1993 ford explorer 2 inch lift, what backspacing for wheels?

[norcal925]

So I am soon going to be installing a 2 inch skyjacker lift kit with AAL rear and shackles, then coils in the front, and i have decided on 31x10.5x15 goodyear dura tracs for tires and then some pro comp 15x8 steelies, I'm wondering what backspacing i need and what exactly backspacing is. thanks in advance

 

[RangerX]

You may not get a choice, they may just have the standard 3.75".
Stock is 4.5", anything between that and 3.75 is okay. I once ordered procomp steelies in a 4" backspace, right in the middle. That was in '96 though, so they may not let you get custom anymore...

 

[EvilTheCat]

I just put some 33s on Procomp steels. They were 15x8 and had a 3.75" bs. I kind of wanted to get some 3" bs wheels, but I'm cheap and settles on these. They ended up sitting just about the same distance out as my fender flares, so I'm happy. For 31s I think 3" would sit about the same, but it all depends on what you'd like it to look like.

Here's my truck.

 

[Jason94sport]

I had your exact setup...3.75" will do nicely.

 

[norcal925]

I had your exact setup...3.75" will do nicely.

okay cool, if i was to do a 15x7 wheel instead, with the 3.75 BS would that still work?
i decided to get the wheels of Jegs and theyre 45 a peice but the 15x8 is out of stock

 

[norcal925]

You may not get a choice, they may just have the standard 3.75".
Stock is 4.5", anything between that and 3.75 is okay. I once ordered procomp steelies in a 4" backspace, right in the middle. That was in '96 though, so they may not let you get custom anymore...

okay, if i was to do a 15x7 wheel instead, with the 3.75 BS would that still work?
i decided to get the wheels off Jegs and theyre 45 a peice but the 15x8 is out of stock so im gonna go with a 15x7

 

[Bruces expo]

I've been using 15x8 Cragar D Window Steels with 3.75 BS on 31.1050's with only 3" Body lift , Then 33,12.50's with 3" Bl and 2" Skyjacker with Air shocks in rear !!



Edit: Stock wheel Size is 15x7 , The 10.50 Wide Tires might wear A Little Differently than on the 15x8's ?

 

[Jason94sport]

Your not gaining anything by using 15X7 wheels. You may as well use stockers for that.
They will be 1" closer in to the wheel well compared to 15X8 with the same back spacing.
So that will not stick out much past the fenders.

 

[tweakedlogic]

Might I make a suggestion on a different wheel size. There are way more tire size options with 16". So you can run a taller tire that is still 10.5 wide. That means (generally) less lift is needed to fit a taller tire 'cause you don't have to worry about clearing the fender or sway bar. I must admit, I'm running 17" now, but I'm on the hunt for a set of 16s so I can have city and country shoes. I have 2.5" lift and I know I can run 34/10.50s, probably 35s. A couple of years ago a buddy had 36/9.5 16 on his truck. It looked sorta funny, but he never had a problem getting through the muck.

 

[EvilTheCat]

There definately is more variety in sizes using the 16" wheels, but I've found that tires for 15" wheels usually cost less.
I purchased 4 black steel wheels off 4wheelparts.com for around $180 including shipping. Another great place to look is at summitracing.com.

 

[Maniak]

Personally, I like the 15" rims for the smaller tires. By smaller, I mean > 37". With the smaller rim you have more sidewall which means softer ride and more sidewall flex when wheeling in general.

I also like to have 4" difference between the rim and tire width (8" rim for 12.5" wide tire). This helps keep the bead.

We did run 7" rims (3.75" backspacing) with 33x12.50 tires and it worked fine. Never lost a bead and was even running single digit (load range D tires) pressures. With the C rated tires we were running 13psi.

~Mark

 

[norcal925]

Might I make a suggestion on a different wheel size. There are way more tire size options with 16". So you can run a taller tire that is still 10.5 wide. That means (generally) less lift is needed to fit a taller tire 'cause you don't have to worry about clearing the fender or sway bar. I must admit, I'm running 17" now, but I'm on the hunt for a set of 16s so I can have city and country shoes. I have 2.5" lift and I know I can run 34/10.50s, probably 35s. A couple of years ago a buddy had 36/9.5 16 on his truck. It looked sorta funny, but he never had a problem getting through the muck.

Thanks for all the input guys! I ended up getting a set of 15x8's with the 3.75 backspacing from summit racing, they were 20 dollars cheaper than procomps and basically the same thing

 

[j.denison]

Nice ex Evil, I'm looking at doing pretty much the same setup and I was wondering what your tire measurements were in the x/x/x configuration (such as 285/60/16)

 

[plcrew]

Might I make a suggestion on a different wheel size. There are way more tire size options with 16". So you can run a taller tire that is still 10.5 wide. That means (generally) less lift is needed to fit a taller tire 'cause you don't have to worry about clearing the fender or sway bar. I must admit, I'm running 17" now, but I'm on the hunt for a set of 16s so I can have city and country shoes. I have 2.5" lift and I know I can run 34/10.50s, probably 35s. A couple of years ago a buddy had 36/9.5 16 on his truck. It looked sorta funny, but he never had a problem getting through the muck.

I agree with you on the 16's. I've been watching craigslist and the 16 and 17 are a much better price and chioce of size's.

 

[EvilTheCat]

Nice ex Evil, I'm looking at doing pretty much the same setup and I was wondering what your tire measurements were in the x/x/x configuration (such as 285/60/16)

My tires are TrXus MTs size 33x12.50 r15.
I have no idea what a metric equivalent would be. A converter I just looked at said 318/132/15, so i guess whatever is close to that.

I prefer the stander units of measure for tires. It just makes sense to me.
Height x width x rim diameter vs Width in mm/distance from rim edge to tire edge as a ratio of its width/rim diameter

Sorry to get off topic, but I just hate metric tire sizes.

 

[Itchybruno47]

Quote:
Originally Posted by tweakedlogic View Post
Might I make a suggestion on a different wheel size. There are way more tire size options with 16". So you can run a taller tire that is still 10.5 wide. That means (generally) less lift is needed to fit a taller tire 'cause you don't have to worry about clearing the fender or sway bar. I must admit, I'm running 17" now, but I'm on the hunt for a set of 16s so I can have city and country shoes. I have 2.5" lift and I know I can run 34/10.50s, probably 35s. A couple of years ago a buddy had 36/9.5 16 on his truck. It looked sorta funny, but he never had a problem getting through the muck.

I agree with you on the 16's. I've been watching craigslist and the 16 and 17 are a much better price and chioce of size's. ......END QUOTES

Can you guys tell me what vehicle rims to search for in a 17" that will fit my stock 93 Exploder XLT, 4.0 OHV Hubs? (stock autos),
I have stock 98 16's on right now and would like to snake another inch without any work before the winter gets here. Gonna do the lift next spring.
Thanks ahead any and all.
IB47

 

[L.A.X]

I just took steelies from a ranger at the junkyard

 

[L.A.X]

And painted them flat back with one can total of Rustoleum. Getting my 31s this week

 

[L.A.X]

My apologies for the large pics

 

[L.A.X]

Steelies were 10 dollars each with tires