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  #1  
Old 02-03-2012, 05:28 AM
paniconthenet paniconthenet is offline
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Default thinking of wheel upgrade, but wondering about speedo changes and gear strain

Hey all. I have a 2.5l manual 2wd that currently has factory 14 inch rms and size 225-70-14 tires on them. It's time for new tires but the options are few and far between. I have bridgestone dueler apt's on it now, but they no longer make them. The closest light truck tire in this size is a mastercraft tire that's pushing the 130 dollar make a tire. So, I'm thinking I need to go up to a bigger wheel, and in the short time here I have learned I really like the alcoa (?) Style I have seen around here, also, most seem reasonably priced and drastically lower price than putting new tires on the 14s.

My question is
Can I possibly stay with the stock height, or will I have to lift? If I need to lift I'm leaning toward two inch coil spring spacers (I have acess to a spring compressor) in front and add a leaf in rear. Is that enough clearance or will I need more?

Also, how do you go about calibrating the speedo for for different tire sizes? I used a high end code scanner programmer on my 250, but don't know if I can even manage that with this older truck.

And last, how much is my gearing going to suffer from this upgrade? Could it be enough to potentially hurt the gearing or just suffer performance wise...

I tried the search, but it kept giving me "no results", but I'm using my phone to look this up, just so you know I actually tried search.

Thanks all, look forward to hearing from you all.
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  #2  
Old 02-03-2012, 07:56 AM
The4x4Hick The4x4Hick is offline
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Default Re: thinking of wheel upgrade, but wondering about speedo changes and gear strain

I just did this on my ranger, well the rear end only so far, need two more jeep rims. But the rear end will be fine for anything smaller then a 235/70/15, but you do need to lift the front end like you said to fit a 15inch tire. My speeds not really off from what i can tell and gearing is hard to tell, do you know what your truck has now? 3:55? 3:73?
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1997 chevy 1500 2wd 5.7, air shocks, summit brush guard, bright a$$ strobe light, deep toolbox. Work Trucks: 05 F450 6.0 powerstroke dumptruck - 03 F350 6.0 stake bed - 2005 UD 14foot rollback with air brakes
scraped: 1994 ranger 2.3, auto, cobra cb, wood bumper
Quote:
Originally Posted by tykluss18
if your idea of "fast food" is hitting a deer with your wooden bumper at 75mph...youuuuuuu might be a redneck
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  #3  
Old 02-03-2012, 09:09 AM
paniconthenet paniconthenet is offline
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Default Re: thinking of wheel upgrade, but wondering about speedo changes and gear strain

I don't know the gearing off hand, but I'm putting it on the rack this weekend to change the oil and doing some spring cleaning under it. I'll post back with it tomorrow.

Do jeep wheels fit our trucks? I didn't know that...
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  #4  
Old 02-03-2012, 01:35 PM
gcextreme gcextreme is offline
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Default Re: thinking of wheel upgrade, but wondering about speedo changes and gear strain

Older jeep and dodge wheels with the 5 bolt 4.5 pattern will fit.
What I know is the following old ones had the same patterns: Ranger, Explorer, Bronco 2s, jeeps, and dodge Dakotas.
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  #5  
Old 02-03-2012, 08:24 PM
The4x4Hick The4x4Hick is offline
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Default Re: thinking of wheel upgrade, but wondering about speedo changes and gear strain

Yeah, i toke my off a like 2000 maybe cherokee. I think up till 05 maybe works on a ranger, i know the newer (maybe 08 and up) jeep rims dont fit.
__________________
1997 chevy 1500 2wd 5.7, air shocks, summit brush guard, bright a$$ strobe light, deep toolbox. Work Trucks: 05 F450 6.0 powerstroke dumptruck - 03 F350 6.0 stake bed - 2005 UD 14foot rollback with air brakes
scraped: 1994 ranger 2.3, auto, cobra cb, wood bumper
Quote:
Originally Posted by tykluss18
if your idea of "fast food" is hitting a deer with your wooden bumper at 75mph...youuuuuuu might be a redneck
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  #6  
Old 02-03-2012, 08:48 PM
gcextreme gcextreme is offline
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Default Re: thinking of wheel upgrade, but wondering about speedo changes and gear strain

You can check this Thread out here:
http://www.fordrangerforum.com/wheel...it-ranger.html

But heres a rundown on rims:

Ford:
All full size cars 1979-85
Aerostar 1986-97
Bronco II 1983-90
Crown Victoria 1979-Current
Country Squire All Years*
Custom 1965-85
Explorer 1991-Current
F-100 1980-85
Fairlane 1962-79
Falcon 1968-71
Futura 1965-85
Glaxie 1965-85
Granada All Years*
LTD 1971-80*
Maverick 1971-80
Monarch All Years*
Mustang 1965-73 (small center hole)
SVO 1985-86
1994-Current
Mustang II 1974-78
Probe 1989-98
Ranchero 1968-84
Ranger All Years
Thunderbird 1955-71
1977-79
Torino 1971-80
Lincoln
Continental 1984-87
Jeep
Cherokee (XJ) 1984-01
Wagoneer (XJ) 1984-89
Brairwood (XJ) 1984-91
Comanche (MJ) 1984-92
Grand Cherokee (ZJ) 1993-98
Wrangler (YJ) 1987-95
Wrangler (TJ) 1997-06 (small center hole)
Liberty (KJ) 2002-present
Dodge
Dakota 1987-90
Ram 150 1974-85
Ram Charger 1974-85
__________________
1999 Ranger 3.0FFV-ExtCab-4x4-My 99 Build
1998 Ranger 3.0-ExtCab-4x4-PROJECT TRUCK-My 98 Build

GC-EXTREME GRAPHICS
NEED CUSTOM DECALS, APPAREL, or GLASS MUGS?
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