I cut the inner fenders out...

[CreeperSleeper]

It makes perfect sense creeper. You guys left that little detail out in both of your write-ups...or I just didn't catch it. I shouldn't have assumed. Creeper those are 37x14.00-17's on 17x8's correct? I'm gonna want 5.29s with 39.5's. I was trying to keep it to a skinny 38" that was light so I could run around with the stock 4.10's for a while. But like I mentioned in the recent retread thread, for the next year and a half my max speed limit is 45mph, and that puts gearing in a little different perspective than most folks, at least when were talking about the road. How bad would 39.5's be on 4.10's though? Like I said I only can max out at 45-50mph anyways? I know off the beaten path is a different animal and that gears equal control etc, but this whole thing is a journey, I'm not Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, and gears are later on the trailmap of this journey after bigger tires and then a rear aussie locker. So what are the opinions on 39.5's and 4.10's ? 1FZ-FE not 3-FE...

Good! I didn't realize I would have to list things I didn't do...

You are correct, I'm running 37x14.50x17 bias Iroks. They were on a 17x8 wheel. It sounds like your perspective on gearing is backwards. You would be able to hit 45 - 50 in second with 39.5's and 4:10 gears! Personally, I thought 4.10's and 35's were too tall of gearing. The only way I would run 39.5"s and 4.10's is if I had dual cases or deep low-range gears. Otherwise you will be putting a lot of stress on the trans and "crawling" way too quickly.

 

[Nay]

heya- has anyone considered putting a 1 or 2 " lift on their rear fenderwells -----ie. chopping the interior wells and raising them a few inches to allow you to clearance the exterior more?

HEY Nay-----> would 38.5 x 10.9" skinny michelin xls or xzls fit on 2" of lift if the rears were trimmed up even with the inner stock wells? Where in the rear would the major rubbing be on say - no lift if it was trimmed to the max? (outer/inner/upper/etc)

We've seen the Michelin's on about 5" of lift without any inner trimming at all - they are going to rub the frame and inner and outer wheel wells if you don't give them some good clearance.

As you guys know, I've got some pretty good sized 37's on 3.5" of lift with trimming you wouldn't know unless you knew what to look for, and I did not limit up travel at all (my suspension remains essentially 5" up travel / 5" down).

If you are hacking up the fenders to allow the extra up travel and going skinny to ensure the tire tucks in without rubbing the frame, the question is really front to rear clearance as tire diameter goes. I'd have doubts about trying this on a 2" lift if I really needed to stay at 2", but at closer to 4" it would seem to be relatively easy. (relatively)

I'm not a fan of cutting up wheel wells for a tire that essentially fits anyway with some cosmetic tuning - not because I care about sheet metal, it just doesn't look very good because you end up making a 37"+ plus tire look smallish in comparison to the wheel well again and have spent a lot of effort to get there.

80's have a visual problem with tire size to wheel well size (a 3" lift swallows 35's), and opening up the fenders doesn't help - I'm going big if I am doing that work, as in 40" big, because the skinny 38 can be done without it. 42's are probably beyond the basics.

Of course, at that point I am not asking questions about stock axle gear ratios either

Here is a 37.3" trxus MT fully compressed @ 5" up travel on a 1" spacer. I quite possibly didn't need the extra trimming I did and just rushed it. My LCA's are also 3/8" longer, and this matters tremendously in not having to touch the front of the rear wells at all.

 

[dafun1]

So what about a skinny 38 like those I mentioned (13/38 TSL, 38.5x11.00 Bogger, and the tractor tire)? Would you consider it while you were saving for gears?

There's much more forgiving red dirt here that turns to mud depending upon if it rains while you are wheeling (it always rains sometime during the day), with very little rock. Alot different than the granite grinders you guys run through in Oregon. But wheeling is wheeling, and I agree that ones ability to crawl becomes critical as the trail difficulty increases.

I've only had to have a spot one or two times, so that might tell you the level of wheeling I have done so far (moderate at best...mainly because I don't have a real trail buddy here), but I did come close to rolling once, and I'm willing to push it, but I need some bigger tires. Some of the ruts here are from 42's and above. I've seen guys running tractor tires that I swear were almost as tall as me (I'm a whopping 66" tall!). Its the wild west here in Guam...anything goes when it comes to tires and fenders. I see buggies driving around on the street everyday.

