I have been trying to do more research on this, as I am having brake issues with my '97 Aerostar. I have to haul heavy loads and often a trailer too, and the stock brakes are woefully inadequate. They can stop the van just fine, but they get very hot very fast. They have not yet warped, but the front brakes have already glazed.

On my mom's Aerostar, the rear disc brake conversion used parts from an '85 Mustang SVO, both wheels and brakes. The brake calipers are mounted to a bracket that has been welded to the axle, so a conversion does involve welding, nothing is going to bolt on directly. I do not know what the wheels came of of, as the SVO from that time ran a 16x7 rim with a -5.625 offset. These are definitely Mustang wheels, but a 15x7 with an unknown offset. If you get the wrong offset, there could be rubbing issues, especially in turns. So who knows what the correct offset needs to be, or how to find out the right one. I'm not certain what a stock 14" rims offset is either, perhaps if you know that, you can calculate the right one.

I know in my past posts I was generally avoiding 15" rims, and I still agree with that assessment from a ride quality and load bearing standpoint when clearance is still a strong concern. But if you need better brakes, the added clearance is needed to run disc brakes on the rear. Running larger brakes on the front would be more complicated, as the calipers on the front are part of the whatever the part is called. With machining, it would be possible to design something that could be bolted in place, but it would likely be cost prohibitive. In any case, based on my experience with my mom's van with rear discs, having them does not seem to adversely affect braking in any way, but it does dramatically decrease heat and wear on the front brakes.

Perhaps as I work on the conversion on my van, I can come up with a reasonably cost effective list of parts needed to complete a conversion.

 

Good post - I'm still running on original 14" steel-wheels with Maxxis MA-1 tires (205/75/14 M&S). They did 20tsnd miles without any problem and the profile still looks confident on all four. Shure this depends on driving habits, average speed, load, overall road conditions and proper adjustment how tires wear.

Performance of the Maxxis MA-1 is average, requires careful driving. Had once a terrible Aqua-planing situation when a strong wind squall hit starboard side and the road was wet.

Snow/mud driving above 40mph is an frontier experience with the MA-1. But after they did it well in Davos downtown on hardened snow surface at low speeds. The load on the rear axle is crucial and decides on go or no go - stuck.

Several attempts to get other tires failed last year, due to "out of stock" or online-shopping fraud (tires payd but never delivered). 14" tires in Aerostar sizes is still realy hard to find in Europe.

But there is a light at the end of tunnel.. i bought a set of used Mustang Alloy-Wheels in size 15" with which the choice on the tire-market should increase. Waiting for delivery of those wheels..



(any thoughts on this type of wheel are appreciated, size 215/65/15)

Fortunately i have the entire front-brake system new, ready to bolt on. I will not run these Wheels on the old hardware. Overhauling of the rear Drum brake must work.

Yeah, bigger Disks in front and rear disk Brakes would improve alot. I must stay with discipline in maintaining slow speeds until then i'm curious about the conversion.


All the Best, and only the best for our Aerostars


97' XLT RWD 3.0L

 

For five plus years I've been on early Explorer rims.
A current project is converting the 23 yr old T135/80-14 to new T135/70-15 (Bridgestone,Goodyear) on a steel Ranger rim.




Original EB style

 

Yes, those early Explorer-Rims are looking great! Emphasizes the bullish look of your van, together with the running boards and the two-tone colour. I do prefer a flat design also. Wheel availability for Explorer is narrow in Germany, many of them are still running. Best bet is on 15" Mustang wheels, most wanted from Mustang owners are over that size. Let's see how they fit and match. Wonder how the design of Rimms do affect the cooling efficiency of the front Disk brakes, anyone?

 

Obviously, the more open the wheels, the greater potential for air flow through them. So thinner spokes are better. If they can be shaped like air foils, so much the better.

Remember that brake rotor cooling starts with air going into the inside of the hub, and expelling out the rotor vents by centrifugal force. One thing that helps is the directional rotors with curved vent slots that were standard on 92 and later Aeros. Install them so that the vents point backward at the top; that gives the air a straighter path out. Another thing is removing the dust shield on the inboard side of the rotor. It will improve air flow, but expose more of the rotor to road debris. Racers actually run ducts from under the bumper to this area for this purpose.

