Newbie with wheel and tire question

[poppyseed]

Hello everyone, so I just recently picked up a 94 Explorer 4 door 4wd and I am wanting to do a budget build on it (its going to be my daily so nothing extreme)

Anyways I have a set of Bart Racing steelies back home in VA (I currently live in WA) I am contemplating getting them shipped here to toss on the Explorer. The wheels are 15x8 with a 5" backspacing. Will this work on the Explorer in its stock form? Im going to toss a set of stock tires on them for now until I can find a set of mud terrains. Any thoughts on the backspacing?

Rusty

ps i did do a quick search, but got myself too confused looking at other backspacing pics lol.

 

[wood1]

Hi Rusty and welcome to the forum. Glad you mentioned the search, it can be your best friend here.

The cheapest and easiest lift is the F-150 coil spacer and Warrior shackle combo. You will need to have an alignment with new camber bushings but it will give you 1 1/2 inches or so.

The offset wheels are said to put too much pressure on the wheel bearings for the D-35 front axle. Guys have switched to the D-44 knuckles/bearings to run an offset wheel or spacers.

Have a look in my TTB useful threads, link is in my sig line. There is a fair bit of detail there. Read up and then ask away. You will get many more responses once you educate yourself.

Happy reading!

Oh, I should clarify that I'm not sure what the factory wheel back spacing is. There are lots of guys that do though!

 

[malohnes]

Don't forget the search tool here on the forum. It is very rich in these topics of tires and light mods for daily drivers.

 

[tweakedlogic]

5" seems a little deep. Might rub the sway bar or something else. Most people go with 4-3.5" BS. You can use spacers to bring them out more. Some people hate them, But I've been running them for a couple of years now with no trouble.

Steelies are kind of heavy too. Mustang Gt and pony rims fit nicely. You will have many more tire options if you go to 16" rims. I've see 36/10.50. That way you can run a larger skinny tire and have less rubbing problems. If you are looking for new wheels, make sure your hubs fit in the center hole.

Speaking of hubs, get manual locking ones. The autos are too weak and break rolling over a twig or grass hopper. Before I switched to manuals, I carries at least 3 spare hubs in the truck while wheeling. When I broke 1 (or 2), I went to the junk yard to get another. I have yet to break a manual hub, but still have a couple of spares, I just don't carry them with me.
I got 2.5" lift from 4x4 f150 springs and custom shackles. I was able to just barely get it aligned.

What gear set do your axles have? Auto or 5 speed tranny? I ask because getting a larger tire effectively raises your gear ratio. The auto trannys are weak and can burn up if you go too big without re-gearing. Manuals can handle more abuse. But I hated mine with 32s and stock 3.73 gears. 30s felt good, but too small still. If you ahve an auto, I would highly recommend your change your filter, flush with Royal Purple (or other quality full synthetic), and install an auxiliary cooler and temp gauge.

 

[kkjb4x4.0]

Welcome, steelies are just fine and most offroaders prefer them,,3.75" I believe is about ideal for a 8"rim, 5" seems a little much and your wheel bearings will not be happy, manual hubs are a must,and I believe mustang rims need to be modified to fit your front hubs,,washers can be stacked under the coils to get some lift cheap in the front just dont lift more than 1.5-maybe 2inches or you may not be able to align it,,good luck!

 

[tweakedlogic]

no mods required for the older style with the large hole. I have had two sets, the latest is in my sig links. I now have the older 6(?) spoke style on my Rx7. The newer ones have a much smaller hub and won't fit. Find the ones with the plastic circle cover over the lug nuts.

Yeah, steel wheel are fine. I prefer the lighter alloys. The early GT rims i had mounted weighed only 15 pounds for 17x7.5. These newer pony rims i have are a little heavier @ 18 pounds for 17x8s, but they needed spacers.

It was just my $.02.

 

[AlexSport'00]

Not to hijack the thread, but I'm also a newbie when it comes to the new tires/wheels set up. What's the best wheel that gives just a tad more spacing outwards? Don't want anything too much (like more than and inch or so), and I don't feel like buying any spacers/adapters if I can just find some new rims for a good price, but I do want the wheels to sit outward farther to help counteract the extra height so that it won't be too much easier to tip. I'm planning on getting new wheel bearings anyways soon, so those will be fine, since I know the non-stock spacing can kill those much quicker.

 

[Albino 94LTD]

Stock back spacing is about 4.25"

You want less backspacing, not more.

Less will move the tires out away from the Radius arms and Sway bar.

It might be difficult to find less than 4" BS from places like Discount Tire etc.