I understand gears man...I wanted to make sure I could get to 50 mph on 39.5's with the stock gears. You confirmed it. You were even more informative on the wheeling side of things. The stress on the tranny is a concern and the lack of crawl ability, without a dual t-case setup, makes the chance of body damage and recovery much higher. And winching is non existent unless your with a buddy because there are very little trees or boulders. Regardless of tires I need to find a trail buddy. Keep the input coming though creeper, because it is obvious just looking at the side of your rig, that you don't hold back !

 

[Nay]

Those skinny boggers could be a good choice. I wouldn't worry about street use at all given you only want to run 50 mph. It may be a dog, but who cares at 50 mph? That's dog speed.

I think you'd suffer most in deep mud just trying to pull though, but the extra tire is probably worth a lot more than the reduced gearing.

You've cut it up, you have no choice . If you need gears you'll probably find a way once you hit the limit. That's how most builds go.

I'd get as much height for as little weight as I could given you don't have any real road use restriction to having a ridiculous tire because you aren't driving fast.

Post up pics

 

[dafun1]

Nay,

I get it that I need 5.29's... What becomes evident in my posts is that I'm cheap and on a budget. I was inquiring about gears because the reality is I'm not getting them until I return to the States in 2011! What I will get just doing the math and talking with the is tires (I bought 265/75's and then went back to the states on leave and bought 305/70's and shipped them back and sold the 265/75's and now I want 38's all in just over a year...so this was a tough sell) and a rear aussie locker.

It was a lot of fun slicing and dicing my vehicle and I want to go big with tires. Obviously if you have to split up gears and tires, you go with tires first and then gears. I'm going to 5.29's, just not for another year and a half. I asked the question to see if anyone had been down that road. I know Tools is running 37x12.50-17 Cooper STT on stock gears and seems to be highly respected on this board. It was just a question, not ignorance, though I've never claimed I know a whole lot, just enough to be addicted. I'm always looking to learn from you guys

 

[dafun1]

I keep posting after you post man, so if you've already answered some things then I post again, I'm sorry. The tractor tire is the tallest, lightest of the the three at 37.8" tall and weighing 66lbs. I might just go that route, run it on the trails and at the mud drag, then DD the 305's. But I'm repeating myself...So now you like boggers Nay? They are fun!

 

[dafun1]

I meant lightest...the bogger is actually 38" but weighs in at 69lbs...again repeating. I'm leaning toward the tractors

 

[Nay]

I keep posting after you post man, so if you've already answered some things then I post again, I'm sorry. The tractor tire is the tallest, lightest of the the three at 37.8" tall and weighing 66lbs. I might just go that route, run it on the trails and at the mud drag, then DD the 305's. But I'm repeating myself...So now you like boggers Nay? They are fun!

I don't like boggers, but I live in Colorado where finding a bog probably means you are doing something illegal, plus I deal with a ton of snow and need a completely different kind of traction.

In your shoes, I'd like boggers. Skinny means a lot when going tall in terms of what will and will not fit. A 37x14 is probably going to push the "fit" limits as badly as a 38x11, so you go 38x11 for your needs, and bogger is going to paddle the mud better than a TSL. If the tractor tire works, do that. Who cares at a 50 mph limit?

I ran around for 18 months at high altitude on 35's and stock gears, with tires that weigh close to 15 lbs more than what you are considering. It was fine - not great, but it's still a dog on 5.29's although much better. Offroad night and day of course with the gears.

Don't listen to Tools. He kills nuns.

 

[dafun1]

I just called Commercial Tire in Barrigada Heights, Guam and they recieved 24 12.4-16's about 10 days ago and they sold every single one of them already! That is how hot those tires are in this place! The price is now $225, but I can get a military discount. The have 36 scheduled to come in toward the end of Feb...can you say tax return! We'll see what the says.

Wheels and tractor tires would be around the same price of the boggers by themselves (because I have to pay shipping to a freight forwarder to get them here). Wheel spacers will be needed either way. If I only run them to the trail and back then when I leave I can still sell them for a decent price and will have used a locally supplied, terrain specific tire...I will post when I put tractors on my truck! I think deep down, it is always what I wanted to do anyways!

 

[dafun1]

Here's another local rig with the 12.4-16's:

 

[dafun1]

And just one more...this pic is actually on Andersen AFB (the AF cops never bothered him... but if my wife or myself wrecked and injured or killed someone and they see were rolling on illegal tractor tires, there's no legal defense for that...I'll buy the 16x10's from my friend and run them as trail tires only):

 

[PKP80]

Nay, it looks as though your back tires will rub on the front of the fender well quite a bit at full tuck. But more importantly, how does your back feel after having to take the spare off the roof and then get one back up there? I had my 31" spare up there at one point and That sucked. Can't imagine a 100lb 37.

