stock wheel size replacement

[drumming1monkey]

hey, I'm looking to get new wheels for my 01 explorer sport to replace the stock ones that came on it. What I have now I know are 16" but reading through it seems like 15" is more common. I know it should be a 5 x 4.5 in. Bolt Circle but can't find what the stock backspacing and offset would be. These (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=CRR-3975812P&N=700+115&autoview=sku) are the wheels are want to get since they are fairly cheap and my other project gets all my money but there are so many different sizes I don't know which one would be best to basically just replace what i had stock or a cheaper size that would fit just as well.
thanks
-Matt

 

[JCUZ]

Assuming your 2001 sprot and my 2004 XLT are the same offset, you are looking for anything between a 3.5" and 4.5" backspace. 4.5" is the stock backspace. What his means is for an 8" rim, you are looking for around 40mm positive offset (ET 40P); anything from 35 to 45P will be fine, and even down to around 15P offset should mean the rims sit just inside the edge of the guards.

 

[drumming1monkey]

the closest sizes i can find to come near those measurements are:
size 15x8 offset mm 6 rear space 4 3/4
size 16x8 offset mm 13 rear space 5
the highest offset they have on these wheels is 13mm.
So would either of these work or am I going to need to find another option.

 

[JCUZ]

the closest sizes i can find to come near those measurements are:
size 15x8 offset mm 6 rear space 4 3/4
size 16x8 offset mm 13 rear space 5
the highest offset they have on these wheels is 13mm.
So would either of these work or am I going to need to find another option.

13mm on a 16 x8 will get the edge of the rim pretty close to being even with the edge of the guard. The bigger the offset (positive offset), the more inset the rim is - the lower the offset, the closer it gets to the edge of the guard. A 16 x 7 rim with zero offset is almost ideal, so a 16 x 8 with 13mm should be very close to that too.

 

[drumming1monkey]

alright.. I think I get it.. so the 16x8 with the 13mm offset would be the best? this (http://www.cragarwheel.com/popupseries/popup_397.html) is all the sizes that the wheels come in if any of them would be better.
thanks for any help.. i really don't know much about wheels
-matt

 

[jimbo74]

i thought the point was to get rid of the 16"?

 

[drumming1monkey]

no I didn't necessarily want to get rid of the 16 I just wanted black wheels for my truck. The 15's are cheaper so I would kinda prefer them to save me money, so I can spend it on my el camino, if they come with the right offset, but if I can't get the cheaper 15's I'll stay with 16's.

 

[JCUZ]

You need to know what the offset is of your current rims. It should be stamped into the back of the rim (somewhere in or near the mounting face). With the 2001 model you have, it should be say ET 38P or ET 38. Anything in 7" or 8" from a 0 offset to 38 offset will be fine. You don't want negative offset though - they will stick out too far. So the 15x7 with 6mm offset should work too. And the 15 x 8.