17" wheels

[CityHick]

I've been looking around for a set of 17" wheels for my Bronco, for some mythical day when all of my parts arrive and I can drive it again.
The choices for a 17" wheel with a 3.5" backspace are pretty few and far between.

Wild Horses sells the US Mags "Indy" in 17" with 3.5" backspacing, in polished aluminum. It's not a bad looking wheel and is sort of "classic" on the EB. If that wheel was offered in a black powder coat I'd be more interested in it. My Bronco is orange with almost no shiny stuff on it - black wheels, bumpers, cage, and minimal chrome (emblems etc). I am hoping to stay with the black accessory motif.

Tribal knowledge says that you need 3.5" wheel backspacing on an EB. However searching on classicbroncos there are a lot of people running 17" wheels from Method and Fuel with a 4.5" backspacing, and they say they fit without issue.

My only known interference with my current 15" wheels (with 3.625" backspacing) is on my silly looking Rancho remote reservoir shocks in the front. I can relocate the external reservoirs and very likely eliminate that rub problem - and as I run "CAGE" radius arms (similar to what is currently offered by James Duff) I have no issues with tires getting close to the radius arms. I run stock width EB axles.

Why do I want 17" wheels? Mainly because I like the appearance, and also because the tire choices for 37" tires are more plentiful should I decide to stay with 37" tires. Even if I go to a 35" tire, I feel that a little less sidewall would help my on-road handling. Given that I put most of my miles on, on the pavement, everyday handling ranks high with me. I do plan to wheel, but I also will be driving in normal everyday situations, as well as driving to/from off road trips.

Long story short - if any of you have experience with running 4.5" backspacing on similarly equipped rigs, please share with me any clearance/rubbing issues that you have experienced and how you have overcome them.

Alternatively, if you have located 17" wheels with 3.5" backspacing, perhaps your searches have been more fruitful than mine have been, please share links to any such wheels that you may have found.

I am not totally opposed to running a true bead lock wheel, however for a variety of reasons I have a bias towards normal non-bead locked wheels. For one, to date I have never popped a bead on my existing wheels, running pressures down around 15psi. I haven't really had reason to drop the pressure any lower. And for another - I don't know that I necessarily want the extra maintenance of re-torquing bead bolts, and running a wheel that's questionably legal on our highways. I don't really want to get into a debate about the legal aspect here, I am more interested in what I have already asked above.

Thanks in advance.

[Lars]

Funny you should bring this up. I recently took delivery of 5 ea. US Mags Indy wheels in 17" from Wild Horses. Now shod with BFG All-Terrain T/A KO2s in LT315/70R17 load range C, AKA "metric 35's. In other words, Raptor tires. I needed tires anyway and I've been happily running 35" BFG All Terrain T/As in one permutation or another for almost 20 years. But 17" wheels let me fit bigger front brakes. A topic for another thread. My good friend Todd Z, who also wanted 17" wheels for the same reason, ordered some custom made pieces from Circle Racing. He specified 3.75" backspacing so they are tucked in just a bit more. Price was breathtaking. As I understand it, Trail Ready will do customs as well, though I don't know how flexible that they are on backspacing options. In any case, the Indy wheels. Yeah. Shiny. Tempted to knock it down with a Scotchbrite pad, but I probably won't. The way I treat my Bronco on car camping outings (someday I'll adjust to writing "expedition") the shine probably won't last.

[pippinmader]

My $.02 is that as the wheel gets larger in diameter you can run more backspacing without issue because you won't interfere with the brakes/steering on a larger diameter rim. Of course it will also affect when your tires hit the radius arms etc, but as long as you are in the 12.5" tire width range it seems to work fine. The other thing to keep in mind is the scrub radius. If you want to keep the stock scrub radius, you should increase your backspacing by half as much as you increase you tire width.

17" wheels are definitely on my wish list. I would like a "classic" looking wheel with bead lock and have yet to find ones. For me the advantage of a 17" wheel is how the TREs fit the Reid knuckles. Reid's ford knuckles are based on 76/77 bronco knuckles which have the steering arms high and really wide to get correct ackerman angle for a short wheel base vehicle. But when used with Cheby 1-ton TREs the clearance between the wheel weights and the TRE can be measured in frog hairs.

