20" rims on the Sport Trac

[STrac4me]

I have a 2005 Sport Trac XLT; I love the truck, but hate the extra room in the wheel wells. I have been looking at rims and have settled on a couple. One of the rims I like is the 18" X 8.5" Fan blades that came out on the 2005+ Mustangs. I know I will have to run spacers on that particular rim because of the offset. Tire size recommended is 235-50-18".

Fan blade link: http://www.newtakeoff.com/mustang_18x8_5polished_fan_blade_wheel_2005-2009_set_of_4.aspx

The other rims I like are off Tire Rack. They are 20" and I like the black inset on them with my black Sport Trac. I don't know how big of tire you can run on the stock height of the truck. The tire size recommended for this rim is 265-45-20 on a 9.5" rim.

20" rim link: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...alse&filterBrand=All&filterNew=All&sort=Brand

I know that most people on here like to lift the trucks, but I want to lower the truck 3" in the back and 1.5 - 2" in the front. I hate to spend a lot of money on rims and tires and they rub. As large as the wheel wells are I don't see any problem. Is there anyone on that has a lowered truck with 20's on them? Any problems? Any recomendations?
Thanks

 

[ncranchero]

Not running 20's but I did lower mine 2" all the way around, and it's a 4x4. Looks/handles MUCH better!

The 20's with the proper rim offset are almost identical in fitment to the stock. Check this site out for wheel/tire comparisons.

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp?action=submit
or
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
or
http://www.newstalgiawheel.com/wheel_visualizer.asp

 

[STrac4me]

Not running 20's but I did lower mine 2" all the way around. Looks/handles MUCH better!

I was hopeing someone would respond that has lowered. From what I was reading you need to lower the rear at little more than the front. Did the 2" all the way around make much difference in the stance? I don't want a slammer; just want a little better sit. I found the 2" and 3" lowering blocks for the rear and from what I have been reading we can turn down the front ourselves with the T-bars. What size tire are you running? Any problem with tire rub?

I found some 2" blocks that come as a kit. It has the blocks/U bolts for $52 by Ground Force. I was going to post the link, but it was blocked.

You are right about the diameter of the tire/rims. The 20" rim with the 265-45-20's has the same diameter as my stock 235-70-16's. I did a tire size calculator and the speeds matched between both.

 

[ncranchero]

Did the 2" all the way around make much difference in the stance? ..............What size tire are you running? Any problem with tire rub?

I found some 2" blocks that come as a kit. It has the blocks/U bolts for $52 by Ground Force.

My front probably wasn't quite 2", more like 1 1/2". The rear got the 2" blocks. Look at the photos and see what a difference it makes. I've seen them with 3" drops in the rear, looks good. When you back off of the front torsion bar bolts and drop it you will have to have an alignment done, no tire rubbing at all.

Go to http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/g...ers Gallery&PageTitle=The Sport Trac Web Site and there are more Sport Tracs of every description than you care to see.

 

[STrac4me]

My front probably wasn't quite 2", more like 1 1/2". The rear got the 2" blocks. Look at the photos and see what a difference it makes. I've seen them with 3" drops in the rear, looks good. When you back off of the front torsion bar bolts and drop it you will have to have an alignment done, no tire rubbing at all.

Go to http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/g...ers Gallery&PageTitle=The Sport Trac Web Site and there are more Sport Tracs of every description than you care to see.

Thanks Steve, Yes I can see the difference in the picture. I have done the way too low stuff when I was a youngster now I just want a little better look and better handling. I think you went the right direction with the 2" in the rear (looks good). I will order my blocks this week and will probably go with the 2" myself. Yep a front end alignment will have to be done. The last time I lowered a truck I did it on a Saturday and did not get an alignment until that Monday and hurt the tires in that little bit of time. I will run the stock 16" rims/tires for now, but I will be changing them either to the 18's or 20's. I own a 2005 Mustang GT and I had trouble choosing which rims I wanted. I like those Fan Blades, but with the "Retro style" I went with the bullet rims on my Mustang. Thanks for the input and I will post up Pic's when I get done.

 

[ncranchero]

I was running the 17" Chrome Bullitts with 245/45R17 Goodyears on my wife's 99 Mustang. It rode really harsh with those low profile tires, She ended up bending two of the rims from hitting potholes so I took them off and went back to the '95-'98 style OEM wheels. Tremendously better ride, just not quite as much bling.

 

[STrac4me]

I was running the 17" Chrome Bullitts with 245/45R17 Goodyears on my wife's 99 Mustang. It rode really harsh with those low profile tires, She ended up bending two of the rims from hitting potholes so I took them off and went back to the '95-'98 style OEM wheels. Tremendously better ride, just not quite as much bling.

Nice.....I run 235/55/17's on my bullitts and the ride is not too bad. I love my Mustang. I have a couple of Mustangs. I also have a 1967 GTA Mustang Coupe; I have owned this car since I was 14 years old (my first car). My daugher wants this for her first car (she just turned 15), but I don't see that happening.

I was just researching lowering kits for the Sport Trac. I am trying to decide...should I go cheap with just blocks and T bar adjustment or do the full suspension kit with new coils for front and back. I don't want to loose my ride. How does your truck ride with just the blocks? I would suppose with just a 1.5" drop in the front you still have plenty of travel.