We've seen the Michelin's on about 5" of lift without any inner trimming at all - they are going to rub the frame and inner and outer wheel wells if you don't give them some good clearance.

As you guys know, I've got some pretty good sized 37's on 3.5" of lift with trimming you wouldn't know unless you knew what to look for, and I did not limit up travel at all (my suspension remains essentially 5" up travel / 5" down).

If you are hacking up the fenders to allow the extra up travel and going skinny to ensure the tire tucks in without rubbing the frame, the question is really front to rear clearance as tire diameter goes. I'd have doubts about trying this on a 2" lift if I really needed to stay at 2", but at closer to 4" it would seem to be relatively easy. (relatively)

I'm not a fan of cutting up wheel wells for a tire that essentially fits anyway with some cosmetic tuning - not because I care about sheet metal, it just doesn't look very good because you end up making a 37"+ plus tire look smallish in comparison to the wheel well again and have spent a lot of effort to get there.

80's have a visual problem with tire size to wheel well size (a 3" lift swallows 35's), and opening up the fenders doesn't help - I'm going big if I am doing that work, as in 40" big, because the skinny 38 can be done without it. 42's are probably beyond the basics.

Of course, at that point I am not asking questions about stock axle gear ratios either

Here is a 37.3" trxus MT fully compressed @ 5" up travel on a 1" spacer. I quite possibly didn't need the extra trimming I did and just rushed it. My LCA's are also 3/8" longer, and this matters tremendously in not having to touch the front of the rear wells at all.

 

[dafun1]

Well I went with the 12.4-16 tractors on 16x10 Mickey Thompson Classic II with 4.438" backspacing. Here's some pics:

 

[dafun1]

No pics on the truck yet because the Classic II's are wheel centric and I had to order new lug nuts. It will take about a week via USPS priority. These tires weigh 66lbs, have a max inflation of 17 PSI, and load rating of 1587lbs (won't towing anything with them on ). Dimensions are 37.6" x 12.4" and ply rating is 4 all the way around...obvious a bias ply. I'll probably get a set of either 1" or 1.25" wheel spacers. These tires weigh just 2lbs more than my 305/70's.
On a side note, I get up to the tire dealer and low and behold, they had Pit Bull Rocker radials! So now they carry Pit Bull...I could have ordered the 39x14.50 Maddog. But I don't have the $$$ for gears yet, and the rims and tires together only set me back $1300. And the is happy because she doesn't have to deal with DD'ing a bias ply tire. I'm going to paint the Classic II's black on the surface. More pics to come when they go on!

 

[dafun1]

And to set off some more discussion, I'm doing a rocker panelectomy ... I want sliders straight of the frame, and even with a 1" body lift, it wasn't going to happen. I did re-route the exhaust. Here's the start of the DS:

 

[dafun1]

And I ordered 2" bumpstop spacers.

 

[Nay]

Nay, it looks as though your back tires will rub on the front of the fender well quite a bit at full tuck. But more importantly, how does your back feel after having to take the spare off the roof and then get one back up there? I had my 31" spare up there at one point and That sucked. Can't imagine a 100lb 37.

Those pics are on the bumpstop (2.5" drop) - I can just get it to rub the front of the rear well but I've never really felt it. I mostly know because it rubbed the Durabak off. Good thing I lengthened my LCA's 3/8".

Getting the spare up there is definitely a two man job. Well, I can do it with a little bit of magic fingers help from . The real sight is getting that thing off, because when you roll it off the roof it is prone to take off depending on the first bounce

I go wheeling with four pretty young kids, so I'm basically a pack horse wherever I go, it's just one more thing...I am not human without regular yoga...

 

[darwink1]

I managed to run my sliders straight off the frame without cutting a thing. Bent the pinch welds and have an inch clearance.... Just sayin.

D

 

[dafun1]

I hear ya darwink1, but cutting is addictive. The only issues I see are the B-pillars. They terminate at the pinch weld. I'm thinking I'll just cut them straight of and weld them back again or re-inforce them with some sheet metal.

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

If you have already smashed up your rocker panels then I agree that it definitely makes sense to cut them off and replace them with tubing.