I have split rims on my 40....they are perfectly legal...even in ny, thats a tough state too. I LOVE them, i run 255/85r16 toyo m-55's its a true 33.2 inch tire, and skinny 9 wide. if you want super tall 9.00r16 Michelin XL are the way to go true 36" or its hard to find here but 8.25r16 is a 34 " tire. the aussies have many of them...i am sure they would agree that a 8.25 is the sweetest looking tire on a split rim. I can run my tires down to 8 psi !!! and will not pull of the rim. I use an aussi bead breaker that i picked up for $50, and it works great. And not dangerous at all if you carry a chain, its only dangerous when you reinflate the tire....wrape the chain around the tire with link lock and your all set to inflate...no more danger. another friend would use his winch cable rap around the rim.
