1998 Ford Ranger 2.5 71k Miles

I came into these 235/65/R18 wheels from an newer explorer, not sure of the year. I have been testing them today.

Right off the bat what I would like to know is what are the risks associated with size 18's on a 1998 2.5 ranger? That is risks to transmission, differential, gear ratio, wheel steering system...or anything else? I am new to ranger, from camry so please educate me here.

Secondly, since I have been running them today this is what I have observed
A) - that steering lock to lock they rub top ball joint, and is it wishbone?? and the lower tie rod connecting rod???
B) - when I am driving and break hard the front wheels are whistling. Kinda like if a truck has been sitting and the disc brakes have rust from rain, etc. This didn't happen with the previous 15's. What is this an indication of?

Other than that all four fit perfectly in the wheel well.

Lastly if there are no risks to damaging of the car and I keep them how would I make them work? Would adding spacers help with the rubbing? Must the truck be lifted? I would prefer not to get into lifting kits and all that at the moment due to budget constraints, not until the end of the year.

 

235/65/R18 is a 30" diameter tire, so will probably rub on the front on sharp turns

Won't hurt drivetrain but acceleration will be slower from loss of torque in rear axle ratio, not a Ranger thing, just general mechanics of how vehicles work
Larger diameter tires lowers rear axle ratio

Not sure of the weight of these tires and wheels, but I am betting they will be heavier than the stock tires and wheels so braking will be effected a bit, but shouldn't cause any noises
I would take a look at the front brakes

 

Yes they are rubbing @ full lock. And second issue is they are bouncing like they need balanced but way too much. I read that I need hubcentric rings and spacers to fix these 2 issues.

Problem is I don't know what sizes. I will appreciate if you can give me some infoon how to determine the correct sizes.

 

Your wheels are from a 2006/7 Explorer

There is no book that tells me, or you, what size spacer and what lugs or hubcentric ridge to use when putting a 2006 explorer wheel on a 1998 Ranger


You will need to jack up a front tire and pull it off, then use washers on the studs to get an idea of the spacer size, 1", 1.5" or 2"

Are your lug nuts tapered or flat?
If they are flat then that's why wheel is bouncing at speed
You need tapered most likely, so the lugs can center the wheel

You can use extended thread lug nuts to us with spacers, called ET lug nuts, since the Ranger studs won't be long enough
Google: ET lug nuts

And use tapered models although that's what most are

 

Lug nuts are the normal Ranger tapered types.

Thanx for the tip. I will pull them off this weekend.