New to me 2011 Ranger FX4, need wheel and tire advice

[veefer800canuck]

Picking up my new-to-me 2011 Ranger FX4 this week. Grey, 5 speed

I've been looking for wheel/tire combos, and trying to see what will fit, with mild mods.

So far, I've discovered the 2008+ trucks are lowered from the factory.
OK, dial in the torsion bars and fit the Belltech 6400 shackles.

So that's about 2" right there for next to nothing. Easy.

Planning on running 285/70-17 tires with 17x8 wheels.
I think I will also need a 3" body lift, found the PA lift, no problem.

What I can't tell right now is: Wheel offset.

Most 17x8 wheels I am looking at come with a 10mm offset.

The ones I want to get (and are affordable) are the Ion Alloy type 179
http://www.wheelsforless.com/IO179-7865B

According to Ford, the stock ranger 16" wheels have a 12mm offset.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/TRUCKBBAS/topics/2011/2011_Ranger.pdf

Running the two wheel specs gives me the following info:

So 11mm less clearance on the inside with the wheels seems like it might be a Very Bad Thing (tm)

Add to that the fact that the tires will be 1.2 inches wider, so an extra 0.6" on the inside.

So tires and wheel combined make for 1.03 inches LESS clearance on the inside.


What I need to know is, will this work, or do I need some zero offset wheels for sure???

Anyone????

 

[veefer800canuck]

5mm spacers might be doable. ???

Although if I need 10mm spacers, then might as well get the zero offset wheels, right? Less parts, less pieces, less to go wrong, etc.

 

[6.2]

Yeah that's to much backspacing.

And I never did like spacers. Never will.

Why 17's? Why not 15's or 16's.

 

[veefer800canuck]

16's are the stock wheel size.

I was wanting to go +1 on the wheel sizing for appearance.

And keep the stock 16s to put winter tires on.
LT235/85-16 winter grips, fully studded.

We get nassty winter weather here, and I'm not one to stay home, I press on regardless, so I need good tires.

 

[veefer800canuck]

Also the larger diameter tires will lower the effective overall gearing from 4:10 down to almost exactly 3:73 which is what the NON- FX4 rangers have, and I'm hoping the reduced RPM on the highway might improve the MPG, hopefully the 30mm wider tires don't negate that, but on my 2wd ranger, going from the stock 225/70-14 tires to 235/60-16F and 255/55-16R didn't seem to hurt the mileage one bit. Still got 27-30 MPG (imperial) on the highway.


Anyone care to comment about the wheel offset in the first post?

10mm or 0mm???

 

[veefer800canuck]

Everybody on vacation??????

 

[veefer800canuck]

Worried about Russia?

Still looking for the missing plane?

The Internet is broken?


Surely SOMEone has to have bolted sone 285s to a Ranger and discovered what wheel offset is necessary???

 

[veefer800canuck]

I'll probably just be figuring this out by myself, but just in case the next guy happens along with the same exact question, I just found that with the stock tires, rims and suspension, there is about 1-1/4" clearance from the upper tire sidewall to the top of the steering knuckle (or whatever it's called) and about 1" tire clearance to the sway bars on either side.

This is at full lock, full weight of the truck on the suspension, sitting in the garage.

No doubt that hitting a bump while cranked could make this situation potentially worse than while just sitting static.

Also, the fender liners and ABS wires are close too, a lift, some trimming of the fender liners, and perhaps securing the ABS wires further away may be needed.

Just theorizing here.

 

[veefer800canuck]

So, -11 mm inside clearance from the rims, and subtract another 15mm inside clearance for the wider tires gives me 26mm less clearance, or roughly 1-1/4"

There goes all the room available at the top, and 1/4" more room at the sway bar.

So 10mm offset wheels and 285s do not look doable. At least from the math.

Not even with a lift because it won't do anything for the distance between the sidewall and solid suspension bits on the inside of the tire/rim.



Still waiting for someone with actual experience doing this to chime in.

 

[veefer800canuck]

10mm offset WITH 5mm spacers MIGHT just clear, with mild rubbing on the swaybar at full lock.

Although I'm generally allergic to spacers, I've had 5mm ones on my 2wd ranger in the front to make clearance for the cobra rims' center caps, and that's been fine using extended thread lug nuts.



I'll still look for some 0 offset rims, but they seem to be far less popular/available than the 10mm ones, at least in a 5x114.3 bolt pattern. Dammit.

 

[superds]

I would stick with a zero offset wheel. Factory wheels for most newer 4x4 Rangers will be about 7" wide, with 3.75" or 4" of backspacing and 0mm offset. Higher than 0mm offset are generally used on FWD cars and newer IFS trucks, GM from 1988+, Ford from about 2004+, IRRC. Putting a higher than 0mm or wheel with greater than 4" backspacing will put the wheel too far inward for clearance purposes and most people probably wouldn't like the look of it either (for people that like the wider look anyway).

 

[veefer800canuck]

According to this .pdf (page 10)

https://www.fleet.ford.com/TRUCKBBAS/topics/2011/2011_Ranger.pdf

The stock 16x7 wheels are 12mm offset.

 

[superds]

According to the tech library http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/wheel_fitment.shtml (taken from American Racing Equipment):
"Recommended backspacing on a 15x8 wheel is 3.75 inches with -19mm offset.*"

I think you would be better off with a lower offset wheel. I had said zero before but AR says -19mm with an 8" wide wheel. Is the Ford spec +12mm or -12mm? Are the wheels you're looking at +10mm wheels?

 

[veefer800canuck]

I suppose I'll have to whip one of my wheels off, measure the backspacing, and calculate the offset from that.

 

[veefer800canuck]

Took a wheel off, and sure enough, 4.5" backspacing, just as I suspected.

So, according to all the charts, it's +12mm offset, just as Ford said.