech_library/wheel_fitment.shtml

Rangers use 4.5" back spacing on all 4 wheels

In the rear you can measure it now, with stock wheels, and see what clearance is there now, don't forget wheel wells in the bed

Then you can add that to the 4.5" to get max backspacing

Diameter of wheel doesn't matter, the over all diameter of the wheel AND tire is what matters
20" wheel with a tire that has 4" side wall is only 28" diameter
15" wheel with a tire that has 8" side wall has 31" diameter


Front wheels are another story, lol

 

[rjaaaaaa2]

Have a read here: https://therangerstation.com/tech_library/wheel_fitment.shtml

Rangers use 4.5" back spacing on all 4 wheels

In the rear you can measure it now, with stock wheels, and see what clearance is there now, don't forget wheel wells in the bed

Then you can add that to the 4.5" to get max backspacing

Diameter of wheel doesn't matter, the over all diameter of the wheel AND tire is what matters
20" wheel with a tire that has 4" side wall is only 28" diameter
15" wheel with a tire that has 8" side wall has 31" diameter


Front wheels are another story, lol

Thanks for the info, I'll get all the measurements when I pull the bed off. I just wondered if any body had some pics of their ranger with some wide tires under it ( 14" wide or larger). I'm just wondering if I might need to widen the fenders a bit.

 

[RonD]

To be legal in most states the rear wheels need to be inside some type of fender so they don't throw water/mud out

Wide tires on a pickup are usually to get a wider stance, less rollover chance

Reads like you want to have, what old timers like me called a "sleeper", same width at wheel well as stock tire but wider inside
We used to shorten the axles to do that

probably not alot of Rangers with that setup

 

[bobbywalter]

your offset will depend on what axle is actually in the truck.




mini tubs, full tubs and back halfs were really common for many years..


i prefer to bulge fenders and increase track width.

 

[stmitch]

Leaf springs are mounted outboard of the frame rails, so you'll hit the leaf springs well before the frame unless you're planning something custom.

I run 18X10s with a 295 tire, and I've got about 2 inches to the inside before they start rubbing the leaf springs. Eyeballing it, it looks like the wheel well in the bed would cause issues about the same time as the springs, so if you go to a link suspension, or ladder bars or something to get rid of the leafs, you'd still need to tub the bed a bit or you'd have issues. My truck is lowered about 5 inches, so the wheel well may not be as big of an issue with stock height suspension.

Pic for reference:

 

[rjaaaaaa2]

To be legal in most states the rear wheels need to be inside some type of fender so they don't throw water/mud out

Wide tires on a pickup are usually to get a wider stance, less rollover chance

Reads like you want to have, what old timers like me called a "sleeper", same width at wheel well as stock tire but wider inside
We used to shorten the axles to do that

probably not alot of Rangers with that setup

That's me "old school" but I still like to mix it up a bit. just like the look of the wide tires in the rear but I don't want to modify the suspension, frame or rear housing, so a little extra back spacing maybe a spacer and if necessary a little bumping out of the fenders will have to do, what ever it takes to get 14" of tire in there.. I'm going to redesign the fender anyway.
This is my other ride, a little old school here too.

 

[rjaaaaaa2]

Leaf springs are mounted outboard of the frame rails, so you'll hit the leaf springs well before the frame unless you're planning something custom.

I run 18X10s with a 295 tire, and I've got about 2 inches to the inside before they start rubbing the leaf springs. Eyeballing it, it looks like the wheel well in the bed would cause issues about the same time as the springs, so if you go to a link suspension, or ladder bars or something to get rid of the leafs, you'd still need to tub the bed a bit or you'd have issues. My truck is lowered about 5 inches, so the wheel well may not be as big of an issue with stock height suspension.

Pic for reference:

Thanks
That's what my truck will look like soon and I'll see all the clearance issues. Those tires look good (about 11-12") wide? I'm looking for 14" on a 12" rim. If I get a 5" back space then I think I can live with what ever sticks out front, even if I extend the fenders a little. Since the truck is a edge series it is already lifted a little so wheel well clearance shouldn't be an issue. This truck has torsion bar front suspension so I'm just going to drop the front end a little.

 

[bobbywalter]

nice fox body



like mitch said...the leafs pretty much match the tub and without flaring the outer fender much if at all, 12 in wide tires are generally fit-able with common wheels. 4 link(back half) requires tubs of some sort to use the space gained for the effort. which depending on year...14 in wide rubber should fit easily. people fit 32-33 inch 15x15 drags with factory width rails on later trucks and large tubs..

depending on specific axle/chassis combination...what wheels needed or if spacers will be required wont be known till you get the tape measure out.

 

[rjaaaaaa2]

nice fox body



like mitch said...the leafs pretty much match the tub and without flaring the outer fender much if at all, 12 in wide tires are generally fit-able with common wheels. 4 link(back half) requires tubs of some sort to use the space gained for the effort. which depending on year...14 in wide rubber should fit easily. people fit 32-33 inch 15x15 drags with factory width rails on later trucks and large tubs..

depending on specific axle/chassis combination...what wheels needed or if spacers will be required wont be known till you get the tape measure out.

thanks for the input, we'll find out soon. I've seen some 15 x 15 up for sale but I was hoping to get some 17 or 18's . Plenty of time to look.

 

[rjaaaaaa2]

Well I found some 15 x 15 weld wheels and mounted up some 29 x 11 x 15 Hoosiers. Theses wheels had 5" BS and with the wide tires ( they inflated to 15 inches wide, they still hung out of my modified fenders and I still had plenty of room behind the tire to the spring so I sold those and bought another set of wheels, these were 15 x 14 with a 6 1/2" BS and they tuck right in and still have 1 1\2" to the springs. they look fine.