5th gen 20" rims on a 3rd gen

[spencerh84]

Anyone running 5th gen 20" explorer rims on a 3rd gen? Is there clearance to run these rims?

 

[Limited02]

Same for the 3rd gen: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/5th-gen-rims-on-4th-gen.363569/

I've seen a 3rd gen with 5th gen limited wheels around here and no idea what he did to make it fit. My assumption is he used wheel adapters to make it happen.

 

[87350gta]

It is possible, a friend of mine put a set on an 03 explorer. The only issue he had was the stud length was a little short. It worked, but there were only about 5 threads holding the lug nuts on. Some extended length studs would help. I used to have 20" Flex wheels on my '02. The bore center is smaller, so I had to use a spacer. The earlier Flex and Edge wheels would have fit due to a larger hub bore.

 

[xartic]

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to give information to help out.

I bought a set of 20's from a 2012 with 2 hankook optimos h426 (stock explorer tire for the 20's) and was able to find 2 more tires for a total of $550 for everything mounted and balanced. Went to put them on and figure out the hub bore changed since Ford went away from the V8's. My 02 mountaineer has a 70.6mm hub bore and the new explorers have 63.3. Cost me $150 to have it done at a machine shop.

Going from 16's to the 20's made a huge difference in handling, especially in corners.