Are the front and rear hub diameters the same??

[Uncle Gump]

Yes they're the same hub diameter or yes those 2" spacer will be not a good thing for the bearings?

Yes those spacers are gonna be hard on the bearings.

Glad to see you're gonna hook up your grandpas truck. What wheels are you planning to run?

 

[skeptikalone]

Yes those spacers are gonna be hard on the bearings.

Glad to see you're gonna hook up your grandpas truck. What wheels are you planning to run?

Not totally sure yet, I've always been interested in these older rangers and really loved it when he had it, I'm just now finding out the incredible following they truly have so I'm learning so much I can barely keep up with it all. I'm still researching what would be best for the truck and still keep it road worthy but give it a killer look. There are some amazing ones out there though so I've got some images in mind of what I want just no specifics. It'll be a few years at least to get her to a place where I want. I just now got it passing emissions again because some mechanic was scamming my grandpa so it was running like crap but that 4.0 is humming now so that's what gave me the renewed hopes that I actually can fix it up, I was worried when I brought it home a few months ago.

 

[skeptikalone]

Yes those spacers are gonna be hard on the bearings.

Glad to see you're gonna hook up your grandpas truck. What wheels are you planning to run?

Can I get better bearings that'll take that kind of abuse and allow for that wider stance?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Gotcha....

Just remember that most folks run 33x12.50's on 10 in wide wheels. With the back spacing of the wheel you're probably 4 inches wider per side without wheel spacers.

I'm not a fan of spacers... some people use them and have no problems... others aren't so lucky.

 

[skeptikalone]

Gotcha....

Just remember that most folks run 33x12.50's on 10 in wide wheels. With the back spacing of the wheel you're probably 4 inches wider per side without wheel spacers.

I'm not a fan of spacers... some people use them and have no problems... others aren't so lucky.

Yeah I've seen some of the horror stories online, I definitely do not want to ruin anything!

 

[skeptikalone]

UPDATE: So I am thinking now, after a little more research and inspection, that the pulse vacuum hubs that protrude out of the front hubs (about 2-1/2") is why the hub centric version of the wheel spacers won't fit. The PVH unit is almost exactly the same diameter as the hub and the spacer fits over it then tapers in the middle in order to still be the same diameter in the front to accept the wheel. This taper is what will not allow the spacers to seat fully against the hub assembly. These stupid PVH's are just annoying, I suppose I'm lucky they still work hearing that they usually don't for most. One of the updates I'm looking into is manual locking hubs also but I believe they would also cause this same issue. I'm wondering if hub centric spacers are just not possible in the front on a '98 ranger 4x4. Maybe just an adapter ring so the spacer stays centered? But then the rim would just be on the new lugs still so the complete setup wouldn't be truly hub centric.
I appreciate everyone commenting and I look forward to picking your brains in the future as I move forward with this build. I am loving this truck more every day, the more I get into it and work on it the more comfortable I am in planning the next steps.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Wheel spacers are one thing...

An adaptor to make a wheel spacer fit is an entirely new can of worms.

Don't do it...

 

[don4331]

TIME OUT:

The hub centric wheel spacers fit just fine - I'd show you pictures, but my spacers on my son's '99 4x2 Ranger as I have my '94 Cobra rims on that truck at moment. On '98+ Ranger, the spacer only fits tight on the face of the hub & the ~1/4" of the hub. The idea being, the load is on the hub, not the threads of the studs. When you install the hub, it shouldn't have any movement after you push it on, but before you install the lug nuts. It does not fit tight the entire surface of the locking hub.

And the difference between 70.5mm and 70.6mm is a quick wipe with some fine sandpaper. Manufacturing tolerances are probably greater than that 0.1mm (these aren't aerospace parts).

On other hand, I agree PVH hubs are annoying.

IMNSHO, spacers have their place when installing wheels like dually rims on front of F-350. The offset of the rim (125mm) is matched by the 5" (127mm) of the wheel spacer. The result is the center of the contact patch of the wheel is exactly where the engineer at Ford designed it to be when he set the king pin inclination axis. (it is known as scrub radius)

For the Cobra rims (negative 40mm offset) on my Ranger (6mm designed offset), 35mm spacers achieve that contact patch location (well within 1mm, which is close enough for the girl I go with). You can tell it is correct as when I dry steer (steer without truck moving), the wheel just twists, it doesn't roll forwards or backwards.​

Using spacers to fit larger tires is what gets people into trouble*. When you push the wheel out, there is more load on bearing, so it wears faster. It also causes the wheel to "roll" forwards/backwards when you steer - the result being it makes contact with sheetmetal. And because you are rolling the wheel fore/aft, it takes more force, making it hard on steering rack - which can get dangerous should you have a flat as the truck will suddenly pull to that side.

