Bigger wheels for Base model, questions about fitment

[jdoxen]

Had my base Bronco for coming up on 2 years now, still running the stock steelies. I actually quite like the simple, classic work truck style of them, but I wish they were bigger. 30" tires on 16" rims leaves a ton of negative space in the wheel wells that looks a little goofy from the broadside.

It won't be for a while yet but I've been toying with the idea of getting 17" rims which will give me a lot more options for larger tire sizes. I've seen some pictures of 33's and that looks like a perfect balance to me, filling up some of that cavernous wheel well without requiring a lift or impacting on-road driveability too badly. Much as I might like to fantasize about crushing trails, the fact of the matter is the overwhelming majority of the miles I drive are commuting to work on paved roads. For tires I'll be looking at a light truck highway tire like the Michelin Defenders I've got right now, or a road-biased A/T, in 285/70R17.

I've narrowed my search to a few rim options that I think would look good, but I'd love to see some pictures of Broncos with them mounted in real life. Or if anyone who's tried one of these options and found it really doesn't work due to offset, backspace, or other clearance issues that would also be useful information. I've heard rumblings about the Bronco's unusual positive offset, but I don't totally understand what this means in practice when shopping for wheels. You can see below the kind of style I'm going for, so I'm open to suggestions for rims with a similar vibe (in 17x9 or 17x8) that my own search didn't turn up. Oh and what's the go on recalibrating the speedometer for larger wheels? Will the dealership or 3rd party installation shop do this for me, or am I gonna be stuck adding 10% in my head to whatever is shown on the dash?

US Wheel Stealth Crawler Series 047
My favorite in terms of looks, but also the most expensive of the bunch.
https://www.uswheel.com/wheel/12201/us-wheel-crawler-stealth-series-047/?finishID=3883

Pro Comp Series 69 Polished
Not sure if I like the ultra-shiny silver quite as much as the more muted grey, but they're a lot less expensive and something I'd still be happy with.
https://www.extremeterrain.com/pro-comp-bronco-vintage-polished-wheel-17x9-6mm-pxa1069-7983.html

Ford Performance Bronco 17x8 Wheels Silver
My least favorite in terms of style, but at least I know they're made by Ford specifically for the Bronco and ought to fit without any trouble.
https://www.ford.com/product/2021-bronco-17-x-8-wheel-kit-silver-p4000196824

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[Oldhippie]

I wouldn’t go much much less than +25 offset with the base flares or it will look goofy with the wheels/tire sticking out…33s are the right choice for your use…good luck!

 

[mpeugeot]

FORSCAN is the tool for recalibrating the tire size. Alternatively, the Ford Performance tune will give you the ability to recalibrate the tire size yourself. If you have a 2.3, I hear the tune is worth it. The 2.7 tune wasn't all that noticeable on the butt dyno.

 

[anomdeplume]

There are varied opinions on this but you could pick up a set of OBX takeoffs. They are a great street oriented tire. They are larger diameter. They are an OEM product. Also, easy on the budget. I went this route as an upgrade over base rims/tires.

 

[jdoxen]

FORSCAN is the tool for recalibrating the tire size. Alternatively, the Ford Performance tune will give you the ability to recalibrate the tire size yourself. If you have a 2.3, I hear the tune is worth it. The 2.7 tune wasn't all that noticeable on the butt dyno.

I'll look into FORSCAN. Looks like I'll need a $60 dongle but next to the price of the wheels that's nothing. The performance tune requiring premium is a bit of a turn off... regular is bad enough here in California. But nice to know there's an option if I ever decide I need the extra power.

 

[WoolyBugger]

I think that you are on the right track with P285/70R17 (33"). Like you I don't really offload but wanted to fill out the fender wells some on my 2 door base. Started with P265/75R16 on stock steelies and it was ok. Ended up purchasing a set of +25 or +30 can't remember 17X8.5 wheels and P285/70R17 Nitto Nomad Grapplers. This turned out to be the "look" that I wanted although I wish the wheels were closer to +55 or around a 6" backside spacing. The FP Tune allows me to adjust the speedo for the larger tires so that is good plus the added HP is nice.

 

[mpeugeot]

I'll look into FORSCAN. Looks like I'll need a $60 dongle but next to the price of the wheels that's nothing. The performance tune requiring premium is a bit of a turn off... regular is bad enough here in California. But nice to know there's an option if I ever decide I need the extra power.

All the things that you can do with FORSCAN can make life with your Bronco so much better. Just getting rid of the double honk would have been worth it for me. Also adding additional GOAT modes, disabling unnecessary chimes, and changing the rear speaker response is all pretty easy with FORSCAN.

 

[Mike leggiero]

this is with 35a and a 2 in lift now on 37s aame 2 in lift 1.5 wheel spacee its a base

 

[jdoxen]

It's no exaggeration to say that Forscan transformed my Bronco operator experience. The dings/honks/minders ... so much nicer having turned those off.

Can I use it to remove the 30mph minimum for the auto high beams? I live in the mountains where there's no street lamps to illuminate the roads after dark. The system does a perfectly good job of dimming to not blind other drivers, but I'm stuck manually bumping the stalk at low speed for as far as I can tell no good reason. I don't understand why they thought it needed a minimum speed to use that feature.

 

[Brian_B]

Can I use it to remove the 30mph minimum for the auto high beams? I live in the mountains where there's no street lamps to illuminate the roads after dark. The system does a perfectly good job of dimming to not blind other drivers, but I'm stuck manually bumping the stalk at low speed for as far as I can tell no good reason. I don't understand why they thought it needed a minimum speed to use that feature.

I'm sure the setting exists, I have not found it yet. I am also interested.

 

[mpeugeot]

Can I use it to remove the 30mph minimum for the auto high beams? I live in the mountains where there's no street lamps to illuminate the roads after dark. The system does a perfectly good job of dimming to not blind other drivers, but I'm stuck manually bumping the stalk at low speed for as far as I can tell no good reason. I don't understand why they thought it needed a minimum speed to use that feature.

Well right now, it appears that you can't buy a license for FORSCAN at the moment. This will eventually resolve, but for now they can't process payments from the "civilized" world. Ugh.

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