I recently picked up a 1997 F-150 and will be upgrading rims and tires. Years ago a buddy had 15" rims on his '97 running a 35" tire. At the time I had a '99 and could not run 15" rims due to the caliper, but am lead to belive that a 15" rim will work on a '97. I even pulled out out photos of his truck to confirm the 35x12.50R15 on the side wall. Anyone know a manufacturer who makes a 5 on 135mm 15" rim?

 

They are very very rare to find because only the early 97's like the first few months of production can fit them. I think weld made a set but as far as I know they've long been discontinued. Your better off going to a 17" if your's has the factory 16's more tire options there and even more with a 18" wheel.

 

Right. There were only a couple of 15's that would fit and they had very shallow backspacing that would cause fitment issues. Now days it's hard to find any wheels of any size with the 5x135mm pattern.

 

15s will scrape the brake caliper from what I understand

 

It can be done on very early 97's or some people have shaved the caliper some to make it fit, either way it's not worth the trouble and time.

 

I had a friend many moons ago that ran 15's and 37's ... He couldn't keep the studs on it; they kept breaking.. I'd go with a 17 if ya can.

 

you can do it, my buddy had a 97 and we hit on the caliper just a little bit but if you have a good grinder it really only takes about 35 mins or so to do it. it can be done tires come by cheaper but 17 or 18s look really nice on those trucks.

 

Yes, but finding the wheels in the correct offset and backspacing is near to impossible they have all been discontinued as far as I could find after a google search so the only way to pick them up would be have a set custom drilled or find someone willing to sell them.

 

yea i didn't think about the offset part but he did have a pretty insane offset, they definitely stuck outside the fenders a bit. but to get that right offset you could also use some wheel spacers but they are kinda sketchy if your going to be offloading or towing.

 

Ion makes the 171 wheel, which is like a black with polished lip Mickey Thompson Classic 2 in a 15x10 and 15x8.