Since you're in Germany, you might want to check out a Mercedes driving down the highway on a rainy day. One I saw a while ago showed a very interesting pattern of water spray coming out of the wheel wells; they looked like they were almost coming straight out, indicating a lot of the air gathered from the front were being directed through the wheel wells. Despite the name, Aerostars do not have that level of air flow management.

 

I changed my Aero over to 15in Ranger/Explorer wheels 7-8yrs ago, 215-70-15 BF Goodrich tires. With this overall diameter, being almost same as the stocker 215075-14, my speedo, ride height and clearance is almost equal to orig (within 4mm height) BUT I think the van looks 100% better with a proper truck size wheel on there. Of course I'm Old School and really dig the dished wheels and being as the offset is a touch more biased towards the fender lip just matches the body proportions better IMO.....

--Ray

 

Ok, so Ranger/Explorer 4.5" 5 lug rims do fit and they are biased outwards? If that is the case, then they should work great. I did some more research on the ones on my moms van, the calipers and rotors are found from a 1985 SVO or on a Lincoln Mark VII. I would have assumed the wheels came of the same vehicle, but I was mistaken. Turns out my specific wheels are from a '99-'01 Stang They seemingly fit perfectly. I do not know the offset of them, or of the Ranger/Explorer wheels. Can you confirm what years your wheels came from? I just want to be able to find an inexpensive wheel that is alloy, not steel. I have had problems with steel wheels being out of round and causing vibrations on more than one Aerostar. I have to always get my current wheels road force balanced to minimize vibration, but thats not completely foolproof.

 

Yeah Khan, shoulda' mentioned they were from a '99 or 2000 Explorer (I got them 2nd hand and can't remember exactly). I have had zero vibration issues with them.


--Ray

 

Ok, so they don't rub at all at full lock? I just want to be sure of as much as I can before I try to acquire a set for my ride. My tires are getting close to worn out. They have some good tread life left, but because of their balance issues, when they get more than 50% worn, they start to cup, which causes additional noise and vibration.

 

No, they don't Lock to Lock they're 100% OK.
I just changed front shocks from the old orig 200k units and when the old shocks were worn out (one was actually blown out completely) they DID allow the front tires to JUST touch the inner fender lip at full compression. Now I run some good high end units (can't recall the name.....gas charged large bodied dudes) that don't, even on the biggest dips and speed bumps we have here.

--Ray

 

Ok, well looks like I'm gonna be tracking down a set of 15" Explorer wheels. My current tires are pretty shot, so now is as good a time as any. I will also put on a set of snow tires when I do so, as my '00 Focus gets better snow traction right now than my AWD Aerostar. I often have to drive in adverse weather, so I want as much control and safety as I can get, especially if I happen to have a trailer.

 

Khan, the Explorer rims from "94 4liter" are actually steel rims with a deceptive shiny hubcap insert and a chromed plastic center cap .

I purchased the exact same set of 4 used rims for exactly $100 (Canadian).

I also prefer aluminum rims, but the dog is too old for that kind of luxury.

 

I local yard I deal with has located for alloy wheels from a '96. I'm gonna go with those. They look pretty nice, I'll just do some refinishing before I install them.

 

Lots of aluminum Ranger-Explorer rims for sale on Craigslist and else where.

If you want to spend $50 per wheel, it is still a super bargain.

The main reason for switching is the large selectability of tires.


The issue of clearance is a no brainer. 215-70-15 is way too close.

 

Craigslist is useless in Utah.

Large delectability of tires is not my reason, I need clearance for disc brakes on the rear axle so that I get more stopping power and better cooling of the brakes. If I narrow my options down the to right sizes, and load range that I'm gonna need on Tire Rack's site, I reduces my choices to just three tires. Of those three options one is a snow tire, which is nice. I will definitely use those for the remaining winter. I was hoping that a fuel saver tire would work, but I couldn't find one in this size that can handle good loads. I guess fuel economy on this van is a secondary priority anyway, hauling reliably and safely is the first priority.