*You will note that as you increase tire size, you need to move the tire out to maintain the correct scrub radius i.e. later Ford 4wd rims have 12mm offset, to match the 265/70R16's greater diameter. But Ford engineers only moved offset out 6mm when they when from 235/75R15 (29" tire) to the 265/70R16 (31" tire), so one would only want 18mm offset for 33x12.5R15s.

How deep is your pocket book? Replacing the unit bearing with alternate is a $4k touch. If you've got the coin, we can talk.

 

[franklin2]

Wheel spacers with a normal wheel and big tires. Offset wheels with big tires. I see no difference in the pressure put on the wheel bearings, it's going to increase. Just run it, and if one of them wears out, replace it. Spacers are one more place for the whole thing to come apart, so would be a slight negative to them. Not sure the reason why to run a spacer. You should be able to get the wheels with the increased 2 inch offset built into the wheel and not have to run a spacer.

You will get a lot of naysayers on certain things. But they never tried it. I have a 89 f250 with the diesel and the dana 44ttb frontend. I put a 7.5ft snowplow on it. The naysayers said it would not last ruining the wheel bearings and the balljoints. Never had a problem with it for the 8 years that I ran it. I did eventually replace the balljoints, but they were the original ones and where probably due anyway.

 

[skeptikalone]

TIME OUT:

The hub centric wheel spacers fit just fine - I'd show you pictures, but my spacers on my son's '99 4x2 Ranger as I have my '94 Cobra rims on that truck at moment. On '98+ Ranger, the spacer only fits tight on the face of the hub & the ~1/4" of the hub. The idea being, the load is on the hub, not the threads of the studs. When you install the hub, it shouldn't have any movement after you push it on, but before you install the lug nuts. It does not fit tight the entire surface of the locking hub.

And the difference between 70.5mm and 70.6mm is a quick wipe with some fine sandpaper. Manufacturing tolerances are probably greater than that 0.1mm (these aren't aerospace parts).

On other hand, I agree PVH hubs are annoying.

IMNSHO, spacers have their place when installing wheels like dually rims on front of F-350. The offset of the rim (125mm) is matched by the 5" (127mm) of the wheel spacer. The result is the center of the contact patch of the wheel is exactly where the engineer at Ford designed it to be when he set the king pin inclination axis. (it is known as scrub radius)

For the Cobra rims (negative 40mm offset) on my Ranger (6mm designed offset), 35mm spacers achieve that contact patch location (well within 1mm, which is close enough for the girl I go with). You can tell it is correct as when I dry steer (steer without truck moving), the wheel just twists, it doesn't roll forwards or backwards.​

Using spacers to fit larger tires is what gets people into trouble*. When you push the wheel out, there is more load on bearing, so it wears faster. It also causes the wheel to "roll" forwards/backwards when you steer - the result being it makes contact with sheetmetal. And because you are rolling the wheel fore/aft, it takes more force, making it hard on steering rack - which can get dangerous should you have a flat as the truck will suddenly pull to that side.

*You will note that as you increase tire size, you need to move the tire out to maintain the correct scrub radius i.e. later Ford 4wd rims have 12mm offset, to match the 265/70R16's greater diameter. But Ford engineers only moved offset out 6mm when they when from 235/75R15 (29" tire) to the 265/70R16 (31" tire), so one would only want 18mm offset for 33x12.5R15s.

How deep is your pocket book? Replacing the unit bearing with alternate is a $4k touch. If you've got the coin, we can talk.

Yeah, this will be a longer process for be as I can only put my side job money into it. I'm not trying to get super crazy but for now was interested in widening the stance with my stock wheels until I find the perfect wheels and tires I want that don't require the spacers.

