my new cobra r's and the widest tires in the world!

[tbomb]

this past weekend i put on my cobra r's, my h&r wheel spacers, and my pirelli scorpion zero 285 60 r17's -- theyre not really the widest tires in the world, but they pretty damn close getting alinement on monday.

before:

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after:

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sorry if these pics are huge guys. i shrunk them a bit, but didnt have time to fine tune them. let me know what you think.

 

[ChuckyD]

LOOKS HOTTT!!!

 

[jimbo74]

looks wide.... just take off your flares and they will look huge!

 

[jimbo74]

gimp, look at the pic really close. i think he has wheel locks. one lug looks brighter than all the others. maybe it is just me.....

tbomb do you have wheel locks?

 

[mrboyle]

The wheels look awesome, but IMHO, with wheels that nice and tires that wide you need to ditch the nerf bars and lower that puppy! 2" would sure close that gap between the top of that tier and the wheel well.

 

[98greyxlt]

tbomb,

did you permanently take off your westin safari bar and hellas? where'd you get the westin? i like the look of it, but i wonder how it would look on a lowered explorer.

 

[rockymntnhi]

I like it , I like it alot .... If you haven't sold your westin' and lights yet , you should slap em' back on , I think it would look good . Kinda like the " Urban Assault Look " ... How thick are the spacers , did you need longer wheel studs ? It looks lowered to me ,Is it ??? One thing I would do though , Remove the roof rack X-bars .... Keep the mods comin'.....

 

[tbomb]

good eye jim, there are mcgard wheel locks on there.

as for the safari bar and the lights, theyre gone permanently. sold em.

my truck is not lowered, and i really dont plan on lowering it, besides, itll rub unbelieveably, heh.

the spacers are 1" wide. i didnt have to get longer studs. the spacers have their own studs on em. so i bolted the spacers to the truck, then bolted the wheels to the spacers.

one more thing, guys im in a helluva a dilemma. i dont know if im happy with the rims/tires/spacers. yeah, it looks REALLY COOL, but for some reason, it makes me uneasy driving it. i know the spacers put extra stress on the wheel bearing, but i dont care. i have also heard rumors that the inner bolts (the ones on the spacers, not the wheels) have a tendency to come loose, so when we installed them, we put red loc-tite on. also, i used the stock lugs on the wheels (they dont look great, but theyre so far in the holes, you cant even see them really) and of all the thread in the lugs, on about 3/4 of the thread in the lug is biting on the studs. no big deal, theres only a slight mount that isnt biting, the lugs are just too long a i guess for the rims. i dont know what to do. i love the way my truck looks, but i dont wanna be nervous or uneasy every time i drive it (whether my nervousness is justified or not, i still feel that way.) my girlfriend said i should keep them on for a while more and see how i feel then, since i just got em - she thinks im overreacting, as usual, because my truck has other problems right now (i started a thread about how my engine has been shutting off while im driving - going in the shop monday.) should i even bother getting an alinement yet?...if i do and then i decide to put my old rims back on, ill have to get them re-alined. i know some people are gonna say that if it wasnt safe, they wouldnt make this setup available to people. other people are gonna say, this is your car, you shouldnt feel nervous everytime you run the supermarket or wherever. please gimme some suggestions. thanks.

 

[jimbo74]

the studs should come out of the other side of the lug...if they dont it is unsafe. i used to see that at work and i was scared to even work on those cars. i used to work @ America's Tire Company. That is probably why i noticed the wheel locks..

 

[98greyxlt]

tbomb,

stick with your setup. it looks great. i too heard the same things about spacers and it kinda bothered me too. you figure, you're going to have to take your wheels off periodically to rotate your tires. i think most people rotate every 10,000 miles. anyway, you can always have them tighten up the inner lugs then.

i just put cobra r and pirelli scorpion zeros on my car as well. i noticed an improved ride quality and handling immediately. it actually makes me more comfortable driving it now. i didn't use spacers, hoping that i could get away with it with the 275 sized tires, but just this morning as i was parking, i heard some serious rubbing as i was maneuvering around the parking lot. i'm probably going to put on the explorer express 3/16" spacer this weekend.

oh, and fork out the $1 per lug and get some new lug nuts. after doing that, i think you'll gain some confidence in your setup.

 

[FitzMatt]

Those Cobra Rs just look sooooo sweet!! They really add a lot to your ride, looks good bro!

 

[jimbo74]

Originally posted by 98greyxlt
tbomb,
oh, and fork out the $1 per lug and get some new lug nuts. after doing that, i think you'll gain some confidence in your setup.

yeah, its only 20 bucks for so much more security. it may even save your life.

