Wheel offset question

[croz]

I believe most oem offset is 44mm. Some here have put 25mm ofset wheels
on their explorer . Does this take the wheel farther out , or closer to the
center of the vehicle . I would like to put the 05 V6 mustang wheel on . These have a 39mm offset .

Thanks

 

[dogfriend]

For my 97, the offset is specified as 14mm (.55 in). Positive offset means that the center of the tread is outside the mounting flange on the hub. Negative offset means the tread is offset inside the mounting flange.

I would be cautious about substituting wheels with a large offset because it can increase loading on the wheel bearings - and the wheel bearings can be expensive on the 4wd because they are sealed and you need to replace the whole hub on the 2nd gen Explorers. I don't know if this is true on the 03 models, but I expect that it might be that way for both the front and rear IRS.