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  #1  
Old 08-13-2012, 05:12 PM
woodsman woodsman is offline
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Thumbs up Hub-centric wheel spacers - extended wheel hubs compatible with Ranger?

Hi, I am new to this forum as of today but have already gotten a lot of helpful info from the site, so thanks in advance to all the members here! ...I have had a Ranger since early May, and am now begining to personalize it with performance and cosmetic changes. It is a red 1999 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab 4x4 3.0L V6, manual trans, 3.73 axle ratio. 165K miles on it, drives great and I love it, but aside from the small ups I've done to it, it's not me and needs some work to better handle moderate off-roadin and such.

Anyways, I got 245/75R16 Goodyear tires on it. I'm gonna do a torsion bar front suspension lift this week and get lift shackles or an AAL kit for the rear, but I'd also like a wider stance so I was about to buy some 1.5" or 2" 5x4.5 wheel spacers (70.5mm center bore diameter) from eBay, then remembered something -the wheels and spacers are hub-centric. The problem is (and yes, I even went out jacked it up an took off a wheel, and measured), the wheel hub body only extends a few millimeters farther out than the rim. If I attached a spacer, the wheel would then be ONLY resting its weight on the lug nut studs.

I know, it'd probably be safe and supportable enough, but I'm young and don't have the savings to blow on uncovered repairs from a broken aftermarket part, so I'd like to be precautionary and do things right. There are a lot of vehicles out there that have used the 5x4.5 70.5mm wheel hub, so what I would really appreciate knowing is: what wheel hubs are compatible with my Ranger that have an extended hub body (to accomodate a hub-centric 2" wheel spacer with room left over for the lip of the rim)? I will continue to do more research on my own, but could someone please help me figure out which vehicles have those long hub bodies so that I can pick em up at the junkyard or online cheap. Sorry if this question is a repost, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Also, would it be easy enough to change out the wheel hubs myself? I'm pretty mechanical and have tools.


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If I accidently made that question overly-complex, basically all I want to know is where I can find some long wheel hubs that'll fit the Ranger.
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  #2  
Old 08-15-2012, 02:52 PM
woodsman woodsman is offline
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Default Re: Hub-centric wheel spacers - extended wheel hubs compatible with Ranger?

No one's given any response yet but the update is that I went to the junkyard and picked up four 4x4 wheel hubs off two old rangers. The hub bearings don't match up though to mine. Is there a way to use the outer bearings from the existing hub end? And will the new hub extenders serve any purpose on the rear drum brakes? I'll try to post pics and find stuff out on my own but help would be appreciated asap..
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Old 08-15-2012, 03:59 PM
cdawall cdawall is offline
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Default Re: Hub-centric wheel spacers - extended wheel hubs compatible with Ranger?

Most rims are not hub centric and are lug centric. That's just how it is. All wheel spacers I have ever seen are lug centric on the rim side.
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Old 08-15-2012, 11:29 PM
S13minus1 S13minus1 is offline
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Wait what? If you buy hubcentric spacers, they use the hub to center (and support) the spacer. Then the spacer has the same lip your factory hubs have. The wheel will then center, and be supported by, the spacer which is supported by the hub.
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'10 Ranger XL 2.3L Manual
Mods: Stereo, Tint, Weatherguard rain shields, Intake silencer removal, LED brake, turn signal, reverse, license plate, and dome lights, DDM HID's (currently removed), lowered, 17" wheels with spacers, Explorer autodim mirror with Autolamps, Magnaflow exhaust, Buggman LED 3rd Brake Light...
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awe come on alex be a man!
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Old 08-16-2012, 06:39 AM
woodsman woodsman is offline
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Default Re: Hub-centric wheel spacers - extended wheel hubs compatible with Ranger?