Does any of this make any difference? Probably not, these aren't sports cars, but every little bit helps? The amount of $$$ you have to spend to get a new set of wheels and tires has kept me running the 15" MT wheels and IROK tires I have. Looks like the better part of $5K to got just what I want.

Lars, what brakes are you looking at? No more "big bird" brakes for you?

[CityHick]

Frog hairs, yes. When I first got my 15" el-cheapo steel wheels and 37" tires, the wheel weights were getting knocked off by my heim steering. The tire shop was helpful enough, finding a location where the weights would not get knocked off... but that was sort of strike one. I then went to (stupid) wheel spacers because well... I don't even know anymore.
After my wheel bearing failure adventure from a couple of years ago I removed the spacers as a part of that repair, and they never went back on. My current 15x8 wheels with 37" tires on 3.625" backspacing are a little too tucked, and as mentioned before I have a slight rub that I may be able to work around via other means.

larger front brakes have always been an idea for me but not a high priority one since my existing brakes do the job. I will switch to hydroboost before I increase brake size.

Thanks for your input. The new WH catalog arrived here the other day and the bronco on the cover is running what appear to be the 17" US Mags Indy wheels and they look good. I keep coming back to those as they hit most of my check marks. I haven't run up a bill at the powder coater in a while... perhaps turning them black would be my solution.... (sort of joking there).

[Lars]

I finally got the Indy 17" wheels + tires installed on my Bronco on Friday. No pix yet. The shiny new bits aren't doing anything other than holding the axles off the ground, since my current makeover is a long ways from done. The wheels are really shiny. Did I mention that they are shiny. I'll get used to it. The tires are nearly exactly the height of my old 35's. What caught my eye is the tire/wheel combo looks less cartoonish than a 35" tire with a 15" hole in it. The wheel diameter to sidewall height ratio is more appealing to my eye. Which could be the effect of how much I paid for everything on my perception...

My new front brakes are a mix of late model Dodge parts on unique brackets, which replace the stock caliper bracket + T-bird calipers I've been running for over 20 years. Those brakes, along with Explorer rear discs and hydroboost actually stopped my Bronco just fine. Except when on long descents out of the mountains, when they would reliably fade. If you can lock the tires then increasing brake size won't help with anything except lower pedal effort. But the extra thermal mass will help with fade resistance.

[CityHick]

I agree, the aesthetics of a slightly larger wheel on a big tire is part of what I am after - I currently run 37" tires and I don't really feel that I need to run anything that large, though with my current suspension height they do fit quite well.
The list of wants is getting pretty long, I have truly opened Pandora's box this year. It has been quite a while since I have thrown significant effort towards my bronco, so its good, and some of it is needed. It is however reminding me a lot of 2006-2008 when (I thought) I replaced everything. I do need to draw the line somewhere if I intend to actually use my bronco this summer...

Lars do you have a target "completion" date? I am still shooting for mid-to-late June and I am going to be looking for excuses to put some miles on. Thinking that a visit to your hangar may finally be in order.

Those indy wheels may be what I end up with.

[Lars]

Tony, the biggest question mark for me in guesstimating completion has been the AC install. As someone on the classicbroncos.com forum wrote once, it's not for the faint of heart. The condensor didn't fit when installed per plans, and the evaporator wasn't even close. Adding to complications are various mods I've made over the decades.

Then there is the matter of getting the Trick Flow upper intake that I really wanted (no hood clearance issues), which has been on order since last September. But this morning I got a notice from Summit that it shipped, due next Friday. If it's not a false alarm (it's happened 3 times before) then I'm kicking the project into overdrive- really want it running by mid May, since I'm sure there will be kinks to work out.

The last time I threw serious effort at my Bronco was in 2005. Lots of small things since, but that's when it got the NV4500, Atlas, current rear axle, EDIS, etc. Makes me tired just writing all that.

If you want more info about my new front brakes, send me a PM.

[71BRONCO71]

A lot of raceline truck wheels are 17x9 with a -12mm BS. That about a 4"BS. That would work perfectly.
5x5.5 = 5x139.7

https://racelinewheels.com/collectio...32196674027600


Are you steel 15's 8 or 10 wide?

[CityHick]

Thanks Ryan,
I have a slight rub already with my 3.625" backspacing which I could probably work around by setting my steering stops out a little more, which is probably not a bad idea anyway. The rub is on my shock - specifically the external reservoir and the adjuster knob. I can move the external reservoir but I cannot mount my shocks in such a way that the knob doesn't rub the tire.

