Help Me! Ford Rims on a Wrangler???

[numbrsevn]

I was told that Ford and Jeep rims are interchangeable, so I got the bright idea to swap tires and wheels from my Ford Ranger which has all-terrain tires to my Wrangler which has street tires (for obvious reasons). When I mounted the stock Ranger rim onto the Jeep, it was a little snug fit around the hub, but I did get it on by alternating lug nut tightening. The Jeep rims fit the Ranger fine. However, I decided I didn't like the way the Ford rims look on the Jeep, so I was going to swap them back until I find some rims I like better. But, when I tried to take the Ford rims off the Jeep, they are stuck. I tried rocking it back and forth, no go, kicked it from the back, no go, tried a BFH, no go. Now what do I do? How do I get this darn thing off?

 

[ah_too_bad]

I know the Ford Ranger rims will work, but it will create an offset, but not too much. I have never seen it done, but I have been told that it works and looks pretty good. Now, why it won't come off, I have no idea. Try some white lithieum lube and then ease it off. You don't want to bend anything, unless you already did when putting them on.

 

[L33TJ33P]

they are both 5x4.5 bolt pattern and should interchange pretty easily.

 

[numbrsevn]

Another question. Aren't the lug nut sizes on Wranglers 1/2" threads? I was going to swap the nuts with the rims so that I could put the center cap on also, but the nuts from the ranger wanted to cross-thread, leading me to believe they are not the same size after all. I decided to leave the Ford rims on the Jeep for now, since I can't get them off anyway. When I finally get new rims I'll have to pay someone to put them on. So now I am on the way to buy new Ford lug nuts, because the stock ones are just too ugly to leave uncovered on the new rims. Thanks for your replies.
:?

 

[Snitty]

nothing about rims should be tough to put on... if they are... STOP... something is wrong... that is why you can't get them off... whatever wasn't fitting... it was like you machine pressed your rim onto your jeep... it will take a lot of elbow grease to get that off there

 

[MerkL]

I thought that I read somehwere that Fords fit Jeeps, is that all Fords? Would a '71 Ford pickup swap with my Wrangler? Back to the question at hand, try putting some heat (from torch) around the area where it seems to be stuck. Good luck

 

[88Wrangles]

MerkL, I've got a '94 F150 and the wheels are not interchangable with the Wrangler. My '73 F100 had the same lug pattern as the '94, so it wouldn't fit the Jeep either. I'm not sure if the '71 was different.

 

[ah_too_bad]

only rangers are interchangeable

 

[MerkL]

Yeah, I measured and its 5 by 5.5. thanks guys

 

[numbrsevn]

I got the rims and tires swapped, finally. I should have paid the 40 bucks to the tire dealer to just swap the tires because this ended up costing me $25 today because I had to buy new lug nuts for the Ranger. The stock ones were not deep enough for the new rims. However, now I am probably going to have to pay the tire dealer more $$$ to "unpress" the Ford rims off the jeep and put new rims back on with my tires. The Ranger rides fine with the new wheels, but I noticed as i test drove the Jeep, when I press the brakes I hear a slight scraping noise, so I think the back-spacing of the Ranger wheels isn't compatible with the way the Wrangler is set up. Anyway, next payday I will find out how much this fiasco is going to ultimatley cost me. This is what I get for being so cheap to begin with. Thanks for all your help.

 

[hi_c]

Just goes to show...
"You get what you pay for"

C

 

[jps4jeep]

It is not just rangers, it is ford explorers, Bronco II's, crown vics (same rim as a factory YJ and XJ, same backspacing too) 94+ mustangs, and 95+ probes (and all the mercury counter parts). as well as dodge intrepids, 300M's, concorde's etc.. We out a set of 17" 300M rims on my YJ for like a day, looked wicked funny, now they are on my friends explorer.

Also, there is a tj in my town that has a set of 16" 97+ explorer rims on it with aftermarket center caps, looks pretty good accually.

any rim with a 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern will fit. most fords have the same backspacing and width of a jeep rim except a probe, 15x5.5 with neg backspacing.

 

[wm69]

the f150 rims fit the CJ's....that's where you got that idea......

 

[numbrsevn]

Today I went out to look at the Jeep again to see if maybe I could figure out what is wrong with it in the daylight. Whenever I press the brakes I hear a squeal/rubbing sound coming from the front driver's side wheel. I looked at it all around while pushing it by hand and I can hear the noise then also, but I don't see anything even close to rubbing the rims which is what I thought might be the problem. Will the wrong backspacing on the new rims cause a scraping noise that gets louder as the brakes are pressed? I know the previous owner had the front brake calipers replaced and all new brakes installed 25,000 miles ago. He said he had problems with the front calipers sticking before so he had them replaced. Maybe I have a seperate brake problem not related to the rim replacement. I have only driven this jeep a total of 5 miles since I bought it, but I never heard this noise before. Any ideas?

 

[redrooster]

The brakes are probably rubbing the inside of the rim when you touch the pedal.
The Ranger has a 5 on 4.5" lug pattern like your Wrangler.
The older Ford and Doge trucks had a 5 on 5.5" lug pattern that fits CJ's.
The center bore of the rim is obviously different for the two. The Ranger has a smaller bore so you obviously pressed it on there. The Wrangler bore is bigger, so it went on the Ranger easily.
Sounds like you need to get a sledge hammer and whack the crap out of the back of the tire, trying not to knock it off the jack. That's what the tire store is going to do.

 

[jeeperwilly]

That could be the problem. But I run 92 Explorer mags on my YJ, all I did before I put them on was to take a dremel tool and ground off some of the inner bore for the hubs to fit alot smoother. I haven't had any problems with them since I put them on 2yrs ago. If you get those rims off just take down some of the inner bore. Good luck

 

[numbrsevn]

That's good news in a way. Hopefully I don't have a brake problem in addition to a rim problem. In regards to getting the rims off. At least the tire dealer has a rack. I don't think they will knock it off that. I want new rims anyway, this was just temporary, so it doesn't matter to me if they bend, break, melt, destroy the rims that are on the jeep now in order to get them off. It will still probably cost me quite a bit of $ to get those 2 back rims off. oh well, we all have to be broke, young, and ignorant at some point in our lives. Live and Learn.