Today we put my lift on my truck (BJ Spacers, Downey Torsion Bars, Downey Rear 3" lift springs, and ProComp ES3000s), but we do not have the wheels and tires (33x12.50R15 Yokohama Geolander M/Ts and Cragar 15x8 steel wheels) yet. They will be arriving around tuesday or wednesday. We are going to have them mounted and balanced at Summit Racing in McDonough, GA. I still have the stock 235/75R15s on it for now, but can i go ahead and get an alignment with the stock tire and not have any problems going to the new tires. Or do I need to wait until i get the new tires and rims before i get the alignment? Thanks for any and all help!
P.S. Pics will be up tomorrow, it is too dark for pics right now.
-Brandon

 

Just to play it safe I would wait. It may nto make a difference, but you never know.

 

It will not make any difference at all. Go ahead and get it aligned right now. At 4Wheel Parts there are times where we do not have the rims and tires yet, but the lift, on any vehicle is on, and we go ahead and align it with the stock rims and tires. Think about it. The wheel and tire are mounted on the hub of the vehicle and play no part in the alignment. The alignment is for what the wheels and tires are mounted too. No worries at all. Go ahead and get it aligned.

 

WHAT!!?? Remind me to NEVER go to 4Wheel Parts in your area. The wheels, tires play a LARGE role in the alignment! They measure at the edeges of the wheel for a reason. I can guarantee if you check the alignment with the tires on after you did your way it won't be the same, toe will be off.

The stock arms are setup in such a way that even with some high adjustment the alignment will not be thrown off to much. Out of specs, maybe but not enough to eat up hard rubber tires, bias ply tires won't fair so well. Just get it aligned after you put the new wheels and tires on.

 

You are correct. I completely screwed up that post. I left something very important out. When we align the vehicle with the stocks on it, it is for us to test drive the vehicle and shake the lift down. When the bigger rims and/or tires go on then the alignment gets re-done. It is usually close and sometimes within spec, but not perfect like you stated. We strive to make is perfect. After re-reading his post I missed the part of how soon the rims and tires were coming in. I was under the impression that he was waiting a little while and needed/ wanted to drive it now. I also forget that it tends to cost most people money for an alignment where I can do mine for free. I really am embarrased at my earlier post. Man, I should have proof read that one. Thanks for catching my really big f*** up Bear. I really am sorry.

 

what???

It doesn't matter what size tires are on the car as long as they are the same size and properly inflated... when it is aligned. you could align it with just rims... no tires... the angles will be the same regardless.... even backspacing wont matter. caster camber and toe are going to be the same at the WMS (wheel mount surface) no matter what wheel (unless it is bent...) you have on the car or what size tire.

Where did you find that tire size does affect the alignment?

now as far as suspension breaking in and settling, that could very well affect the alignment numbers... I drove mine around 500 miles on the stock tires to break it in before I aligned it and added larger tires. it was badly aligned and sucked, but my alignment is dead on.

As a general rule though, whenever you do move to a new tire size it is a good idea to go ahead and realign the vehicle to ensure that there wont be any wear issues... if it hasn been a while since the last alignment...

 

About damn time. i would really like to see pics with those tires as well.

 

Going with larger tires, usually wider will require more negative toe than what stock specs call for. This is the area in which a shop like 4wheel parts comes into play, having someone who knows what they are doing set it up properly. And I didn't mean to jump all over masterwacker but I assumed a more informed response when quoted with the profession. 4wheel parts is a fine place to shop and I myself have confidence in the work they do. The camber and castor technically cannot change with wheel or tires, however the toe will change. Camber and castor may also read different with a change in wheels so it is best to align it with the wheel/tire combo you intend to use.

 

Sounds like you got your alignment questions answerd.. so a ? for you? Are you planning to add a winch/bumper combo? I hope so otherwise thats going to be one stiff ride..... A freind of mine has that setup and his rear needs 400+ lbs at all times to even absorb small bumps (you have some of that with a runner, but not all of it). He also doesnt wheel much, so if you find the rear too stiff go flex the crap out of them a few time with some good weight in the bed, will break them in. As for the front, you may be SOL, espically with the amount you have to crank the tbars to match what you have out back..

Also, I am not sure how well 33x12.50's fit the 86-89 runners. I know you will only barely, if any, rub with that setup on a 90-95 runner, but are the wheel wells bigger or smaller in the 1st gens? When you go offroad that setup you have up front will not provide any extra clearance for tires. So be prepared for some rubbing. I see you have 15x8's on the way, 3.75" BS hopefully, at least that is the optimal amount on the 90-95's. Last thing, be prepared for some jarring at high speed with you tbars cranked for almost 3" of lift. And if you dont have manual hubs you will need them for on street use.

 

yes i plan to run a winch in the future when i get my bumper back on. Yes the rims are 3.75" BS and the lift isnt solely T-Bars, i also have 1.5" BJ Spacers so it isnt too rough right now. The wheel wells are pretty large on the first gens i am not worried about clearance issues. Thanks for all the responces guys i am about to head off to church and breakfast. The pics will be up later on around 12-1. Thanks again

 

Not sure about Kyle's statement that "it doesn't matter what size tire you have". I would disagree with you. Tire size and especially backspacing do affect the alignment of the vehicle. Your bast bet is to get the wheels/tire mounted and then align.

 

Didn't you also install 1.25" lift shackels? So 2.75 came from t-bars if my math is correct...

Good to hear on the winch, it will help the ride a ton, and good choice on the 3.75" wheels....

 

As i promised pics are in and up for your viewing pleasure...
For comparison here is how it sat stock...

In this first pic dont let the lean on the truck decieve you, the driveway slants right there.


Hopefully we can get the TJM back on there soon...Yes i know i have a bit of an oil leak.


Shot of the rear

BJ Spacer


Sorry bout the pics being a bit large.

 

Looking good, man. I'm sure you're excited. I just installed some 862's to remedy my sag. Wish I had a TJM.

 

Looks good cant wait to see it run when you get the rest done

 

If you are gonna 'wheel it, get a "time period" based alignment - like 1 yr - 'cuz you WILL need to get it aligned again.

Most places don't really do alignments as well as they could - it's an iterative process. Get it done with the wheels/tires you have, then take it back with the new tires. It's your best chance of getting a good alignment.

 

I just re-read what tires you plan to run. Be ready for some bad low speed rumble. All directional tread gives a rumble at 10-20mph. The Yoko M/T is notorious for low speed rumble. Not that I'm a fan of Pro Comp Xterrains but of all the directional tread they have almost no low speed rumble, that is untill they get about 1/2 worn then it shows up. Anyway I'm not doggin your choice, just thought I'd tell you since no tire guys want to tell you negatives when they are selling tires. Those are good tires, nice and sticky on the rocks any they look sweet.

By the way that is a sweet 4runner! I'm sure with the new tires and tjm on it will look killer!

 

That gave it a nice stance... but looking at your only close-up susp shot your pretty close to being on the droop stop bumpstop... anymore shots?

 

damn that got it up there! looks nice, im doing drivetrain first, i couldnt imagine trying to run 33s and 410s

 

I jsut went outside and looked at them. It appears to be about 1inch from bumpstop to A-arm. Do i need to be concerned about this? Also when we had the lower a-arm totally disconnected from every thing the passenger side would drop WAY lower than the driver side a-arm, any ideas?