Looks great! Do you have Fred's 2" wheel adapters on there as I do? Any troubles or concerns with towing 8000 lbs on wheel spacers? I LOVE the look of OEM 20's on the EX. I will, however, be a little bit puckered up the first time I tow heavy. I have installed them properly using a torque wrench and with loc-tite on the threads, but it still makes me a little uneasy until I make the maiden voyage.

 

yes, 05 with leafs.

The truck has been at the Ford dealership for 3 weeks getting head studs, the pass rear EB body molding replaced, and new front hubs installed.

Climbing underneath and determining exactly what has been done to the suspension is on my to do list when I get the truck back. The truck rides a bit stiff in the rear for daily driving IMO, I am guessing there are rear add-a-leafs.

 

Interesting. I wonder what mine has going on to have no rub. My tires have about 70% tread remaining but I doubt that is it. I just bought a full size spare off EBAY with less than 20 miles on the tire, guess I will throw that on the front and see if it rubs. My truck doesnt look any higher than yours to me.

Where does it rub? EB fender moulding or inside tire on the leaf spring? (I'll look for rubbing marks when I get the truck out of the shop)

 

Mine rubs at the 9 o'clock position on the passenger front tire in the above picture. Same spot on the driver side tire. For example when I turn right, the passenger front tire rubs the back side of the wheel well. When I turn left, the driver front tire rubs the back side of the wheel well. It rubs clear at the bottom (the black plastic) of the wheel well. So with my x-code upgrade this weekend it should give me plenty of clearance. I only have about 1" or so of clearance from leaf spring to bump stop. Look at your front leafs....if you have more than 1" of clearance then you definitely have upgraded springs.

 

Hey Doc, that part of the black wheelwell liner is fairly flexible, you can loop a cable tie through the bottom edge and pull it back just a tad to allow for rub free clearence.

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

thanks for the info.

If you can take a profile before/after pics that would be great.

 

Do those 20” Pilot on anything or are they just relying on the studs? Last summer I had a wheel failure or a stud brake with after market wheels and it was pretty ugly after the truck landed on the rotor while pulling pretty heavy trailer. I have sold the after market wheels and went back to the stock wheels but I really like the look of the 20’s. Any pictures of the spacer?

 

The guys above who referenced 'Freds adapters' are talking about the correct hub piloted 2" (hubcentric) adapters from WheelAdapter.com is your number one source for wheel adapters, wheel spacers, used wheels, and wheel studs. they are the best and that is reflected in the cost, about $600 or so for a full set. There are plenty of places online and even some users here that run much less expensive non-hub piloted or lugcentric adapters on these trucks and claim eveything is just fine. Maybe it's just fine for them but I wouldn't trust it for what I use my buggy for, towing heavy. I remember your Dick Cepek wheel failure, that looked pretty scary and helped convince me I would stick to factory forged wheels.

 

Don't use any adapters other than Freds!!!
Hubcentric is the only "SAFE" way to do this.

I towed my trailer at least 20x last summer 3,000 - 4,000 miles and not one issue.
I did re torque the wheels and adapters and nothing moved a bit!

 

I have a set of oem 20s with 275/65/20 Nitto Terra Grapplers I am wanting to put on my 04 Excursion.

I test fit the wheels with no spacer and with a mocked 2" spacer and I noticed a couple of things. First it is hard to fully judge but I dont think a 2" spacer is gonna be necessary. It looks like a 1.5 or 1.75 would get it. So has anyone tried the factory 20s(with the stock tire size at 275/65) with either of these spacer thicknesses? Reason I am asking is the thicker the spacer the worse the rub potential at the frear of the wheel wells becomes so running a thinner spacer will free up bit of space there as long as the spacer is thick enough to avoid rubbing at the leaf springs.

All of the spacers I have seen are hubcentric(through-bored to the oem wheel CB) on the inside - so you guys are recommending Fred's because he is re-creating a "hub lip" on the outside of his spacers as well? I can see how that is possible but that is a fairly complex machining - the bore diameter must neck down as it comes out from the oem hub to leave the material to create the new lip?

Thanks
ss

 

I don't have a set of Fred's spacers.....Yet. But this is my understanding from doing a lot reading on the subject. The spacer only "needs" to be about 1.75" to duplicate the offset difference between the early Superduty/Excursion and later coil sprung model wheels. However going with a full 2" spacer you won't have to cut the lug studs down any, they are almost 2" long. A thinner spacer would require them to be cut as not to hit the back of the wheel. These trucks AND their wheels are all meant to be Hubcentric, so to do it correctly and be able to trust the rig up to it's potential the spacer should be hub-centered on the inside against the rotor and the wheel should be hub-centered on the outer spacer face with the hubcentric ring. Anything less may work for some folks, but you won't see it on my truck.
Also if you have some minor rubbing at the rear of the wheelwell liner you can pull that spot back a bit using a cable tie to allow for clearence, the liner is fairly flexible.

 

Thanks Tom for the reply. Yea shortening or replacing the studs is no small thing, on balance the rubbing issue is minor.

Also I have done a search but can not find a definitive answer - what is the offset of the stock wheels? I have read ten but it was a question with no reply. The new 20s are positively +40mm(its on the wheel), but I could not find what appeared to be the offset on the stock wheel. I have the 8 round hole wheel same as yours Tom.

ss

 

 

Bringing back an old thread because I am running 08 wheels on an 04 excursion with 35s and minimal rubbing without spacers or a lift.