It am going nuts with stud bolt sizes. My wife did a 180 to curb shot and completely destroyed one of the chrome steel rims, bent the axle, etc... Now that I have replaced the axle and related items I'm ready for a new rim. I go on e-Bay and find all kinds of rims advertised to fit 97'-present and others that say they will only fit 2000 models and up with the 14mm stud bolt. I figure I have the 12mm since I have a 1999, however the OEM rims on my truck are stamped "14MM INSET" and PN "XL34-1007-BA". My local Ford dealer's Parts Counter could not shed any light on the subject, the computer didn't specify (Typical). So now I am left wondering what I have installed on my truck. Can I put on a set of newer OEM Alloys off of a 2000+ F150 if I do indeed have the 12mm stud bolts, are there any spacers/adapters needed to make the wheels fit correctly? Did Ford also change the style of lug nuts used? Will my current lug nuts tear up OEM alloys? Can anyone shed any light on the subject and get me out of STUD BOLT HELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Truck: 1999 F150 Ext. Cab, 4.6L, 2WD, 3.55 Posi Rear, Towing Package, 4 Wheel ABS Disc Brakes, 5 on 135mm Bolt pattern.

 

I was wondering the same thing. I saw my chrome steel Lariat rims for sale on ebay today and the ad said it was 14mm lugs. I remember reading in a thread here that Ford changed from 12mm to 14mm in 2000.

I did however notice that you have the 4 wheel ABS disk brakes on your truck. That was an option back in 99. I wonder if the 14mm came with the ABS which was a standard option on all XLTs by 2000. I drove one of those, let me take a look at the book and my sticker.

My chrome steel wheels came with the Off Road package, and I don't see any other option in the book for a 99. Are we talking about the same wheels, or do you have the 16" polished aluminum with chrome hub?

 

The rims I have are the most common rims that are on an F150. I don't think that they are aluminum with a polished fininsh. These are the base XLT rims for 1999.

 

I have a '97 with the 12 mm studs and I bought a set of 17"wheels from a '98 on e bay. when they arrived, I measured the stud holes and they were approx. 15mm in diameter!!!! then I took a wheel of my truck (16") and measured the stud holes therein. Guess what? They also measured 15mm and I noticed the stud diameter was two or three mm smaller than the hole. These came from the factory like this and have never caused any problem. I do wonder what the stud hole diameter is on the 2000 up. Also the wheels on our trucks are hubcentric so I guess the stud hole diameter can be a little bigger. Maybe the way the lug bolts clamp on the rim helps too. Hope this helps.

 

"14mm inset" is the distance the centreline of the rim sits in relation to the centreline of the disk brake or drum hub. That part has nothing to do with the stud size. Because they are hubcentric I suppose Ford went to 14mm studs for strength if they fit into the original bolt holes of all the rims 97-up.

It's still a 5 on 135mm pattern.

This is from the American Racing Wheels website:

Wheel terminology

Backside setting/Back spacing - The measurement from the mounting pad to the inner edge of the wheel.

Bead seat - The position where the tire rests and seals on the inside of the rim.

Bolt Circle - The diameter of an imaginary circle drawn through the center of each lug hole. Also referred to as the bolt pattern.

Center Bore - The hole in the center of the wheel machined to match the hub of specified vehicles with hub-centric wheels and machined to a generic size with lug centric wheels.

Hub centric - The center bore hole of a wheel matches the hub diameter of the vehicle. This centers the wheel via the center hole rather than the lug nuts.

Hub centric ring(s) - A nylon insert for the center bore of the wheel that keeps the wheel concentric to the vehicle's hub during installation.

Load rating - The maximum weight that the wheel is designed to support. To determine load rating requirements take the gross axle weight ration and divide by 2.

Lug centric - When the wheel is centered by the bolt holes/ lug nuts of the wheel, rather than by the center bore. Lug centric wheels should be balanced from the bolt holes.

Make - The brand name of the vehicle. For example, Ford, Chevrolet, Honda.

Model - The particular style name of the vehicle. For example, F-150, Corvette, Civic.

Mounting pad - The surface area on the back of the wheel's center that contacts the brake drum or rotor surface.

MSRP - This is the manufacturer suggested retail price per wheel. The dealer sets actual retail pricing.

Negative offset - When the mounting surface is closer to the disk/drum (Inside) of the wheel. Or the mounting pad is behind the centerline of the wheel. This type of wheel is commonly referred to as a deep-dish wheel. This offset is common in older vehicles and many of today's trucks and will bring the wheel/tire combination out away from the vehicle.

Offset - The offset of the wheel is the distance from the mounting pad to the centerline of the wheel.

Positive offset - The mounting pad is forward of the centerline of the wheel, towards the street side of the wheel. This is common in most front wheel drive cars and some newer trucks. Generally speaking a positive offset wheel brings the wheels closer to the center of the vehicle.

Plus 1/ plus 2 sizing - A concept to improve handling and performance through the mounting of lower profile tires to wheels that are 1, 2 or even 3' greater in diameter. The overall ride height remains the same.

