Stupid Q: bigger tires and rubbing

[Madtiger]

For those who put bigger tires and it rubs the trim (mudflaps, etc.) or hardware (KDSS bar), how do you guys know that in off-road driving, it won’t hit anything else? I understand looking at extreme steering angles on your driveway to determine where it rubs. But is that a guarantee that while driving fast over dunes, crawling up a rockledge, or unexpected extreme suspension travel, the big tires won’t hit against something vital or cause damage on other suspension components??

I see lots of people trimming things to fit larger tires...and i may go down that road on next round of tire upgrade...but i am chickensh!t because of above.

Am I overthinking too much?

 

[nwfl4runner]

You’re right - they don’t.

to know for SURE, pull the shock put the wheel back on, and cycle up and down, lock to lock. Your tire deforms at the ground when you air down, so on many things a miss is as good as a mile (like UCA at full bump/forward lock).

 

[bencallaway]

For those who put bigger tires and it rubs the trim (mudflaps, etc.) or hardware (KDSS bar), how do you guys know that in off-road driving, it won’t hit anything else? I understand looking at extreme steering angles on your driveway to determine where it rubs. But is that a guarantee that while driving fast over dunes, crawling up a rockledge, or unexpected extreme suspension travel, the big tires won’t hit against something vital or cause damage on other suspension components??

I see lots of people trimming things to fit larger tires...and i may go down that road on next round of tire upgrade...but i am chickensh!t because of above.

Am I overthinking too much?

The reality is that most of us with big tires don't do that stuff. I just posted about my big tire regret in another thread.

 

[Madtiger]

The reality is that most of us with big tires don't do that stuff. I just posted about my big tire regret in another thread.

Yeah, i love the look of big tires (envy everytime i see pics of other owners)...but i don’t want it to compromise durability (or integrity) of another hardware component, especially when encountering unforeseen obstacle...........because the #1 (and probably #2 and #3) reason of me buying LC is durability, especially when i am in the middle of nowhere.

I just see people just trim away things on their fender just because turning the steering wheel in their driveway causes rub. But is that the WHOLE scope of suspension travel?

That’s why i am wondering if there is something else we can do to make sure our tires won’t be a self-inflicted dagger off-road.

nwfl4runner suggests a great point to check......but, at home, i have no means to take out shocks or disconnect my sways to check the full suspension travel.

 

[Rigger]

My tires rub the plastic inner fender a bit, but who cares? I like me some big tires. They’re more fun at Moab.

I don’t think they rub anything critical. They’re only a bit larger than my older set.

 

[Markuson]

You definitely discover touch points that are difficult to replicate without pushing it hard offroad. But not all contact is equal. There is fairly benign contact...and then there is potentially damaging contact. An example of benign might be touching KDSS/Samway bar at full lock—where it basically poses no threat. But there are other contacts like hitting the frame corner beholding the front tire at speed. Def one to avoid.

Here’s an example of pretty harmless full articulation stuffing in rear tire where it touched the wheel well and rubbed off a bit of coating—no damage:
(climbing up and out on Hell’s Gate)

At some point up this obstacle, my tire rubbed the smooth metal near the top. Not dangerous at all, but not ideal, obviously.

So...
Here is what that does:

Basically Harmless because it only happened at full stuff crazy side (so not on hard hits at high speed), but obviously not ideal. Another shot, same spot:

Here is what side 35’s can do yo your sway bar. Not catastrophic, but this was bad enough to make it worth adding .75” spacers to avoid:

Bottom line is...
It is true that clearing tires in your driveway is NOT the same as clearing off-road.-You can get away with stuff like above, but be sure you aren’t hitting corners that could grab/tear. Avoid insufficient bump stops that could do mass damage if you hit big stuff at high speed.

 

[TeCKis300]

Some degree of rubbing, especially with significantly larger tires, is always expected. Depends what rubs.

Plastics, underliner, no big deal. There's nothing structural to them. They are just as easily massaged or cut away. Or let them self clearance over time. This works for most every tire to 33" or a bit above. One can give up some width to gain height with reduced rubbing.

Metal parts. Particularly the KDSS bar and upper control arm. Perhaps even fender, body mounts with bigger tires. Minor rub on extremes of articulation on say the KDSS bar at low speeds is not a big deal. Big rubs, especially if it happens at roadway speeds, or hard braking... you don't want this type of rub. This type of rubbing will be like unintentional application of brakes to the rubbing tire and create a bad control situation. It can also rip lugs off or compromise a tire.

Most of us with bigger tires - either really wide or larger than say 33.5" ish, have some degree of plastic rub at extreme of articulation. Shouldn't have any big rubbing with hard parts which are addressed by correcting offset.

LCs limits are somewhere in the 34" diameter tire range before the KDSS bar rub becomes a hard limit. UCAs can help. Going beyond that is possible with a combination of KDSS relocation bracket, Tundra arms.

LXs while geometrically the same, don't have the KDSS bar to deal with. It does have deeper step plastics, and a little metal bracket, which is easily addressed. Many examples now of LXs going a full 35" or slightly above with minor massaging of plastics, and almost nothing else.

At almost full 35" diameter tires both LC and LX can rub at the metal upper fender liner, particularly when stuffing the tires off road. Most people don't drive hard enough or don't care. Easy solutions are to shim out the bump stop, but I don't like the idea of giving up any suspension travel. Not really done on these boards, but a minor body lift, like .25"- .5" would solve this as well.