15" wheels MAY fit

[Baseaf]

I have seen two run 15's on facebook. I believe they both trimmed the calipers a bit.

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[Tricky Dick]

I have seen two run 15's on facebook. I believe they both trimmed the calipers a bit.

That's always an option. A grinder fixes everything that duct tape and WD40 can't.

 

[North7]

With little room for cooling air over the calipers I would be concerned about the brakes overheating and brake fade.

 

[Rick Astley]

Good points.

BTW, I'm not sure I want to know the context of your signature...

There is no context. Content simply disappeared.

The signature is intended as a time-saving measure for others who may care deeply about every one of their forum contributions and gastrointestinal health while discussing the Braptor.

 

[VoltageDrop]

I'm also in the opinion that steelies are great for offroading.

However, I would caution a barrel that's so close to the caliper. You're going to have heating issues at minimum, but at worst you've got yourself a big trouble spot if any foreign debris get in there and lodge between the caliper or rotor and barrel.

As you said, your nut once came out backwards, causing a serious issue.

This just seems to be designing a failure point for the sake of wanting a wheel today. It's quite easy to get custom sized steelies made. Do it once, do it right and don't let your nut back out!

Edit: I'll add that one of the best parts of a steelie is that you can bash the bead back into shape if/when it bends on a trail. You're going to have a lot less space to do so with that wheel configuration.

And lastly: Trailer wheels or tires have no place being on a vehicle. And their tires are cheaper because they have essentially non-conforming sidewalls as they have to be able to sit for years without rotating under load. They also use a different, cheaper, harder rubber than even their name-same passenger vehicle tire, so grip will be impacted greatly.

As sweet as my rusty 15x5.5" trailer wheels are, I had no intention of actually using them

Regarding caliper heating... The wheel becomes a heatsink! Maybe? I do wonder how a 15" wheel with holes compares thermodynamically to one of these popular 17" 1552 wheels which appear to have a nearly solid face.

 

[Exomodo]

As sweet as my rusty 15x5.5" trailer wheels are, I had no intention of actually using them

Regarding caliper heating... The wheel becomes a heatsink! Maybe? I do wonder how a 15" wheel with holes compares thermodynamically to one of these popular 17" 1552 wheels which appear to have a nearly solid face.

Aluminum (221 W/m*deg) has a much better coefficient of thermal conductivity, it will readily absorb and dissipate heat much easier/faster than steel (58 W/m*deg).
The problem is the fluid in the caliper does too.
The wheel will dissipate heat imparted into the rotor by the pads, but the caliper and fluid is responsible for the heat shed by the pads.
Less propensity to warp rotors with Aluminum wheels, same propensity to boil fluid.
This also indicates that you're driving your Bronco like a wreckless asshole/Mustang owner (I own two so I can say this with authority)...

 

[Silver-Bolt]

I can't imagine that the bearings are going to be happy with that offset/back spacing.

 

[GToddC5]

I can't imagine that the bearings are going to be happy with that offset/back spacing.

Meh, It's only 3" further out than Squatch wheels:

 

[Silver-Bolt]

Meh, It's only 3" further out than Squatch wheels:

Yeah, only 3". That won't change anything...

 

[GToddC5]

Hey @Tricky Dick , I finally got around to test fitting one of my American Racing AR172 Baja 15x8 Wheels (-19mm Offset) (3.75” BS). The inside face interfered with the caliper bracket a smidge, but a 1/4" spacer fixed it right up. The tire measured 3" further past the fender flare, which would make the overall measured O.D. of my Badlands 76" + 6" = 82" and therefore necessitate that I add "Raptor" lights to the grille!

The tires are BFG Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 33x10.5x15, but I changed the width to 11" for the purpose of the TireSize.com tool, since the actual width measurement for the 10.5" tires mounted to 8" wheels is in fact 11", and the outer sidewall being further out by 3" matches what I measured. The tires just miss the front and rear crash bars at full lock.

I kinda dig the vibe of these wheels, and might just fit up the whole set soon.

Edit to add:

 

[Tricky Dick]

Hey @Tricky Dick , I finally got around to test fitting one of my American Racing AR172 Baja 15x8 Wheels (-19mm Offset) (3.75” BS). The inside face interfered with the caliper bracket a smidge, but a 1/4" spacer fixed it right up. The tire measured 3" further past the fender flare, which would make the overall measured O.D. of my Badlands 76" + 6" = 82" and therefore necessitate that I add "Raptor" lights to the grille!

The tires are BFG Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 33x10.5x15, but I changed the width to 11" for the purpose of the TireSize.com tool, since the actual width measurement for the 10.5" tires mounted to 8" wheels is in fact 11", and the outer sidewall being further out by 3" matches what I measured. The tires just miss the front and rear crash bars at full lock.

I kinda dig the vibe of these wheels, and might just fit up the whole set soon.

Well look at that!

 

[Squatch]

Hey @Tricky Dick , I finally got around to test fitting one of my American Racing AR172 Baja 15x8 Wheels (-19mm Offset) (3.75” BS). The inside face interfered with the caliper bracket a smidge, but a 1/4" spacer fixed it right up. The tire measured 3" further past the fender flare, which would make the overall measured O.D. of my Badlands 76" + 6" = 82" and therefore necessitate that I add "Raptor" lights to the grille!

The tires are BFG Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 33x10.5x15, but I changed the width to 11" for the purpose of the TireSize.com tool, since the actual width measurement for the 10.5" tires mounted to 8" wheels is in fact 11", and the outer sidewall being further out by 3" matches what I measured. The tires just miss the front and rear crash bars at full lock.

I kinda dig the vibe of these wheels, and might just fit up the whole set soon.

Edit to add:

15 inch rims looks so much better with all that meat showing. I'd even live with that huge poke all day long.

 

[51Creature]

I've been meaning to try, as I have a couple sets in storage with the correct bolt pattern, but it's been too damn cold! Do you think there's still room for inside barrel wheel weights?

Try counteract beads or similar. I’ve used them on a lot of installs of oversized off-road tires with good results.

 

[GToddC5]

15 inch rims looks so much better with all that meat showing. I'd even live with that huge poke all day long.

Agreed, and I think a set of Squatch flares could reduce the poke down to just a little sidewall protrusion.

 

[GToddC5]

I have seen two run 15's on facebook. I believe they both trimmed the calipers a bit.

I can confirm that they must have trimmed the rear calipers. I finally got around to fitting these up in the rear, and no dice unless I removed some caliper material. Nope, not gonna do it.

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