New shoes on 2024 Ranger Raptor: Method 703 17x8.5 +35 wheels + Bfgoodrich K02 285/70R17 tires

[Daweism]

The +35 offset give a nice increase to stance. One of the reasons I went with +35 is when I go to a wider tire, 305 or 12.5 it should sit flush with the fender flares.

Might I trouble you for more pics please? I am leaning towards the same wheel in matte black vs the 305s which are 25mm offset. Some more angles and pics of the stance would be much appreciated.

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[Johnny 5]

Method 703 17x8.5 +35 with Bfgoodrich K02 285/70R17

Any issues with the +35 offset? I bought a set of wheels and I thought were a -35 offset, but there are +35 offset, and I'm wondering if it's going to do any damage to my drivetrain?

 

[Johnny 5]

Method 703 17x8.5 +35 with Bfgoodrich K02 285/70R17

Here are some pics.

 

[Daweism]

Any issues with the +35 offset? I bought a set of wheels and I thought were a -35 offset, but there are +35 offset, and I'm wondering if it's going to do any damage to my drivetrain?

No lol, you want the +35 offset, not the -35 offset. The minus -35 offset would have your wheels wider by 3.5 inches lol. You'd be hitting everything when you turn.

For reference stock is +55 offset, so you are going wider by 20mm (0.78 inches). With a -35 offset, you would be wider by 90mm (3.5 inches).

 

[Johnny 5]

Thanks for correcting me! I thought I had that figured out correctly, for some reason when I read a different thread I got my negative and positive mixed up. Phew!!!

 

[Burdy]

Method 703 17x8.5 +35 with Bfgoodrich K02 285/70R17

This is pretty close to perfect. I love the RWL, I love the factory rake, I love the wheel fitment and finish and I love the lack of graphics. Well done.

 

[Kelly M.]

All who are using the Method 703 wheels with +35mm offset, I am wondering did you use the stock lug nuts or upgrade to something else?
Thanks,

 

[Daweism]

All who are using the Method 703 wheels with +35mm offset, I am wondering did you use the stock lug nuts or upgrade to something else?
Thanks,

https://www.rtrvehicles.com/products/6-spline-black-lug-nut-kit-19-all-ranger-models

https://www.methodracewheels.com/products/lug-kit-black-spline?variant=55742834147697

 

[Kelly M.]

Daweism,
Thanks for the links, however it did not answer my question. Will the stock lug nuts work with Method 703 wheels?

 

[donkey]

All who are using the Method 703 wheels with +35mm offset, I am wondering did you use the stock lug nuts or upgrade to something else?
Thanks,

Depends if you bought hub centric wheels from ford performance or standard 703s which are lug centric.

If hub centric, any gorilla 60° lug nut will work.

If lug centric, buy them specifically from method. They will be ET.

 

[Ranger Ronster]

Daweism,
Thanks for the links, however it did not answer my question. Will the stock lug nuts work with Method 703 wheels?

No

 

[El_Chuco]

Digging the white lettering and the color of those wheels!

Once my stock tires wear out I'm looking at those FP methods. I personally prefer hub centric wheels. In my youth I learned the difference with incorrect lugnuts (came with the wheels and installed by a reputable 4wd shop), and sheared wheel studs.

When looking at offset, check out how it affects scrub radius. There are online tools where you can put in your measurements, and wheel and tire combos to come up with a scrub radius calculation and see how it changes with differences in offset and tire size. With 35s (315/70R17), +45 offset will give you stock, which I then learned is what the Method 207s that you can buy through Weld74 have. They look exactly like what's on the Ford Racing RR, but they're ~$1k each

Scrub radius affects handling and stress on parts like tie rods and steering racks, which are a common failure point on Broncos. Not that a big deal unless you're really getting after it, just something to think about..

 

[Lion77]

The Bronco's use factory wheel off sets that range from +55 out to +30 all on the same hubs. The off-set is always relative to the center of the wheel regardless of the wheel's width, which is why the same off-set with wider wheels gives you differing poke and clearances, since the rim is further out on both sides.

The F-150 Raptors factory off-set is +34mm on 315/70R17's, with a 17x8.5 wheel, same barrel diameter and width as the Ranger and most up-fitted Bronco's. Same with B-Raptor. Ford also sells the MR703's in ET+35 for the Bronco's. I have hard time believing the IRS on the RR is radically different geometry than the Bronco's (non-raptor variants). The shame same hub design too (B-Raptor and F-150 are same, RR and T6 based Bronco's are same hubs).

The RR race truck used +45mm off-set wheels primarily to ensure as much clearance as possible with as little modification as possible. I doubt +35 would have made much of a difference in handling aside from needing more wheel well mod due to offset, since the 315's are substantially wider than the factory 285's.

In fact, it may have been a little better because with the added height, you also need to increase track width or you effectively have a higher CG. Slightly wider off-set wheels are a common way to increase track width, but as mentioned, going too much outside the factory range has negative effects on scrub radius, which can add too much feedback.

I know people often reference the RR Race truck as a "gold standard" and I previously looked at it like that too, but if you watch the video's the driver actually said it handled WORSE than the stock pre-runners! There was a whole section where he described what he did NOT like about the Race truck setup and why he preferred the pre-runner on stock tires / suspension.

Basically, the suspension was crashy. Probably due to the added weight, so the that forced them to add pre-load to the springs, which increased the effective spring rate on rebound, but the added weight also necessitates more damping, but they can't add more damping rate than what the 2.5's valve sizes are optimized for aka stock weight, due to the class. All they can tune is the ride zones, which is how open or closed the valve is over the shocks stroke, it doesn't change the max damping rate.

And they ran 35's primarily for ground clearance on Baja, not Finke. The 33's lapped just as fast at Finke in the pre-runner on 33's and that truck handled better, but it didn't have all the safety gear, fire suppression, tools / parts, extra fuel, cage etc. Just the nature of the beast.

Anywhere from +55 to +30 is fine, once you start going beyond that range (aka the factory off-set range Ford uses on the Bronco's for different tire configs), your starting to have too many trade-offs, but there is always a range where trade-offs and attributes are still balanced.

Wider track width will increase steering feedback on rough terrain, but if your starting point is literally almost no feedback and now you move to just a tiny bit you can barely feel...well that's not a bad tradeoff for 40mm of added track width and less body roll!

I honestly believe Ford chose to use +55 on the RR because it's a global truck, UNLIKE the B-Raptor and F-150, both of which use +34mm off-set. They are not global trucks and places like Australia have laws that limit wheel poke unlike in the US. Even my +35's the sidewall pokes out past fender just a bit, but tread is under, that may not fly in Australia depending on the region, so OEM's are going to play it safe on wheel off-sets for legal reasons, not always because very positive off-set is automatically the best.

 

[Buellsox]

Killer with the back to how we used to run ‘em - white letters out! Good to see it starting to come back. Looks good!

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