 

[skeptikalone]

TIME OUT:

The hub centric wheel spacers fit just fine - I'd show you pictures, but my spacers on my son's '99 4x2 Ranger as I have my '94 Cobra rims on that truck at moment. On '98+ Ranger, the spacer only fits tight on the face of the hub & the ~1/4" of the hub. The idea being, the load is on the hub, not the threads of the studs. When you install the hub, it shouldn't have any movement after you push it on, but before you install the lug nuts. It does not fit tight the entire surface of the locking hub.

And the difference between 70.5mm and 70.6mm is a quick wipe with some fine sandpaper. Manufacturing tolerances are probably greater than that 0.1mm (these aren't aerospace parts).

On other hand, I agree PVH hubs are annoying.

IMNSHO, spacers have their place when installing wheels like dually rims on front of F-350. The offset of the rim (125mm) is matched by the 5" (127mm) of the wheel spacer. The result is the center of the contact patch of the wheel is exactly where the engineer at Ford designed it to be when he set the king pin inclination axis. (it is known as scrub radius)

For the Cobra rims (negative 40mm offset) on my Ranger (6mm designed offset), 35mm spacers achieve that contact patch location (well within 1mm, which is close enough for the girl I go with). You can tell it is correct as when I dry steer (steer without truck moving), the wheel just twists, it doesn't roll forwards or backwards.​

Using spacers to fit larger tires is what gets people into trouble*. When you push the wheel out, there is more load on bearing, so it wears faster. It also causes the wheel to "roll" forwards/backwards when you steer - the result being it makes contact with sheetmetal. And because you are rolling the wheel fore/aft, it takes more force, making it hard on steering rack - which can get dangerous should you have a flat as the truck will suddenly pull to that side.

*You will note that as you increase tire size, you need to move the tire out to maintain the correct scrub radius i.e. later Ford 4wd rims have 12mm offset, to match the 265/70R16's greater diameter. But Ford engineers only moved offset out 6mm when they when from 235/75R15 (29" tire) to the 265/70R16 (31" tire), so one would only want 18mm offset for 33x12.5R15s.

How deep is your pocket book? Replacing the unit bearing with alternate is a $4k touch. If you've got the coin, we can talk.

So the tapered inside of the hub centric wheel spacers goes over the PVHs and sits flush? The ID of the spacers is 70.5mm and then it steps down in the middle in order to make the front lip also 70.5mm to replicate the lip of the original hub, the problem I see would be that PVH plastic unit going all the way through the spacer because of that step inside of it and being that the PVH is wider than the spacer it would need to go all the way through it.

 

[don4331]

So the tapered inside of the hub centric wheel spacers goes over the PVHs and sits flush? The ID of the spacers is 70.5mm and then it steps down in the middle in order to make the front lip also 70.5mm to replicate the lip of the original hub, the problem I see would be that PVH plastic unit going all the way through the spacer because of that step inside of it and being that the PVH is wider than the spacer it would need to go all the way through it.

At least on mine, the inside cut was deep enough that it would pass over the PVH and sit flush against both the rotor, while being tight on the bearing.

I don't remember machining them out, but the proto shop where I work has been known to do personal projects on occasion.​

​

I'm not a fan of outset wheels, either from engineering or aesthetics point of view.

 

[fastpakr]

Have you considered running without the spacers at all? I'm using 285/75-16 which is roughly 33x11 on the stock wheels with my '99. 1" body lift and a very slight torsion bar tweak. No rubbing that I've ever noticed.

 

[superj]

If it's just a very tiny amount, you can get your fine file from your toolbox and file it out to fit. You don't have to go to the machine shop

The center of the spacer is close enough to the center that it won't effect the balance. I have shaved wheels and spacers a bunch of times to get them to fit. I had to get a torch and cut about 3/4 of an inch out of a set of wheels once to get them to fit an old off road truck one time. I didn't throw the balance off then, either.

 

[skeptikalone]

Have you considered running without the spacers at all? I'm using 285/75-16 which is roughly 33x11 on the stock wheels with my '99. 1" body lift and a very slight torsion bar tweak. No rubbing that I've ever noticed.

I'm thinking I may have to. I have 265/75-16 on it now with no specialty tweaks. I have a minor rub when fully turned especially in reverse turning the wheel right all the way. I just wanted that wide stance and beefy rubber look, but I definitely don't want to hurt the truck at all.