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Originally Posted by cdawall View Post
Most rims are not hub centric and are lug centric. That's just how it is. All wheel spacers I have ever seen are lug centric on the rim side.
idk but I was pretty sure that it is recommended to have wheel spacers mounted on an extended hub that way everything remains hub-centric, because I know that the rims are hub-centric. Maybe they can be mounted but the lugs, but I want to find how to get extended hubs on there anyway.
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Originally Posted by S13minus1 View Post
Wait what? If you buy hubcentric spacers, they use the hub to center (and support) the spacer. Then the spacer has the same lip your factory hubs have. The wheel will then center, and be supported by, the spacer which is supported by the hub.
No, there is no lip on any of the spacers I have seen. The ones affordable enough I was looking at on eBay don't picture one http://www.ebay.com/itm/330766618619...84.m1436.l2648
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Old 08-16-2012, 05:49 PM
S13minus1 S13minus1 is offline
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http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...id=15872090318

Just look up "hubcentric ranger spacer". I got mine for around $60 shipped and have been holding up wonderfully.
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-Alex
'10 Ranger XL 2.3L Manual
Mods: Stereo, Tint, Weatherguard rain shields, Intake silencer removal, LED brake, turn signal, reverse, license plate, and dome lights, DDM HID's (currently removed), lowered, 17" wheels with spacers, Explorer autodim mirror with Autolamps, Magnaflow exhaust, Buggman LED 3rd Brake Light...
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awe come on alex be a man!
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Old 08-16-2012, 07:31 PM
woodsman woodsman is offline
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Default Re: Hub-centric wheel spacers - extended wheel hubs compatible with Ranger?

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Originally Posted by S13minus1 View Post
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...id=15872090318

Just look up "hubcentric ranger spacer". I got mine for around $60 shipped and have been holding up wonderfully.
Perfect! I didn't see those. Thanks a ton man I'll have to pick out a set of those. This'll saze me 84 bucks too cuz now I can take back the long hubs I got and not have to worry about swapping the splines from them. Haha you saved me a lot of trouble!

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edit: actually though, I might keep the new long wheel hubs that way the spacers aren't just resting on the lip of the stock hub. which means I'll have to look at the issue with swapping splines tomorrow. still, thanks for the heads up though, that was a stupid mistake for looking past the hubcentric spacers

Last edited by woodsman; 08-16-2012 at 07:48 PM.
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Old 08-16-2012, 10:11 PM
S13minus1 S13minus1 is offline
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They don't just rest on there. The recessed holes go over your stock studs, and they bolt onto that using nuts they supply. The centre hole is perfectly machined for the stock centre bore. then you use the studs pressed into the spacer for your wheels. Super easy, effective, and they work great. You will have no issues. I know I'm lowered, but I put my truck through hell. Rutted and washboarded roads, California potholes, MEXICAN potholes (aka streets, lol), some sideways driving, 100mph regularly, etc. as long as they're torqued properly, you will have zero issues. A lot easier than swapping splined axle ends.
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-Alex
'10 Ranger XL 2.3L Manual
Mods: Stereo, Tint, Weatherguard rain shields, Intake silencer removal, LED brake, turn signal, reverse, license plate, and dome lights, DDM HID's (currently removed), lowered, 17" wheels with spacers, Explorer autodim mirror with Autolamps, Magnaflow exhaust, Buggman LED 3rd Brake Light...
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColinS View Post
awe come on alex be a man!
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  #9  
Old 08-17-2012, 06:55 AM
woodsman woodsman is offline
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Default Re: Hub-centric wheel spacers - extended wheel hubs compatible with Ranger?

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Originally Posted by S13minus1 View Post
They don't just rest on there. The recessed holes go over your stock studs, and they bolt onto that using nuts they supply. The centre hole is perfectly machined for the stock centre bore. then you use the studs pressed into the spacer for your wheels. Super easy, effective, and they work great. You will have no issues. I know I'm lowered, but I put my truck through hell. Rutted and washboarded roads, California potholes, MEXICAN potholes (aka streets, lol), some sideways driving, 100mph regularly, etc. as long as they're torqued properly, you will have zero issues. A lot easier than swapping splined axle ends.
haha okay i wont be torturing my truck that badly so mine will probably hold up then. at worst, they'll deal with some big rocks and deep mud. not enough power in my 3.0L to do much more anyways...thank you very much for your input into this thread. that should answer just bout all my questions for now. once i get thm ordered i will try to get a nice picture of the truck then
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