 

[98greyxlt]

tbomb -

i saw your other thread offering up your wheels and tires for sale?!!? man, are you sure you want to do that?

have you considered chaging tire size? instead of selling your whole setup, just sell the pirellis, and buy 265s or 275s... that way, you won't need the 1" spacers, and that should be end of issue, right?

 

[Rick]

test

 

[tbomb]

jimabena, you worked for a tire place, let me ask you a few questions (and anyone else, please feel free to give me more than one opinion):

how do you feel about wheel spacers?...any thoughts on the rumors of the inner bolts (the ones on the spacers, not the wheels) coming loose?...i know about the extra stress on the wheel bearings, but i dont care about that. i did use red loc tite and i torqued all the nuts/lugs throughout the whole setup to 100 ft-lbs.

if i get these new lugs, will they make my setup safer? if they will, i will keep the setup, but please be honest. and i dont know anything about lugs, which ones would i have to buy and where can i get them? also, i dont understand how this would make it safer - i would just change the lug, not the stud length or anything, right?

as far as getting rid of the spacers and getting smaller tires, by that point i would have wasted so much money that its not worth it to me. my plan right now is to keep them and just get the new lugs and hopefully ill have more confidence in the setup.

to everyone else: i know you guys have been posting all day to me, and believe me, ive been reading them all day, but i havent been able to reply. i asked rick and he knew about the problem and has apparently fixed it by this point.

as for why i started a new thread about selling my rims and tires and spacers, i guess i jumped the gun a little, but i just wanted to see what would happen (i.e.: how much i could get, if anyone would be serious, etc.)

thanks everyone for your input and the coimplements on how it looks - aside from my paranoid psychological issues, i really do love the way it looks.

and as far is it looking like its lowered, actually, it stands 0.15 inches taller!

i hope i answered most people questions and/or comments, not in any particular order, however.

*jimabena, if you could get back to me at your earliest convenience, i would really appreciate it, my truck is suppossed to get an alinement monday, and if the new lug idea wont make me feel any better, im gonna cancel my appt.

thanks a ton.

 

[jimbo74]

personally i dont like wheel spacers. i like different offset rims. But since they are the hr ones, they are of good quality. most of the stupid ones i have seen fail or come close to it are because people dont take the proper precautions and use crappy cheapo parts to begin with. i would personally get longer studs just to be a little more secure. occassionaly, they should all (spacers and rims) be retorqed. id say every 1000 miles. for me that is like 2-4 weeks...i like the setup on your car. it looks good. and this is coming from a guy that thinks all truck should be lifted. >> your .15 inch doesnt count either << if done properly, you should be fine. if done half Ar$ed (hope this is ok for the board) there, like with anything done in the matter, may be problems.

 

[tbomb]

ok, well, theres pretty much no way around the wheel spacers with cobra r's and the size of my tires.

i think i will take your suggestion and get longer studs for the spacers though. where can i get them though?..napa?..pep boys?..and how do i know how long are the ones i should get?

i think i should also get the new lugs, but how do i know which lugs to get? 98greyxlt said he got new lugs when he put his cobra r's on, but i wonder what he got?

i hesitate to go to just pepboys or somewhere and let the guy who works there help me. if i were to describe the people who work there, it wouldnt be nice, so ill just say that they are people whose opinions i wouldnt necessarily trust.

any additional info that anyone can give me on getting longer studs and these different lugs that everyone is talking about would be greatly appreciated - last night was the first night i was able to sleep soundly because this wheel situation is killing me, and id like to have the whole thing 'corrected' by the end of the weekend.

thanks to all in advance.

 

[jimbo74]

a real mechanic or a machine shop will be able to help you out. i wish you were local to me. i have a friend that owns an automotive machine shop. he does this kind of thing daily or at least knows about it. the new lug nut you will want to get are the correct thresd and conical seat. i thinkgk the oem may be hub centric lugs. but am not 100% sure as it has been awhile.....the new studs will need to be pressed on/ in. you basically need to have a huge press to do this. most machine shops or special 4x4 shops have this or know where to get it done.

 

[tbomb]

well, i have some friends that own and operate a heavy equipment repair shop, so im not too worried about having the new studs pressed into my spacers, i was only concerned about where to get them. i guess ill try napa or another parts store. ill also ask the service writer on monday when my truck goes in to the dealership too, but im not gonna have ford do it - lots of money for not great work there.

thanks for all the help jim, and everyone, when i get it all done, ill post again and pics and stuff. as of right now, im keeping the setup - you guys saved me

 

[jimbo74]

hey, your friends probably have or can get the parts pretty easily.....ask them about it if you havent already.