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upgrading to 17" Wheels

15K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  DanFord 
#1 ·
So here's the story. I have had an 03 Explorer 2WD-Postal for several years. It had the steel 16" wheels and I thought it would be nice to get a larger wheel/tire to give it a higher profile. so I found some 17" wheels at a junkyard that were Ford OEM. don't know what they came off of however. Took them to a tire store and got some nice 17" tires. Before putting them on my explorer, I thought I would install all new brakes and rotors. THEN I installed the new wheels/tires. THEN I found out my new wheels don't fit correctly. they don't fit over the center ring properly and they cannot be secured tightly with the lug nuts. It results in the rotors being loose and very quickly getting chewed up by the brakes and calipers.
My question is this - Did I make a mistake in going to a larger wheel size? I am resigned to the fact that I am going to have to eat the expense of the junkyard wheels but I am still holding out hope that I can use the new tires if I can get the RIGHT 17" wheels.
Any help is appreciated.
 
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