1.) The current 17" OE BFG Rugged Trail T/A's are toast, and need to be replaced after a 44,000 mile life
2.) I was looking for a steel wheel/snow tire package for the winter anyway.
My question is this: The X came with a 17" steel spare, not the 17" alloy rim like most XLT Sport's that I've seen. Would it be more advantagous (sp?) to buy 3 more 17" steel rims from Ford and get a new set of 17" A/T tires, or buy a complete 16" snow tire/steel rim set?
I ask because I came across a tire/rim package from TireRack.com for the winter, consisting of 16x7.5 steel rims and 245/70SR16 WinterForce M+S tires. The price seems good, and the UPS shipping is cheap since I'm not too far from their warehouse (same UPS region anyway).
Would it be better to stick with the 17" steel rims and get new tires mounted -or- get the whole 16" package that is already mounted, balanced and ready to install out of the box? Are there any backspacing or mounting issues with a set of non-Ford rims?
(Either way, I want to remove the 17" alloys for the winter....I already bent one [cracked it, too
] so far, and don't want that to happen again as it will already be enough $$ to replace it. )
Lastly, anyone have a ballpark Ford price for the 17x7.5 steel rims for the 02-05 Exploder?
2.) I was looking for a steel wheel/snow tire package for the winter anyway.
My question is this: The X came with a 17" steel spare, not the 17" alloy rim like most XLT Sport's that I've seen. Would it be more advantagous (sp?) to buy 3 more 17" steel rims from Ford and get a new set of 17" A/T tires, or buy a complete 16" snow tire/steel rim set?
I ask because I came across a tire/rim package from TireRack.com for the winter, consisting of 16x7.5 steel rims and 245/70SR16 WinterForce M+S tires. The price seems good, and the UPS shipping is cheap since I'm not too far from their warehouse (same UPS region anyway).
Would it be better to stick with the 17" steel rims and get new tires mounted -or- get the whole 16" package that is already mounted, balanced and ready to install out of the box? Are there any backspacing or mounting issues with a set of non-Ford rims?
(Either way, I want to remove the 17" alloys for the winter....I already bent one [cracked it, too
] so far, and don't want that to happen again as it will already be enough $$ to replace it. )Lastly, anyone have a ballpark Ford price for the 17x7.5 steel rims for the 02-05 Exploder?
