Anyone into black steelies? I am thinking of going with that, but to be honest, I have NEVER had steel rims on any vehicle I have owned. Even when stock I always opt for aluminum. Just wondering how the extra unsprung weight, etc. affects our Rangers.

 

they will be HARD to balance....steel wheels have a tendency to be out of round...

black wheels will look good on a yellow Ranger....

 

lol maurice, its silver, not yellow, it says mustang is yellow!!! have a good christmas yall

 

Thanks for the response guys. Like I said, I have always just opted for alumnium and will probably go that way with my custom wheels, but I still think the black steelies would look great and be inexpensive. Any more comments? I appreciate the help.

 

Me+steelies=bad experiences!!!

It took 4x balancing to figure out I had a bent rim, got a new rim (40 dollars later) and it was OK. It still vibrated above 60mph.

I have aluminum now, they are perfect. Just stay with aluminum. You can get some black aluminum rims (mojave's IIRC)

 

ahhhh i see Taknotes! lol.......

 

Good info. Thanks guys. Actually the cost savings isn't that much. Aluminum it is!

 

Yes sir!

To put it simply...this is a price breakdown for me.

$200.54 for aluminum rims
43 for balancing
66 for road force balancing
38 for sears balancing
40 for new rim
51 for dyna beads

Thats $438.54...coincidentally, thats about how much MT 15x10 Classic II's are

So I messed up bigtime!!!

 

see i have steelies for over 3 years they never bothered me but after i switched to alum i realize how heavy they where... i loved black on silver

 

The aluminum wheels I am thinking of are around 20lbs a piece. Yea, the black on silver looks great. I have always like that. What brand did you have?

 

cragar soft 8s?

 

I had Unique but it doesn't matter there all made by 1 company and sold under other names.....

just fyi.. 265x75x16 with 16x7 rocks where 83lb

my 32x11.5x15 on 15x7 alcoa's are 62lb...

that is a BIG difference in rotating mass...


what size width rim are you looking for?

 

soft 8 are round holes, i had the Rocks or aka wagon wheel style...

 

oh yea, i didnt really look, just saw black and silver cap, so assumed

 

and the chrome cap is a FORD cap not the one they give you..

 

I've ran aluminum, chrome, and now powder coated steel, alum were nice cuz of no rust, chrome was nice and shiney but wouldn't last in winter, so I got the black steelies because when the inevitable rust comes in, it shouldn't be too hard to touch up

 

and its only usually $50 per rim to get them re-powder coated and also if an independent company is thicker and better then what came on it originally

 

right now, i have the unique series 297 black soft 8's. never had a problem and i always use ROADFORCE balancing.

 

what load range were the 265's probably a d...i dont think bfg makes a lrc at in that size compared to a 32 which is a c

thats a big difference

the steel wheels are the only thing to think about when balanceing a tire up you gotta think about the rims width to tire width...my 285's dont balance out to nice on my 16x7 stockers...and thats with the standard clamp weights....try doing a stick on and its even worse......

and in reality my superswampers on my tracker 31x9.50x15's on 15x8 rockcrawlers didnt balance out that bad (they didnt ride bad b4 with no weights either)

if your going with a 10.50 inch wide tire a 7 inch wide wheel will work but with a 11.50 a 7 is to small and will call for alot of weight and wear out really quick (your tire is pinched and the contact patch is small) thats why I need a 8 inch wide wheel

hope that helped some to....

 

i have felt both rims unmounted, the steels where tons heavier then the alums... yes load ranger matters but also so does steel and alum...

 

^^^^Zach, I sent this in a PM, but just in case, I am posting it here:

Those are the factory Level II wheels right? So they are 15x7"? The reason I am asking is that I think it might be okay for me to go with the 15x7" to get the offset I want. I don't want to go too big with the tire, hell a 31x10.50x15 would be fine, and I would like them to tuck in the fenders decently. If you are running those 31x11.50x15s on the factory 15x7" Alcoa, then at least I will know that if I want to move up to the bigger tire that it is a viable option.

I have another question too: Did you ever ascertain the reasoning behind Ford going with a 15" rim on the Level II as opposed to a 16" or 17"?

Thanks! I hope you Christmas was great and have a Happy New Year.

 

Ford went with a 15" wheel on the lvl II's so they could run a 31x10.50.....if it were a 16" wheel it would have been a metric tire size and wouldn't have been close to a 31" tire....and since the lvl II's were built to be offroad capable, there are more offroad tire choices in a 15" wheel than a 16" wheel....

 

I just hope the Eagles clear my brakes.... I have an '04 4x4. These wheels have a 4" BS.

 

if you are getting an aftermarket wheel, you should get either a 3.73" or 3 5/8" backspacing............15" is the SMALLEST size wheel that will clear brakes on any Ranger........the 15" will clear your brakes.....the rotor and calipers are something like 14"......

 

Well actually, although Eagle lists the wheel as having a 4" BS, it also says it has 0 offset. That would work out to a 3.5" BS.