Hi Folks,
I am going to be using front and rear difs from a 91 Explorer for my '53 F-100. I have measured the outside tracking width on the "53 and the Explorer. In their stock configuration, with stock size tires, the '53 is a few inches wider. I haven't done any measuring on the stock Explorer wheels yet but they appear to be offset outward from center almost to the outside bead. I'm thinking that a different offset moving inward to the center of the wheel would be all I need to make up the difference. My question here is, has anyone done this and if so have they gone to different wheels to correct this problem?

We have a '95 Explorer that we put different wheels on back in '98 and they are offset inward quite a bit. Of course the front drive and suspension are Quite different on the two vehicles, so I imagine that might have changed the outside width hub to hub between the different year models. It is my goal to do this project as cheap as possible and yet get the most for my time and money invested. I want to go with some decent looking wheels, but I'm not interested in buying extreme high dollar stuff. That leaves me with two choices, either go with Chinese wheels, or find some decent used aftermarket or some other good looking stock wheels that will fit. Given a choice, I'd rather not go with the Chinese junk. As of yet I have not checked the bolt circle on the Explorer wheels so I don't know what it is. I'd like to go a bit retro on the wheels as I am not interested in the latest big wheel/skinny low profile tire look that is currently so popular. I have nothing against them, it's just not the look I'm going for. Being an old geezer, I tend to favor a look that reminds me of customs that were popular in my younger days.

Anyone out there with ideas along these lines, please feel free to make suggestions. I remember there was one fellow on here that used an Explorer chassis under his truck but that is about all I remember. I think he is still in the building phase. If by chance anyone remembers his thread and knows how to get to it, please post the link here on this thread. I really just don't like the design of the stock aluminum wheels on the '91, so I wouldn 't want to use them even if the width was right. I thought maybe you folks would have some good ideas. Pictures would be great. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Later Folks...

 

dave look up houghda . thats his user name and you should be able to find the thread .

 

Dave, say you want an 8" wheel, here is a way to measure for your front space and your back space. take a piece of wood, a paint stur stick works well. make it 9" long because a 8" wheel is 9" about from outside of wheel to outside, take the wheel off , tape a weighted string to the inside of the fender well, centered from the hub, take the 9" stick and rest it on top of rotor or drum pionted toward the stick, hold it 1" from the string (this gives you 1" clearence). Note from the end of the stick to the surface where the wheel bolts on say is 4" then you would want a 4" front space wheel which would leave 5" for back space on the 9" measurement of the 8" wheel,hope this helps. You can fool around with these measurements and get the wheels that give you the desired look you want.

 

Dave, look in my gallary on new wheels, now i'm a little different than most guys but this is exactly what i was going for on my truck, Garry

 

Explorer=5x4.5" bolt circle
'53 f100=5x5.5" bolt circle
the 5x4.5" is very popular among Ford's car history, so even junkyarding might find a set that look alright....aftermarket or stock.

FWIW, using the wheels you have atleast allows you to roll it around, and even "test" drive it before spending on the wheels you want. They'll certainly fit under those big fenders, lol. My $.02

 

Here's mine for what it's worth.I like trad '50's kustom

 

Thanks, I found the post.

Later Man...

 

Hi Gary,
I took a tour through your gallery. I saw some nice work there. Thanks for the reply and posting as well as the measuring tips. I also noticed you have a an SD too. Mine is pictured in the link for it in my signature. Lately it sits around in the garage a lot. I only use it for the camper and moving vehicles in my trailer. Given the cost of fuel I don't use it for anything else. I once said it was my retirement truck and would last me the rest of my life. At the rate things are going it will also still look new when I croak. It still has the paper code stickers on the frame and it is five years old. Thanks again ...

Later Man...

 

Hi Scott,
I know I can always count on you for that tech info. It's not that I'm lazy, I just haven't gotten around to checkig out the Explorer. When I'm online with the forum all this stuff comes to mind and it's real easy to ask questions.

Later Man...