First Time Ranger Owner

[royce475]

This is my first Ranger... 2019 Lariat Sport. Put 33" wheels and leveling kit, tonneau cover, running boards, window tint. My question is this...should I get a matching spare to go with the 33's?...if so, will it fit where the spare is currently? I've done some measuring but with the hitch it might be a little tight. Any of you guys that put 33's on have any advice? Thanks!
Sorry about the horrible picture, but It's the best one I have at the moment.

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[Peter949]

Nice truck. Same as mine minus the level and 33s.

 

[HenryMac]

In regard to the spare.. the wheel size doesn't matter at all. Your spare tire needs to be the same outside diameter as your tires. What tire size are you running?

 

[royce475]

In regard to the spare.. the wheel size doesn't matter at all. Your spare tire needs to be the same outside diameter as your tires. What tire size are you running?

33's

 

[BladeRanger]

This is my first Ranger... 2019 Lariat Sport. Put 33" wheels and leveling kit, tonneau cover, running boards, window tint. My question is this...should I get a matching spare to go with the 33's?...if so, will it fit where the spare is currently? I've done some measuring but with the hitch it might be a little tight. Any of you guys that put 33's on have any advice? Thanks!
Sorry about the horrible picture, but It's the best one I have at the moment.

What kind of leveling kit? What manufacturer? I'm new to Ford Ranger as well. I had a XLT with FX4 and looking into leveling the front. Thanks in advance.

 

[royce475]

What kind of leveling kit? What manufacturer? I'm new to Ford Ranger as well. I had a XLT with FX4 and looking into leveling the front. Thanks in advance.

I had it done at the dealership where I bought it so it's a Ford Performance leveling kit.

 

[Charley]

To answer the OP question, YES your spare tire needs to match the diameter of your other 4 tires - and there are two basic ways to do that.
1. Exact same wheel and tire as the other 4.
2. A wheel and tire combo that is equal to the diameter of the other four. In your case 33".

example, my XLT with the Black appearance package came with 18" wheels and tires. The spare wheel and tire was 17".

 

[P. A. Schilke]

This is my first Ranger... 2019 Lariat Sport. Put 33" wheels and leveling kit, tonneau cover, running boards, window tint. My question is this...should I get a matching spare to go with the 33's?...if so, will it fit where the spare is currently? I've done some measuring but with the hitch it might be a little tight. Any of you guys that put 33's on have any advice? Thanks!
Sorry about the horrible picture, but It's the best one I have at the moment.

Hi Kent,

You can use dissimilar size spare and be okay for a short while and at slow speed if installed on the rear wheels as the differential will be differentiating and heating up. Stay under 45 mph. To resolve this you can follow what used to be in the owners manual for Ranger with the mini spare. Sort of a stupid process, in my mind and if you have a rear flat, put a front tire on the rear and install the mini spare on the front so the rear axle is not differentiating. A timing consuming process to change the front wheel and then change the flat rear tire...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[royce475]

Hi Kent,

You can use dissimilar size spare and be okay for a short while and at slow speed if installed on the rear wheels as the differential will be differentiating and heating up. Stay under 45 mph. To resolve this you can follow what used to be in the owners manual for Ranger with the mini spare. Sort of a stupid process, in my mind and if you have a rear flat, put a front tire on the rear and install the mini spare on the front so the rear axle is not differentiating. A timing consuming process to change the front wheel and then change the flat rear tire...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Thanks for the info Phil.

 

[dmeyer302]

Hi Kent,

You can use dissimilar size spare and be okay for a short while and at slow speed if installed on the rear wheels as the differential will be differentiating and heating up. Stay under 45 mph. To resolve this you can follow what used to be in the owners manual for Ranger with the mini spare. Sort of a stupid process, in my mind and if you have a rear flat, put a front tire on the rear and install the mini spare on the front so the rear axle is not differentiating. A timing consuming process to change the front wheel and then change the flat rear tire...

Phil, a thought: if I'm correct in remembering that these trucks don't have unlocking front hubs, your method just moves the problem from the rear to the probably-weaker front. (4x4 only of course)

 

[rang19ca]

The front axle doesn’t lock.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Phil, a thought: if I'm correct in remembering that these trucks don't have unlocking front hubs, your method just moves the problem from the rear to the probably-weaker front. (4x4 only of course)

Hi Daniel,

The front hubs are automatic locking hubs...Ford has used these for most 4x4 applications since the middle 1980's. So with a dissimilar spare, jack up a front wheel and change to the dissimilar spare wheel. Then take the removed tire to the rear and change out the flat tire.

When still at Ford, there was an investigation to just delete the spare all together... Not necessary as there are just not a lot of flats anymore thanks to radials with steel belts. Fortunately this never when beyond the study and never made production on any truck as I recall.

A bit of a back story. You should have seen what I call the extreme absurdity. Someone mounted 4 mini spares on a Ranger and took it to the handling track to see how the Ranger handled. Vehicle looked like a rollerskate. Surprising was it really did okay. In the days of the dissimilar spare, which continues today, the Vehicle Dynamics engineers had to evaluate the dissimilar spare at each corner of the truck, laden and curb weight. So when you see a dissimilar spare tire in your vehicle, you can be assured that this tire combination was tested and passed the stringent vehicle dynamic requirements. We do not just blindly throw a dissimilar spare in the vehicle and start production. It is tested thoroughly.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[Toph]

I had it done at the dealership where I bought it so it's a Ford Performance leveling kit.

Mind sharing the cost of that leveling kit?

 

[royce475]

Mind sharing the cost of that leveling kit?

$1500

 

[jss81258]

Hi Daniel,

The front hubs are automatic locking hubs...Ford has used these for most 4x4 applications since the middle 1980's. So with a dissimilar spare, jack up a front wheel and change to the dissimilar spare wheel. Then take the removed tire to the rear and change out the flat tire.

When still at Ford, there was an investigation to just delete the spare all together... Not necessary as there are just not a lot of flats anymore thanks to radials with steel belts. Fortunately this never when beyond the study and never made production on any truck as I recall.

A bit of a back story. You should have seen what I call the extreme absurdity. Someone mounted 4 mini spares on a Ranger and took it to the handling track to see how the Ranger handled. Vehicle looked like a rollerskate. Surprising was it really did okay. In the days of the dissimilar spare, which continues today, the Vehicle Dynamics engineers had to evaluate the dissimilar spare at each corner of the truck, laden and curb weight. So when you see a dissimilar spare tire in your vehicle, you can be assured that this tire combination was tested and passed the stringent vehicle dynamic requirements. We do not just blindly throw a dissimilar spare in the vehicle and start production. It is tested thoroughly.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

I think the Ranger used an automatically locking hub for a couple of years, but I know 2011 wasn't one of them. I replaced the right front hub on mine and it was bolted directly to the axle.

I also had a 2000 that might have had an automatic hub. I never had any trouble with it so I'm not sure about it. If it did, it would have been vacuum operated. I've read where these gave some trouble but again, if it had them, mine never gave trouble. I was thinking Ford quit using them on the Ranger around 2000 or 2001.

I don't know about the current Rangers since I've never had reason to check but thought I read that they too are locked.

Edit: After giving it some thought, I think the Rangers with the auto hubs had a swing axle where the differential and one axle would swing, and the other axle would swing from it. Then Ford changed to the external axles with the CVs and boots. I think that's when they quit using auto hubs. My 2000 Ranger had the external axles.

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