33s or go bigger?
 

Hey I am a new guy here on this forum, just wanting to get some of your guys opinions. I have a 1994 extra cab 5 speed 22re 4wd truck that is about to get a bit of a suspension makeover. I am hoping not to get flamed here on this board since I am IFS and plan on keeping it. Ok here is the thing, I am going to be purchasing within the next week or 2 some mixed and matched pieces from a local guy who was running it on his 1st gen runner. I want to know how big you guys think I should go for tires. Ok up front is where most of the goodies are :) , starting with the pieces from the Rancho IFS kit that used to be available from downey-offroad, ball joint spacer, extreme travel balljoints, bilstein long travel shocks, porsche cv's, total chaos idler arm and i believe thats it for the front. Then in the back i plan on running a shackle that should be good for 1.5 inches of lift and then possibly an add a leaf for another 1.5 inches of lift. What size tires can I run? Also I may possibly be going to a fiberglass front fender depending on tire size.

Are you planning on regearing?

ya, i will also have front and rear thirds with 4.88 gears and lockrites in both

What kind of wheeling are you going to be doing?

I have some lift vs. tire size info on my web page:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...it.shtml#FAQ10

33's can go in w/ minimal lift and should result in a fairly reliable setup with IFS. Go bigger and the IFS will become the weak link in the system and chances of breakage will increase dramatically.

I'd not go bigger than 33's for reasons above and for the cost of the tires. 33's run up a pretty high price tag.

You could always do your lift, and 33's will probably fit. Then if they rub, throw on 2" of body lift, and you should be good to go...

well from what i understand the tire width is usually the problem with rubbing, so instead of a 33x12.50 swamper i was looking into the 34x10.50 LTB. Am I correct when assuming that the width is what actually is going to cause most of the rubbing?

Width and height combine to cause rubbing, especially in front. Why? Steering. Turn the front wheels side to side and they swing an arc. Wider wheels or tires and wheels with less backside spacing push the outer edge of the tire farther away from the pivot point (i.e. the ball joints). The wider radius swings a wider arc. If the arc of the tire intersects the arch of the wheel well, you get rubbing. Since the wheels steer about 30 degrees either direction, each extra inch of width (be it from wider wheel, tire or backspacing) adds about 1/2" of rearward tire projection (the sine of 30 degrees is 0.5). So go from a 15x7 to a 15x8 wheel, that pushes the tire out 1" wider. Go from a 10.50 to a 12.50 tire an that is another inch. Switch from a 4.75" b/s stock wheel to a 3.75" b/s wheel and that adds another inch, now you are 3" wider (per side) and the steering arc swings 3" wider and at the rear is 1.5" or so farther back.

So a 33x10.50 on a stock wheel vs. a 33x12.50 on a 15x8 wheel can fit a lot easier typically.