 

[ncranchero]

Keep the GTA under lock & key!!
Maybe just a difference in terms but there are no coils on a Gen 1 Sport Trac ('01-'05), The Gen 2's ('07-10) are independent suspension models w/coils/struts.
The blocks and TT(torsion twist) didn't alter the ride a bit because no springs were changed. I do have Monroe air shocks on the back in case I need to load it. I have the original shocks on the front and need badly to replace them. While you're doing this you should replace the front and rear sway bar link bushings with Moog pieces. I've done the back but not the front yet.
Oh, I didn't answer you about my tire size. This truck came with 235/70R16's but I swapped the 255/70r16's off of my parts truck.

 

[STrac4me]

Keep the GTA under lock & key!!
Maybe just a difference in terms but there are no coils on a Gen 1 Sport Trac ('01-'05), The Gen 2's ('07-10) are independent suspension models w/coils/struts.
The blocks and TT(torsion twist) didn't alter the ride a bit because no springs were changed. I do have Monroe air shocks on the back in case I need to load it. I have the original shocks on the front and need badly to replace them. While you're doing this you should replace the front and rear sway bar link bushings with Moog pieces. I've done the back but not the front yet.

Thanks for the advice Steve. I don't know what I was thinking because I know my truck doesn't have independent suspension. I was just doing a search for lowering kits for Sport Trac's and that kit popped up in my search. In fact I think the TT will be the easier way to lower. I will check out the sway bar link bushings before doing the job. I only have 56K miles on the truck so hopefully wear will not be an issue.

 

[ncranchero]

If it has the stock shocks figure on replacing them. Everyone says they weren't any good when they were new. My '02 only has 70K on it and the fronts are terrible, have new Monroe Max-Air on the rear. The rears are a PITA so I did mine while the bed was off. My rear rear sway bar links were shot too. Haven't even looked at the front ones yet.

 

[STrac4me]

If it has the stock shocks figure on replacing them. Everyone says they weren't any good when they were new. My '02 only has 70K on it and the fronts are terrible, have new Monroe Max-Air on the rear. The rears are a PITA so I did mine while the bed was off. My rear rear sway bar links were shot too. Haven't even looked at the front ones yet.

Did you replace your bump stops? I have been looking at all the options before ordering my parts. I am planning on ordering this week. The place I am looking at the lowering blocks has free shipping and the blocks are powdercoated solid iron blocks with U-bolts, plates, and a lifetime warranty.
The bushings for the rear are...get this...AC Delco brand. They did not have Moog, but I will look more later.

 

[ncranchero]

No bump stop replacement and I do get an occasional bump. Your blocks sound good, mine are aluminum. Skip the Delco bushings and get the urethane Moog items, K80085 about $10-$12 bucks at Advance Auto. Does both sides. The front end kit is K7275 needing 2 or 265-1312 NAPA and it does both sides, list about $50. There's discussion on another board about the need to shorten the front links when you lower the truck. IDK...... Just FYI, I found my rear shocks on Amazon w/free shipping, cheaper than I could buy them elsewhere.(and I was a Parts Tech for 37 years, I have sources!)

 

[STrac4me]

No bump stop replacement and I do get an occasional bump. Your blocks sound good, mine are aluminum. Skip the Delco bushings and get the urethane Moog items, K80085 about $10-$12 bucks at Advance Auto. Does both sides. The front end kit is K7275 needing 2 or 265-1312 NAPA and it does both sides, list about $50. There's discussion on another board about the need to shorten the front links when you lower the truck. IDK...... Just FYI, I found my rear shocks on Amazon w/free shipping, cheaper than I could buy them elsewhere.(and I was a Parts Tech for 37 years, I have sources!)

I will check out the bushings at Advance Auto (thanks for the info). I was just out in the shop looking for the keypad entry code. I bought my truck used in 2008 and did not have the code or the card in the owners manual. I did a search and found several threads about the subject. It took me about 10 minutes and presto. That beats $80 at the STEALERSHIP. The block kit I am looking at is $53 shipped. I am still a little wishy washy about going 2" or 3". There is a lot of space, but I like the look of your truck after the drop. I was looking at some other trucks and the one's I saw with 3" looked a little too low for me (maybe not so 20 years ago). I still have not made up my mind about shock replacement yet. I will look into it when I get closer.

 

[ncranchero]

If you raise or lower a 4x4 too much you get into front axle half-shaft angle issues, you know. Did you say, is yours a 4x2 or 4x4? I lowered it for handling/stability and more importantly so my wife could get in/out after I removed the side steps. She's 5'0" and when I removed the steps from my 98 F150 4x4 I caught a lot of chin music so I put them back on. As they say, if mama is not happy nobody is happy!

 

[STrac4me]

If you raise or lower a 4x4 too much you get into front axle half-shaft angle issues, you know. Did you say, is yours a 4x2 or 4x4? I lowered it for handling/stability and more importantly so my wife could get in/out after I removed the side steps. She's 5'0" and when I removed the steps from my 98 F150 4x4 I caught a lot of chin music so I put them back on. As they say, if mama is not happy nobody is happy!

Mine is a 4x2, so the front CV's would not be an issue for me. I just don't want to slam it down. I am looking at filling in the wheel wells a bit to get a better stance and look. After lowering the truck and some more tire wear, I will change out the rims (to a larger diameter) and tires to sport it up a bit.

 

[bigjohn]

Hey what did you use to lower it. I have a 02 2wd and want to lower it please help me thanks

 

[ncranchero]

I used 2" lowering blocks and adjusted the torsion bars down.

Read here:
http://www.mysporttrac.com/mysporttrac/projects/HowtoLowerYourST.PDF