My steel 15" wheels are 8" wide, and without the spacers I am not liking how tucked they are.

I will look again at the raceline offerings. 4" might be okay with different shocks and/or longer steering stops.

[71BRONCO71]

The 10" will site wider to the outside.

What is your shock setup?
0.25 spacers from oreillys wouldn't be the end of the world.

[CityHick]

Front shocks are Rancho adjustable reservoir shocks mounted on F250 upper mounts and CAGE radius arms.
Now that it is almost May and there seems to be an end in sight for my perpetual waiting game I do need to find something. My tires are old and I don't want to run them for much longer. One sustained some damage during my wheel bearing failure incident so it's now the spare. It's time...

[CityHick]

To correct some information in this thread - a 9" wide wheel with a -12mm offset is about a 4.5" backspace.

Today I took a fresh look at things and decided to replace my current steering stop bolts with ones slightly longer. I need to take some angle measurements as it seems that the max steering angle is 44 degrees, which by my eyeball looks to be about where they are now, and what do you know... I have quite a bit of room now. Not only were the stops set too far in, they were also different side to side. Things like this make my mind wonder what else I should start looking at that may have been neglected for many years...

I don't love the Indy wheels but they are one of the very few that fit the bill for me. The other option that I keep finding is the US Wheel 046:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/usw-046-8955

These are very similar to what I currently have, black steel wheels with the addition of a simulated beadlock ring. I don't mind them, they're just not the most stylish.

I feel that I could probably get away with a 4" backspacing without much trouble. 4.5 may be pushing it.

As was stated before, there are a few more options if I move to a true beadlock. I don't have a lot of interest in mounting my own tires, not being able to have them balanced at a shop, and the potential risk of having an insurance claim denied should something ever happen, since most of the beadlock wheels on the market state specifically that they are for off-road use only.


I don't yet know where I'm headed with this decision.

[Lars]

To correct some information in this thread - a 9" wide wheel with a -12mm offset is about a 4.5" backspace.

Today I took a fresh look at things and decided to replace my current steering stop bolts with ones slightly longer. I need to take some angle measurements as it seems that the max steering angle is 44 degrees, which by my eyeball looks to be about where they are now, and what do you know... I have quite a bit of room now. Not only were the stops set too far in, they were also different side to side. Things like this make my mind wonder what else I should start looking at that may have been neglected for many years...

I don't love the Indy wheels but they are one of the very few that fit the bill for me. The other option that I keep finding is the US Wheel 046:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/usw-046-8955

These are very similar to what I currently have, black steel wheels with the addition of a simulated beadlock ring. I don't mind them, they're just not the most stylish.

I feel that I could probably get away with a 4" backspacing without much trouble. 4.5 may be pushing it.

As was stated before, there are a few more options if I move to a true beadlock. I don't have a lot of interest in mounting my own tires, not being able to have them balanced at a shop, and the potential risk of having an insurance claim denied should something ever happen, since most of the beadlock wheels on the market state specifically that they are for off-road use only.


I don't yet know where I'm headed with this decision.

If you get bored, pay me a visit. It's not that far. My Bronco lives in my hangar at Yolo County Airport and it's now rolling (so to speak, engine is far from being ready to start) on the 17" Indy wheels. I'm around most days, including weekends when I can get away with it.

[garberz]

Backspacing 4” or more will have the rear tires rubbing the sides of the wheel wells. Unless you have a lot of lift, or have mods to your wheel wells. 12.50 x35’s at full stuff. That’s why most run wheel spacers with the 4”-4.75” BS wheels.

[CityHick]

Been looking at these: https://www.visionwheel.com/wheel/14...?finishID=1902
They come in a "machined" finish in 17x9 with 3.5" backspace, and 5x5.5" lug pattern. They check all boxes, though like everything they appear to be on backorder everywhere.

I have not ruled out the "indy mags" and they are either in stock or at least not on backorder from a few sources. They look good on a bronco but everybody and their brother runs them.

With regards to continuing to drive on my old tires - I noticed that a couple of the valve stems are cracked pretty deeply now, so I suspect that's where my slow air leak is. I have visions of those giving way at highway speeds... ugh.

To be continued.