I am thinking about getting some custom wheels for my Aersotar... but I need to know about the OEM wheel width, offset (back spacing), bolt pattern, and hub bore... Does anyone know this information? I have tried searching for it but I have come up with nothing...

 

as I remember 4.5'', inner diameter is 2.5".....

 

What kind of tire are you looking at, we just got a set of 27x 8.50 R14. They are much more durable, and can better handle the weight of the Aero. They take much of the wishy washiness out of the right, more stable in turns, better handling overall. The ride gets a little harsher when going over potholes, rough roads and railroad tracks, but not significantly so. A good set of shocks and springs takes care of much of the roughness.

Truth is, my tire shop said they like minivans, because they eat tires. They said getting the 27 x 8.50 R14 LT 6 ply tires is a good decision, because these tires are meant to handle a larger vehicle. We went through a set of Big O brand tires, their top rated factory sized tire in about 20,000 miles. In contrast, I have already put 20,000 miles on the tires on my van, and I can easily see I will get at least another 30,000 out of them.

If you go with a 15" rim, you do increase your tire options, but the larger rim will make for a rougher ride automatically. A larger tire on a smaller rim helps soften the ride more, more tire to cushion the ride. A 27" LT tire on a 14" rim is a softer ride than a comparable 27" tire on a 15" rim.

Just some thoughts to ponder.

 

Well I'm looking to get wheels... Right now I have 14" steelies with hub caps... I want to get a 16" of 17" alloy wheel in there and possibly run some lower profile tires... But I am definitely thing about my suspension options as well...

 

my hub caps were lost many years ago.... still not found...

 

Any rim off of a Mustang, Crown Vic, Grand Marc, Towncar, Bronco II, Ranger, Explorer, B-series, Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee, will work.

Luckily Ford put their standard 5-bolt pattern for small vehicles on the Aero.

 

My tire shops said they also like low profile tires. You never get the milage out of them.

 

Low profile tires are for good roads only. One errand to counry side... and.....

 

Plus heavy vehicles tend to wear unevenly, even when properly inflated, they wear on the outside edges. A heavier rated 6 ply tire can withstand the weight better and wears more evenly in addition to the improved handling. A low profile tire will have better cornering but produces some of side effects of a heavier rated tire without the benefits. The low profile tires will tend to wear quickly, especially on the outside edges, and will produce a harsh ride. They do not respond to adding extra weight very well.

It is nice that there are a lot of options in the 15" rim size, but I prefer the extra rubber.

 

I am not concerned about tire wear... I don't have a problem with buying tires...

No one has really answered my original question yet... I am looking for the bolt pattern and at least the Offset... I have figured from the other posts (although nobody actually said it) that the bolt patter is 5x114.3 But I am still looking for the Offset. I don't care about tires at the moment... I am looking for WHEELS. And I mean after market wheels, not wheels off of another ford.

 

one more time.... 5 lugs at 4.5"

 

I can go measure my factory wheels. In my experience jeep wheels are offset in more than Fords & rub the caliper sometimes. I think the inches offset is 4 1/2 from mounting flange to inner wheel edge. As a percentage, I dunno. Be right back.

OK Yeah. My stock 1996 XLT wheels are 14" X 6" & about 4 1/2" of that is on the inside. A slight negative offset.

Yeah the bolt circle is also 4 1/2" I think.

I had luck Googling "Ford wheel bolt pattern" once where I got tire site's tables of bolt pattern & offset.

 

I would suspect that most Ford rims will work fine so long as the pattern is the same. The offset is probably the same as well.

 

4.5" is not a bolt pattern

I did the same Google search... the Areostar is not listed, but the Mustang is, and that chart still didn't give me a definitive offset.

You say that the offset would be 4.5" which converted over would make it a 114.3mm Offset... That's kind of a huge offset.

I think the thing that is really throwing me off is that all the numbers you guys are giving me are Imperial... Wheels are measured in Metric... Not Imperial.

I have worked with wheels before on my last car (Subaru) I know that it had exactly a 5x100 bolt patter and I needed to run a 48-55 Offset to fit the brakes and keep the wheels within the wheel wells.

I am just getting a little aggravated because I am not getting useful information. I don't care if you lost your hubcaps and never found them, I don't care about your 6 ply Tires, I don't care about the wheels on other Fords.

I joined this Forum because I now own a Ford. I thought I would be able to come here and share my experiences from my Ford and learn for your experiences from your Fords. I will admit, I am not a huge fan of Fords. The Only reason I happened to buy the Aerostar was because I kinda wanted a van, it was in great shape and it was DIRT CHEAP.

 

"I am just getting a little aggravated because I am not getting useful information. I don't care if you lost your hubcaps and never found them, I don't care about your 6 ply Tires, I don't care about the wheels on other Fords."

What kind of assistance were you hoping to get with this kind of attitude? Did you completely miss what others have presented already: 5 lugs on a 4.5" diameter, with a 2.5" inner hole. Is this not a bolt pattern? And a 4.5" backspacing (not offset). That pretty much defines the dimensions of the wheel that you need.

This information I'll provide for others' benefit:

The backspacing is measured from the mounting flange to be back edge of the rim. But don't forget to subtract about 1/2" from that for the thickness of the rim lip before calculating the offset ratio, as the wheel width is measured between the seating surfaces for the tire beads. The offset is ratio of the distance between the flange and wheel center to the wheel width, with the flange toward the outside of wheel center being positive, and toward the inside being negative.

Most cars in the US still use English units for wheel sizes, but metric for wheel width specifications. It's odd, but it's the way it is. A couple of exceptions for American cars were some Fords built in late 70's to mid-80's that used the Michelin P-metric tires and wheels to match. They were a real pain to find replacements for.

BTW, if you think 4.5" of backspacing is a lot, the wheels I'm looking at for my Mustang will have almost 6" of backspacing.