Discussion in 'Tires & Wheels' started by Super Serg, December 18, 2004.
Newbie here wanting to know about tires & rims.
2 - 18x10.5 (+27mm, 6.9 backspace) rear.
They are 5-lug (5 on 4.5).
Any other options I might have?
have come up with more questions than answers.
Hello, those front wheels are close to the right size, and limit, to fit under the 2nd gen. Explorers.
Anyway, I have 18x8.5 wheels, with 35mm offset, and 6.35mm spacers(29mm offset).
My front is close inside, and just right on the outside. I'd prefer no more than about 8" wide, and about a 30mm offset.
Your biggest factor though should be weight. Don't buy anything without knowing the exact weight of the wheel, and tire. I went from a 58.5 pound 17" combo to a 71.5 pound 18" combo. It has made a big difference in gas mileage, braking, and acceleration. The ride is a little better, but the handling is a little worse(slower steering, and less responsive).
19 inch tire?! explorers had stock a 29" tire, or is that a typo, i think my tercel with its 155/80/13s was bigger than 19"
I hadn't even considered the weight of each rim. (will ask to find out).
10.5 or a 9" wide rim need to stay flush with the fender flares?
Do you have flares which stick out beyond the fenders, or are they flush? My Mountaineer has no flares, and the running boards are out at the same point as my fenders. My tires are even with the fenders and boards.
Thus you may have another 1/2 inch approximately to use.
My 8.5 inch rear wheelsused to occasionally touch the inner fender on the inside, so my offset is about the limit on the inside. Use 29mm as an offset with a 8.5" wheel, to calculate the backspacing.
I think you will have about 9 inches of width possible, plus the width of the flares. This is assuming that you will ever drive hard into turns. If you are the rare person who always drives slow in all turns, then you might cheat by running more offset.
You see, the rearend moves a lot side to side in turns. You can probably get a ten inch wheel back there, easily, but how much rubbing do you want to risk.
To gain the clearance that I have in the rear inner fenders, you will have to relocate the parking brake cables. To do it, the easiest way is to unbolt the rear left outer control arm at the frame, as well as the cables where the three join. The cables need to be swapped, left and right, so that the right cable holds the left cable inboard. Then remount the control arm with the cables inboard of it.
Thanks again for the great info Don.
Could anyone tell me if the rim I wrote about above **2 - 18x10.5 (+27mm, 6.9 backspace)** will stick out farther than the fender?
About the pics, make sure that you have it hosted on the internet 1st. After you have that, when you go to post a message, just click on the image button (looks like a yellow box with a mountain on it) & paste the addr of where your pic is hosted at.
Hello, thanks to you both. It's almost the same as the ********* forum.
I've got 18x9's on my Xploder... There +24mm offset with some 255/55/18 Nitto 404's.
And no they do not stick out past my fender flares, nor do they rub.
I've just got some 18 x 9 Saleen replica's and was just curious how did you decide on the tire size 255/50/18 And just out of curiosity how tall is the wheel on your ride..
Thanks for the info. I'm prob going to use that same size setup as well.
HI FELLOW EXPLORERPHILES ,I HAVE AN 02 MOUNTAINEER AWD V6 ,I FOUND 2002 F150 LIGHTNING WHEELS 5 LUG .


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