Rim width - The width of the custom wheel, measured from bead seat to bead seat not edge to edge.

Rim Diameter - The overall diameter of the wheel's bead seat, not the diameter of the rim edge.

Rim flange - The outermost edge of the wheel's rim that the clip-on weights attach to on most wheels.

Safety bead - The raised area circling the rim of the wheel and located slightly inward from the bead seat.

Spring clips - Push on retainer clips that hold the brake from on the disc rotor to the axle during transportation.

Star pattern - The proper way for sequential torquing of the lugs in a 5 lug bolt circle.

Torquing - The securing of the wheel/tire assembly to the automobile by the tightening of the wheel's lug nuts to the studs of the vehicle's hub. Custom wheels should always be torqued with a manual torque wrench (not an impact air wrench) to torque rating specifications followed by periodic re-torquing.

Torque rating - The proper pressure to be applied in foot pounds when tightening lug nuts to secure the wheel/tire assembly to the automobile.

Unsprung weight - The total weight of the vehicle not supported by the suspension system. For example wheels and tires.

Wheel weights - Weights that are used to balance the wheel/tire assembly. They are either clipped, taped, or self adhered to the inside or outside of the wheel.

Zero offset - The distance from the mounting pad to the centerline of the wheel is 0.

 

P,
Ok, so does that mean that I can fit a set of 2001 rims on my '99 safely because the rims are centered on the hub and the stud bolts and lug nuts are just fasteners?

Thanks for the other information, though.

NitroSquid

 

I'm just reading the book. I know they are commonly referred to as chrome steel wheels, and they look like they are. Either way, I know which wheel you are talking about.

I still don't comprehend this 12mm vs 14mm even after reading p_ferlow's post. If you get the wrong rims, what is the problem?
Can this problem be solved by making sure you get the lugs with the wheel?

I have the same chrome steel (Lariat) wheel on my 01 as I had on my (Off Road) 99. Are both rims exactly the same, or was the 99 12mm and the 01 14mm?

 

I guess Ford switched to 14mm stud bolts during the 2000 model year. Even my Ford Dealer could not tell me for sure they said the only notation for a specific stud bolt was for the Harley Edition F150.

 

Hi Guys,
Ford changed from using 12mm studs to 14mm studs in the middle of a model year, forget if it was '99 or '00. You can put newer style rims, i.e., 14mm onto a truck that had 12mm studs,but not the other way for obvious reasons. Will it work? Many people have done this and reported no problems. I have a '98 and plan on putting '02 wheels on but am not real comfortable with the 2mm gap. Someone on here, goes by the nickname Country, designed a shim that you you install on the stud to take up the extra gap. I ordered these "shims" just for peace of mind.
14mm inset, and 14mm stud size are two different things. One has to do with the spacing of the wheel, the other is dealing with the size of the stud. Hope this helps.

 

The stud size changed sometime in 2000. My truck is an early 2000 and has 12mm studs.

 

Ummm.......................WRONG!!!!!!

Well mostly anyways. You are right they went from 12mm to 14mm mid year of 2000.



The stud hole on the wheels are the SAME size from 97+, they are ALL just under 15mm. You can put wheels off a 97 on an 03 and vice versa. You DON'T need any kind of space for your wheels as they're HUB centric, not LUG centric. If they were lug centric, then you most likely couldn't swap them but all the wheels Ford puts on the 97+ F150s are hub centric. If you doubt it here are some measurements or you can go do it yourself. But they ARE interchangeable BOTH ways.

97 stock wheels have a hole measuring .56" (14.22mm)
The 2003 lug holes are the same .56"(14.22mm)

The stud diameter on the '97 rotor (top of the threads )is .047 or 11.94 mm.

The hole in the center for the hub is 3.42 " on BOTH the '97 and 2003.

The 97 and 2003 STOCK wheels are completely interchangable.

 

greencrew,

All F150's were switched to 4 wheel disk about half way through the 99 model year. This began in December of 1998 on the assembly line. Early 99's made up through November 1998 have rear drums.

As others have indicated, the bolts chaned from 12 to 14mm in mid 2000 assembly year.

 

Powerstroke73 I have a question for you then. Why is it that when I looked at Lightning rims Ford has 2 different numbers for the same style rims. The M-1007-M189 states that it is for 14mm studs, and the M-1007-L189 is for 12mm studs.

 

sagittarius1

Well that rules out that idea. Thanks for the update.

 

Since Lightning wheels are SVT products I THINK (not for sure) that they use acorn lug nuts not the flat washer style. This may be for the different part numbers. Since a 12mm acorn style will most likelky have a different size seat compared to a 14mm. I've never dealt with Lightning wheels very much so I'm not completely sure, but I KNOW for a fact that Fords hub centric stock wheels (all but the Lightnings and maybe Harley wheels) WILL interchange between 12mm and 14mm. You can't however interchange lug nuts between them.