Buying New Tires - 30's or 33"s?

[Melloj123]

I have read every thread I can find about tire sizes but before I spend the bucks, I want some reassurance. I want 9.5" BFG AT's and they will go on OEM wheels. I know my choices are 30's or 33's. I have stock suspension with some shackle lift ( see picture). I think the 30's are about the same as the 235-75's that are on there now so they are definitely doable. . I like the taller look of 33's but not if they are going to rub or cause steering problems. Also, if I ever wanted to lift, the 33's would be better. Use will be mostly street and mild offroad. 30's or 33's?

 

[green40]

Bigger is always better! If you are just going to do mild off road I would go with
the 33's. I would say that mild wheeling doesn't include alot of rock crawling, should be alright with the 33's.

Lane

 

[JJS]

Go with the 33's. Anything less just doesn't look right.

 

[camcruiser13]

33 for sure, the last thing you wanna do down the road is kick yourself because you should have gone bigger.

 

[Melloj123]

I know I want bigger if I can be sure they won't rub. Can anyone tell me that for sure? Again, no serious wheeling.

 

[MDH33]

Why not go with a 31 x 10.5 BFG ? I wheel with them and they work just as well as a 33 and less chance of rubbing.

 

[surfpig]

33s!



These things were made for 33 9.5s. You'll lug a bit on hills maybe...

 

[sepr2]

I have 33X10.5 BFG Mt's on my '71. Also have a 2 1/2" spring lift and 1 or
1 1/2" longer anti-inversion shackles. No steering issues for sure. They do not rub on mine except the rear against the inner tub/wheel well at full articulation and then only slightly. If your springs are original they are most likely settled and could be an issue. Would most likely be fine on the road but may rub offroad. Are you in a club? Anyone you could swap some 33's for a drive one saturday?

 

[Melloj123]

Based on what I have read, I thought the 10.5 might be a liitle wide for the 5.5'' rims. I know they will fit, but ........

 

[sepr2]

I have fj60 wheels on mine. Not sure the width but I believe they are a little wider than 5.5. No issues for several years now...

 

[jmaddox]

I had 31 X 10.50 All Terrains on my 40 for many years with a stock suspension. I had no rubbing issues unless I slammed the suspension down then the tire would hit the rear fender. I did change to a white spoke wheel though. I don not remember the width of the rim.

 

[FF LC FREAK]

I have 31 x 10.50 on my stock, saggy spring 40. It rubs the inside of the quarter panel at full articulation...barely. I doubt the 9.50s would rub, and from what I have read on Mud, they do not. They slide in nicely without rubbing. If it were me, I would buy the 33s.

Good luck!

 

[rukowh]

I have 33x9.5's on fj 60 rims with a 2.5 lift. they don't rub at all but they are skinny. I think i'm going to put them on my 60 and get either 33x10.5 or 32x11.5's. The 60 series rims are 6" wide opposed to the 5.5 stock 40's. The one problem with the 33's is that my 79' has 3.70 gears and the 33's eat up your low end acceleration and your ability to maintain speed through hills at highway speed. I had 31's before and the performance was much better at all speeds. I agree that the 33" height looks the best but the 31 is abetter fit with 3.70 gears. that may not be an issue for you. All of the trucks on the cool cruiser site have 33x10.5's or 31x10.5's mostly on stock rims with mild lifts.

 

[MDH33]

31 x 10.5 on stock wheels. I have a slight lift and they never rub. I was going to go with 33's, but I have 31's on my 60 and they can share chains. The extra 1.5 inches of clearance with 33's wasn't important enough to justify.

 

[F-junker]

I went with a 285 75 r16 = to about a 33" tire. I wish I went taller. But with 4.10 gears I didn't want to push it. I would say 33" is as small as I would go. If you run a stock lift with no shackle height 31's would be ok but with anything more than stock height go with a 33". You will wind up aith a taller ratio which is better for highway mileage. GL -Ken

 

[eleblanc]

i used to run 255/85 (33.5") BFG mud on stock springs with shackle 1" longer in the rear, so about like your setup. It would scrub on the rear fender inner flange, just a little. And it would also srubb on the power steering arm when wheels completely turn to the left. There are some stopper on the axle you and wheel spindle can ajust to limit turn. I would say that regular 33" 32.x" would fit and mostlikely not scrub. My tires only scrubb in the rear on the inner flange because they weren't very wide, if you go 33" make sure they are not too wide.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=125825

 

[Mightymax]

33-9.5 my choice, they will fit white a little shackle lift!!

 

[RumBum]

33 x 10.5 bfg muds or all terrains. I think they look tough and classic.

 

[Melloj123]

Thanks for all the input. Still undecided but looks like my choice should be between 31x10.5 and 33x9.5. MDH33 it looks like your truck is taller than mine from the pictures. Sounds like 31x10.5 shouldn't rub and 33x9.5's might rub. I read somewhere where some shops would not put 10.5's on 5.5'' rims so this concerned me. If someone can reassure me that this is not a problem, I think I will go with the 31"s. All other advice and experience welcomed.

 

[Big Red 64]

I went through the same decision last summer after getting a "new" 76 40. I went with the 33x9.5 BFG's and have been very happy with them. I was planning on installing OME at the time but mounted the tires while I still had the old stock suspension. They did not rub in normal driving. I didn't take the rig to Moab until after the OME was on so I can't say how they would have done rock crawling. I had no problems on some dirt road- mild wheeling while stock. Another thing to consider is the steering. It is much better with the 9.5's rather than 10.5's if you have no power steering. I assume that the narrow tires also put less stress on the steering components.
BTW- my cruiser is the same color as yours- looks great with the 33x9.5's.