Black Rhino Wheels - York 17x8 - Fitment Lessons

I posted up a question in the 4x4 wheel and tire thread but figured I would document a few items I've learned so far and that hopefully I still have yet to learn.

I ordered 17x8 Black Rhino York wheels based on a few other posts here of people using them and other Black Rhino wheels. They are on a 2016 Crew 144 2wd.

I had Goodyear Duratracs mounted in the stock OD and width of 30.6" and 245mm (245/70-17).

The two main things I've learned so far is that there is less than 15mm of clearance to the front struts and that the side lugs will grab onto the strut / shock boot. I am thinking about either trimming the bottom of the boot to still overlap the shock body but be away from the tire rubbing area. Another option might be to install 8mm or 12mm spacers from somewhere. I don't see them readily available anywhere but it seems like you can customer order them from BORA. I am not a big fan of using spacers so I am leaning towards trimming the boot or returning the wheels since CarID gave me a fit guarantee and I would say they don't fit.

The 2nd thing I learned is that CarID supplied lug bolts that are too long for the rear wheels. They supplied 14x1.5 (correct thread of course) with a 40mm shank. As installed, these 40mm shank lug bolts will contact the two springs inside of the parking brake drum assembly. After measuring the stackup this morning, I've determined that 35mm shanks are the correct size for these wheels. The thickness of the rim hole and the brake rotor hole is ~0.8" or about 20mm so with a 35mm lug bolt, you would get 15mm of thread engagement or right at 10 threads on the 1.5 pitch. I did not disassemble the wheel to get exact measurements, but the back of the threads look to be in the 35-37mm range from the base of the conical lug bolt surface. I suspect you could use a 33mm shank too and be just fine.

On Amazon, search for this and you should see the correct lug bolts (use a 17mm hex instead of the OEM 19mm so make sure you have a suitable lug wrench in the van).

14x1.5 Acorn Lug Bolt Chrome Heat Treated Conical Seat OEM (14mmx1.5 Thread Size) 17mm Hex (20 Pieces) (35mm Shank)

You will need 24 of these not 20 and I am going to get CarID to send me new ones assuming I work past the front tire rub of course.

Now if I used a spacer in the front wheels, the shank would have to be 35mm + thickness of spacer though I suspect having a few extra mm of shank in the front is not as bad as the rear (up to a point of course, maybe 5mm). A less aggressive 245 width tire would probably be fine too. If I had my druthers, I would have the tires mounted on a 17x7 or 17x7.5 wheel but I really liked the looks of the Yorks so I went for it. Perhaps a thinner rim would help squeeze the sidewalls a bit giving more rim protection and more clearance but the Duratracs are good from 6.5"-8" wheels per Goodyear website.

Oh, one other thing I learned. These wheels and tires look pretty sweet. It instantly changed from a practical cargo van to a ripping adventure van with the wheels and tires! I can't drive the van right with the 40mm lug bolts, but it looks awesome sitting there. It makes me want to go find some fire roads to explore and camp off of.

Keep us posted...

I have the exact same van as you and am very curious if something changed during the 2016 model. When I was looking and measuring to see if 265/75R16 would fit I was shocked how close the tolerances already are on the stock tire setup and am dubious that anything marginally bigger will fit. Obviously lots of people are running larger tires but I just dont see how, unless something truly did change on the 2016's

I'll keep you posted on my adventures with mounting these wheels on the van.

Current plan is for 14mm spacers, long ass studs (Van Compass supplied) and then use some nuts for my steel wheels and a second set for the York wheels.

One thing I would like to understand is how the clearance changes throughout the wheel travel. I am wondering if the 4x4 geometry creates more space than the 2wd. I am thinking about jacking the front up and down and measuring the clearance changes. CarID is sending me shorter lug bolts, but their communication is much worse after I've paid than before! However, I have a feeling if the local tire shop did this changeout, things could have been much worse if they just drove the rig right off the lift. On the plus side, this is giving me time to work on other parts of the van.

Okay, so I used a couple of wood shims to measure the clearance. The clearance was consistent both jacked up and on the ground (~mid-stroke). A 6.2mm thick piece of wood cleared without the strut boot in the way. A 7mm shim would not fit without deflecting the tire carcass. So I would say the clearance is right at 6mm without the boot and probably 3-4 mm with the boot in place. Now to decide what an acceptable clearance would be. I guess snow chains are out of the question no matter what without some aggressive spacers.

Took a closer look at mine today too. Since the shock seems to be mounted on the knuckle and moves with the tire it seems the spacing should stay somewhat consistent with an up and down stroke. I wonder if the reason for all the 265 success is because the stock rim is 6.5 wide which is narrower than spec and sucking the tire in more than a wider rim like the rhino.

I think a 255 might be the way to go on a 8" rim. Maybe.

Edit: I'd love for an outside van owner to chime in and let us know how much clearance there is with the OSV setup

More pics please