Need rim width advice

[RSchwarzli]

Looking at a set of American Eagle 058s for the 1990.



My thought process goes like this:



Everyone has had their truck parked somewhere and they walk up from directly behind and what do you see? Rear axle is norrower than the front. Bugs the hell out of me!!! :-laf





If I am doing rims, could I not get slightly wider rear ones so the track would be similar to the front? The factory width on the front (16x7 right??), wider on the rear (like maybe 16x9 or 10?)... .



So, the question is how wide would I need to rears to be to be close to the front and how stupid do you think that would look? I dont mind even still being a bit narrower but the way it is now.....



Thoughts? Anyone tried this? Pictures even?



Thanks!



Robert

 

[PToombs]

Robert, different widths will affect tire shape. If you mount the same size tires on different width rims the wider rim will push the sidewalls out and give it a wedge look. And it will change the tire pattern on the road. Or a narrower rim, (depending on proper size tires for which rim size) will pull the beads in and give a balloon look. Tire height needs to be equal if you use 4wd.

One way around this is to get different size tires for each rim. For example, I've done some research for my truck and found that a 235/85-16 is very close in height to a 265/70-17. I was looking for the same height, but skinny tires for winter use and fat ones for looks in summer.

You can figure out what will work, but it will take a little time. The tire size isn't hard to decipher either. In case you don't know, the 235 is tread width, the 85 is the percentage of width that is side wall height, and 16 is the rim size. A tire calculator is definitely your friend in this case, you can input several sizes and it shows a comparison of height, width, changes in speedo, and percentage it's off.



Here's the one I use,

Tire Size Calculator - tire & wheel plus sizing

 

[RedRamAndy]

Here's a link to my solution to the narrow rear rims and narrow tire track. https://www.turbodieselregister.com...1993/220969-wider-tires-rear.html#post2133087

It does help to know a guy who's really good at widening rims. I added all the width to the outside of the rim and left the backspacing alone.

Take your time on deciding what you want. The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. :-laf

 

[HHhuntitall]

What's the difference front to rear width, I don't remember anymore?

 

[ata]

The bad thing about putting wider rim's on the rear to make the track width the same is the rear tires will stick out past the bed body. Not only will the tires throw spray and mud all over the truck and everybody behind you it looks really bad from behind. If you look over the top of the truck you will see the body is wider in the front then the rear.

 

[RedRamAndy]

This is how mine turned out (see the thread in my prior message for details). They stayed well within the fender.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Robert, different widths will affect tire shape. If you mount the same size tires on different width rims the wider rim will push the sidewalls out and give it a wedge look. And it will change the tire pattern on the road. Or a narrower rim, (depending on proper size tires for which rim size) will pull the beads in and give a balloon look. Tire height needs to be equal if you use 4wd.

One way around this is to get different size tires for each rim. For example, I've done some research for my truck and found that a 235/85-16 is very close in height to a 265/70-17. I was looking for the same height, but skinny tires for winter use and fat ones for looks in summer.

You can figure out what will work, but it will take a little time. The tire size isn't hard to decipher either. In case you don't know, the 235 is tread width, the 85 is the percentage of width that is side wall height, and 16 is the rim size. A tire calculator is definitely your friend in this case, you can input several sizes and it shows a comparison of height, width, changes in speedo, and percentage it's off.



Here's the one I use,

Tire Size Calculator - tire & wheel plus sizing

Thanks for the great info Pete!



Have been playing for the past hour!



So, how much is considered too much? Like your example shows front and rear are out . 38% or 655. 7 revolutioins per mile vs 658. 2. Is that too much? I dont have to worry about ABS, but I do have to worry about the 205.

Here's a link to my solution to the narrow rear rims and narrow tire track. https://www.turbodieselregister.com...1993/220969-wider-tires-rear.html#post2133087

It does help to know a guy who's really good at widening rims. I added all the width to the outside of the rim and left the backspacing alone.

Take your time on deciding what you want. The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. :-laf

Very interesting.



I like the cheese comment!:-laf

If you look over the top of the truck you will see the body is wider in the front then the rear.

Huh. Never looked at that. Guess I am gonna!

 

[RSchwarzli]

Pete - Do you have pics of the 16 front, 17 back?

 

[KOG]

I've got Goodrich 285/75-16 All-Terrain T/A KO(On-/Off-Road All-Terrain) on Weld Racing 16x10 forged alloys on the rear of the 91. 5. These are 3750lb tires in E load range which allow full use of the 7500lb axle on the chassis cab SRW (chassis cab carries the same exact axle and rear brakes as DRW in 91. 5-93) model without the hassle of duals. Don't have a picture, but they look fine and work great.

 

[mysteryman]

The best plan is to use the rim and tire sizes that we put on the trucks at the factory!

wide low profile tire/rims that seem to be the fad these days tear up the trucks with road shock and excessive turning effort. The excessive turning effort torques the frame where the steering box mounts causing the frames to crack !!!! This is especially true on the 4wd's . If you must have wide tires on your 1st gen 4wd use the 1972 to 1976 steering gear , pitman arm and angle bracket. The earlier system put the torque on the frame length wise. The later 77-93 system used a 2wd box and the torque rotated the frame the other direction . It was a very stupid change from an engineering perspective. It was just done to save money. I also remember being very disappointed back in 72 when we first went to independent coil spring front suspension. That was done to make for a better ride and cut costs. 1971 and back all the 2wd trucks had I beam front axles and leaf springs.

In conclusion, We actually did have reasons for the size tires and rims we put on the trucks. The trucks will perform best over all with those sizes if the trucks are being used for what the were designed for. . Remember they are pickup trucks. Not bulldozers,dirt bikes,front end loaders,submarines,boats or airplanes. Besides that... . serious offroaders don't use tires at all. They use steel tracks ! Like my IH TD9 track loader. And if it gets stuck it has a 30,000 LB winch on it to pull it out. By the way... I am currently putting a 6bt cummins in my TD9. I will post some pictures when it is done if anyone is interested...

 

[KOG]

I agree with mysteryman about large/wide tires on the front. And since schwartzli has a W 4WD trying to run different sizes or even rim widths front and rear is a non starter. Ir's possible to use wheel adapters to mount the rear wheels maybe an inch further from the drums to widen the rear track IF you're not going to load it heavily.

 

[RSchwarzli]

OK. Choice made. No wide rims. Will leave it as is.





As for rims period, not sure. Maybe will just blast the stock ones, re-powder and call it a day!

 

[PToombs]

Robert, PM sent!

 

[RSchwarzli]

Thanks Pete.

 

["Mad Max"]

there is another option Robert - use a dually rear axle. I am building my off-road rig with as wide a stance as possible while using factory hardware, and to that end I found a D70 dually rear axle from under an '82 Ram D350, and if my math is correct this dually axle is 2 inches wider than a SRW D70 from a ('89-93) Cummins rig.

Now, with a dually axle there is also a wheel stud difference - the dually's have 5/8" studs and the 1/2 and 3/4-tons (up to 93 - 94 and up are 9/16" I think) are 1/2" studs. I think you can replace the 5/8" studs for 1/2" and retain the same shank and spline which will allow you to use the same lug nuts all the way around..... or, what I'm going to try to do... is replace the front D60 SRW 1/2" studs for the dually 5/8" version, lending to very big clamping power on the wheel. I'll be running 38" tires on this buggie so I'm going to as big as I can get...

 

[RSchwarzli]

Hmmm. Not a bad option either!



Could also D80 it then at that time.....



Could handle more power.....



Might need to swap the gutbag then... .



Need two spinny thingies... .



Oh no, the slipepry slope has begun just to get a wider tire! :-laf