- Joined
- Feb 28, 2025
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- Location
- California
- Vehicle(s)
- Bronco ONX SAS 2 Door
- Your Bronco Model
- Outer Banks
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- #1
Decided to finally pull the trigger on some aftermarket wheels and tires for our '23 2-door Sasquatch Outer Banks. A little backstory :
Originally I was fine with the OEM wheels and tires, but they lacked the aggressive stance. To counter this for a while, I got a set of non-sasquatch wheel flares and installed those to give the effect of more "poke" with the OEM setup. This actually looked pretty good and I ran this for about a year. For anyone wanting that same effect without having to spend the $$ on wheels/tires, it's a good option. Wheel spacers are a hard-no for me, too many horror stories of those. I also frequently offroad this vehicle and it's far from a mall-crawler, so wheel spacers were never an option. The non-sas flares though, that pulled it off.
The first 3 pictures are of the Bronco still running the stock wheels/tires with the non-sas flares. Got about 1/2" poke. Not much, but definitely better than being buried by the umbrellas that are the SAS flares.
Ultimately I grew tired of this and wanted something a little more aggressive. Ended up going with the @RTR Vehicles RTR Tech-6 17x9" 0 Offset wheels in Matte Black. Let me tell you, they look goooooood. At first I was just going to mount up the OEM BFG's on the new wheels, but at the last second decided to upgrade to some new Falken Wildpeak AT4W. I was very hesitant to go for an ultra aggressive tire since this is in fact my wife's daily driver and she commutes about 50 miles round trip. I did a TON of reading and watching reviews online about tires, the Falken's seemed to have the best balance of offroad performance, road comfort, tread wear, ease of balancing, and price. There's also a number of different sizes and load ratings. I went with the LT315x70xR17 in a C-rating. The weight isn't a terrible compared to others pushing 80+ lbs, and they have a great reputation of snow/wet/dry/street/mud performance. Plus moving to a lighter RTR wheel meant the delta of the swap wasn't as impactful. I did weigh the tire mounted on the wheel (with TPMS installed), total weight came to 104lbs. Not bad. Definitely notice the weight compared to the old OEM BFGs, but driving on them feels the same. The MPG has definitely already taken a hit, probably losing about 2mpg average with this new kit, but who cares when you're already driving a brick.
One thing I'm really happy about as well, is for a short stint I was considering going the 37" route. After this upgrade, I'm VERY glad I didn't. Not having to do a suspension lift, be paranoid about my tie rods or steering rack, gearing, extra hit on MPG, etc. These AT4W's look beefier than stock and a taller profile, so it's perfect for a direct swap.
After getting the wheels/tires installed, I immediately went out in the local national forest finding some trails. It also had been an absolute monsoon of rainfall for a couple days, so it was a good test of the A/T4w's performance in mud and the slick adobe clay we have here in NorCal. Gotta tell you, they were flawless. They had so much grip and unlike the OEM BFGs, they ejected the mud and gravel ride away instead of holding onto it and slinging it at cars once I got back on the highway. These look the part and perform. Wanted to share this little testimony in case anyone else is on the fence. Obviously I had to take off the Non-Sas flares and reinstall my OEM SAS flares, and even with these the 0-offset pokes about an inch. If anyone is looking for a pair of non-sas flares I still have mine for sale.
As seen in the pictures as well, I also recently installed the RCI 2-door rock sliders (20degree). Haven't had the chance to test them on any rocks yet but they look badass and I have full confidence in them when the time comes. Previously on the Outer Banks OEM they come with the cheap body-mounted steps. Those work ok for a little side protection and keeping degree from flinging up onto the door, but I wouldn't trust them for supporting the weight of the vehicle on a stump or rock. These RCI sliders are frame mounted and SUPER solid. Look badass too, which is always a plus. I also have those 2-door steps available for sale if anyone needs them.
Anyway here's a bunch of pictures.
Originally I was fine with the OEM wheels and tires, but they lacked the aggressive stance. To counter this for a while, I got a set of non-sasquatch wheel flares and installed those to give the effect of more "poke" with the OEM setup. This actually looked pretty good and I ran this for about a year. For anyone wanting that same effect without having to spend the $$ on wheels/tires, it's a good option. Wheel spacers are a hard-no for me, too many horror stories of those. I also frequently offroad this vehicle and it's far from a mall-crawler, so wheel spacers were never an option. The non-sas flares though, that pulled it off.
The first 3 pictures are of the Bronco still running the stock wheels/tires with the non-sas flares. Got about 1/2" poke. Not much, but definitely better than being buried by the umbrellas that are the SAS flares.
Ultimately I grew tired of this and wanted something a little more aggressive. Ended up going with the @RTR Vehicles RTR Tech-6 17x9" 0 Offset wheels in Matte Black. Let me tell you, they look goooooood. At first I was just going to mount up the OEM BFG's on the new wheels, but at the last second decided to upgrade to some new Falken Wildpeak AT4W. I was very hesitant to go for an ultra aggressive tire since this is in fact my wife's daily driver and she commutes about 50 miles round trip. I did a TON of reading and watching reviews online about tires, the Falken's seemed to have the best balance of offroad performance, road comfort, tread wear, ease of balancing, and price. There's also a number of different sizes and load ratings. I went with the LT315x70xR17 in a C-rating. The weight isn't a terrible compared to others pushing 80+ lbs, and they have a great reputation of snow/wet/dry/street/mud performance. Plus moving to a lighter RTR wheel meant the delta of the swap wasn't as impactful. I did weigh the tire mounted on the wheel (with TPMS installed), total weight came to 104lbs. Not bad. Definitely notice the weight compared to the old OEM BFGs, but driving on them feels the same. The MPG has definitely already taken a hit, probably losing about 2mpg average with this new kit, but who cares when you're already driving a brick.
One thing I'm really happy about as well, is for a short stint I was considering going the 37" route. After this upgrade, I'm VERY glad I didn't. Not having to do a suspension lift, be paranoid about my tie rods or steering rack, gearing, extra hit on MPG, etc. These AT4W's look beefier than stock and a taller profile, so it's perfect for a direct swap.
After getting the wheels/tires installed, I immediately went out in the local national forest finding some trails. It also had been an absolute monsoon of rainfall for a couple days, so it was a good test of the A/T4w's performance in mud and the slick adobe clay we have here in NorCal. Gotta tell you, they were flawless. They had so much grip and unlike the OEM BFGs, they ejected the mud and gravel ride away instead of holding onto it and slinging it at cars once I got back on the highway. These look the part and perform. Wanted to share this little testimony in case anyone else is on the fence. Obviously I had to take off the Non-Sas flares and reinstall my OEM SAS flares, and even with these the 0-offset pokes about an inch. If anyone is looking for a pair of non-sas flares I still have mine for sale.
As seen in the pictures as well, I also recently installed the RCI 2-door rock sliders (20degree). Haven't had the chance to test them on any rocks yet but they look badass and I have full confidence in them when the time comes. Previously on the Outer Banks OEM they come with the cheap body-mounted steps. Those work ok for a little side protection and keeping degree from flinging up onto the door, but I wouldn't trust them for supporting the weight of the vehicle on a stump or rock. These RCI sliders are frame mounted and SUPER solid. Look badass too, which is always a plus. I also have those 2-door steps available for sale if anyone needs them.
Anyway here's a bunch of pictures.
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