An acquaintance of mine, whom works at a national tire chain, is trying to sell me wheels off his Pontiac grand am or grand prix, unsure which at the moment, to put on my 95' ford ranger. We mounted it and it seemed to fit but he say's I will need a "wider" lug nut with the same threading to be safe.
My question is what info do I need and what concerns do I need to take into account when checking compatibility? All the research I've done leads me to believe it will not work.
I have the both wheels (ford and pontiac) to look at, but not sure what I might be looking for to see if the wheels are compatible.

Any info is helpful, seems like a great deal on nice wheels and tires but if I can't use them they are worthless.

 

All Rangers use 5 x 4.5" bolt pattern
But there are a few other things you have to remember, if you have a 4x4 with hubs, center hole can be an issue.
Also the back spacing, wheels usually don't have the hubs centered in the width of the rim, stock ranger back spacing is 4.5", if new wheels have more back spacing they can rub when you turn.
Flip wheel facing down, put a straight edge across wheel rim, measure from hub to rim, that's the back space

Pontiac Grand am, '99 and up uses 5 X 4.52" so pretty close, but not a match.

Problem is when you torque down the lugs it will pull the studs off center, just a bit but bending is bending, would it work, sure, would I do it, no.

 

Got it, bolt pattern, back spacing, model and year of the pontiac. Pontiac wheel say's 15x6jx420 not sure how that translates.
I can do some more informed research now, Thank you.