Backspacing question.

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AJLFJ80

AJLFJ80

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
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Location
Paso Robles, CA
From personal experience, what would you guys say is the maximum allowable backspacing for a 15" wheel where I won't have inside rubbing issues? I know this is also dependent on the size of tire I mount on these rims. If you guys could give me examples of what you have run and what has worked, that would be sweet. Thanks.

Edit: The reason I'm asking is because I'm looking for aftermarket wheels and tires for my rig. I've read through the countless threads about tire size and gotten great information, there just isn't much about wheel size and backspacing.

Also, is there a manufacturer that makes wheel spacers for our rig? I bet Ebag knows.
 
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Since you have a FJ 80, you shouldn't run into problems with the backspacing unless it's like 4 or 5 inches, in which case it's gonna look goofy anyway with the tires tucked way up inside the wheel wells.

I have a 95 which is an FZJ and I had no problem fitting approximatly 3-3.5" back spaced 15" wheels with the help of Trail Gear 1" wheel spacers.

So check out Trail Grear, measure your stockers back spacing and go from there.

Shane
'
 
95ToyCruiser said:
Since you have a FJ 80, you shouldn't run into problems with the backspacing unless it's like 4 or 5 inches, in which case it's gonna look goofy anyway with the tires tucked way up inside the wheel wells.

I have a 95 which is an FZJ and I had no problem fitting approximatly 3-3.5" back spaced 15" wheels with the help of Trail Gear 1" wheel spacers.

So check out Trail Grear, measure your stockers back spacing and go from there.

Shane
'
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Thanks. Aren't the factory ones like 3.5 inches though? And there's a big difference between 4 inches and 5 inches. Most of the aftermarket wheels I've seen have AT LEAST 4 inches of backspacing...what kind of wheels are you running?
 
BTW thanks for the lead on the wheel spacers. I will definitely be looking into that.
 
AJLFJ80 said:
I bet Ebag knows.
Click to expand...

I bet he doesn't since he runs stock 16" LX wheels and doesn't have to worry about it. ;p


Why run aftermarket wheels? Why not just run one of the known good wheels (FJ steelies, tundra rims, etc)?
 
Ebag333 said:
I bet he doesn't since he runs stock 16" LX wheels and doesn't have to worry about it. ;p


Why run aftermarket wheels? Why not just run one of the known good wheels (FJ steelies, tundra rims, etc)?
Click to expand...
Aren't the FJ steelies 17"? I don't want to go that big. I'd like to stay at 15" with a wider wheel if possible.
 
alkaline747trio said:
5" BS wheels will work, but your tire will probably rub your control arm at full lock. 4.75" would be my recommended max...
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Thanks for the info. Would wheel spacers help to alleviate inside rubbing? I'm not so much worried about fenderwell/fender flare rubbing, as I can take measures to correct that.
 
Sorry for all the questions. 80 series lug pattern is 6x5.5", right?
 
alkaline747trio said:
If you have rubbing and moving the tire outwards would eliminate it, then yes...wheel spacers would eliminate that rubbing. Just know that wheel spacers are a second best option to wheels with the proper back spacing.
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Yeah, I understand that. I guess my concern with the wheel spacers would be putting unnecessary stress on the axles, by moving the wheels further away from the center of the axle. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.
 
Just keep the spacers less than 1.25", and keep your backspacing more than 3.25-3.5" and you'll be alright. I'm starting to think that long term use of wide wheels on an 80 series front end can cause death wobble.....but that's another story another time.
 
Yeah, the wheels I'm currently looking at are 3.75"...I guess I'll go with the 1" spacers and see how that works.
 
Right now I'm running stockers with 31x10.5...no rubbing at all. I'm just worried about the increase in tire width to 12.5" causing a rubbing problem. I'm also putting in 30mm coil spacers all around, nothing dramatic.
 
So now I have this opinion:

"I have a 95 which is an FZJ and I had no problem fitting approximatly 3-3.5" back spaced 15" wheels with the help of Trail Gear 1" wheel spacers."

and this one:

"3.75 should be perfect. Are you rubbing without them? 3.75 with 1" spacers would put you at 2.75" and
I wouldn't recommend that at all."

:confused::doh:
 
Difference of rubbing. He is talking about the wheel rubbing the caliper. For you I am referring to tire rubbing (wheel interference isn't an issue on the earlier 80s).

I've run 33x12.50s on my stock 15x7 wheels w/o any rubbing. I've also run 35x12.50 SSRs on 16" Taco Steelies and my tires would rub the hell out of my control arm. The taco wheels had 5" or 5.25" BS which is too much for a 12.5" tire.
 
alkaline747trio said:
Difference of rubbing. He is talking about the wheel rubbing the caliper. For you I am referring to tire rubbing (wheel interference isn't an issue on the earlier 80s).

I've run 33x12.50s on my stock 15x7 wheels w/o any rubbing. I've also run 35x12.50 SSRs on 16" Taco Steelies and my tires would rub the hell out of my control arm. The taco wheels had 5" or 5.25" BS which is too much for a 12.5" tire.
Click to expand...

So to summarize what you said, 33x12.5+3.75" backspacing=no rubbing?
 
On my 91 I ran Eagle 589s 15x8 with 3.25" backspacing with 35x12.50 BFG MTs. I think it was ideal. On my 94 I had to run 16" rims to clean the brakes so I ran 3 5/8" backspacing 16x8 MT Classic 2s with 315/75/15 Toyo MTs. On a 91 there is no reason to buy rims that would need spacers because there are plenty of decent 15" wheels available.
 
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