Stock Rims w/Tuff Country 4.5" Lift

[NDanecker]

Just ordered the 4. 5" tuff country kit and am thinking about tire size. I don't want something so big to require a gear change. I'm running 3. 73's. I'm leaning towards the 315/70-17 BF All-Terrains.



What are your thoughts with these tires on the STOCK aluminum rims? Or go after market rims? Or go with different size tire altogether!

 

[y-knot]

The best thing you could have done, was to think about this BEFORE you purchased the truck. The 3:73 gears are a bad choice for a running larger tires. And most that go to the trouble of lifting a truck, want to cap it off by installing larger tires. Their is nothing you can do about the gears now (of-coarse you could change them out, but it is expensive and you most likely don't have deep enough pockets, you chose the Tuff Country lift which is the cheapest both in price and component selection), just stay on the smaller side with the tire selection. Some lifts require that a minimum back space be run, I don't know about yours but you might want to check into it. The aftermarket wheels up to you and your budget. For a unique and different look, the stockers won't stack up, also a wider wheel may be necessary depending on which tire you decide to run. You pretty much have decide on that one by yourself. Don't forget to add a good steering stabilizer to the budget, they are almost a most with the larger tires. Good luck and post your results.

 

[Spooled-up]

If you're not towing, I would think the 315's would be O. K. with 3:73's. It's not necessary to run the 4" lift to clear these tires with stock wheels. Many members here run them with a 2" front kit and some run them without any lift at all. If you want to go to a wider wheel like 9. 5" or 10 inch, the lift is necessary to clear the fenders. Backspacing is critical on these trucks. Look for a wheel with positive offset meaning that the mounting surface of the wheel is outboard of centerline. Stock offset is something like +40mm. The most I have found is +20mm in aftermarket wheels, but there are tons of wheels out there. If you go with a wheel with negative offset, they will stick out pretty far and fender clearance will be an issue as the front wheels swing through their arc.

TDR Member Fozzy used 6" of lift to clear 35" Parnelli Jones tires with 10" wide wheels. I'm not sure what his offset was. PJ tires are very close to what the measurement on the sidewall says. Tires like BFG's can be off by a little and are usually smaller than the number on the sidewall. i. e. the 315/70R17 BFG's which are equivalent to a 35" tire, are 34. 5" tall.



Here are some +20mm offset wheels:



Eagle 114's

Eagle 133's





Read this thread. We discussed backspacing in detail along with some other stuff that applies.



Here's a member running a 4" lift. He's got some good pics on the site.



Gravedigger's page

 

[NDanecker]

For the way I will use my truck (no rock crawling and very little off-roading. Mostly deep snow upstate) I don't need a $2k lift kit that gives the truck an increase in flex, etc. My requirements are to ride like or near to stock, can be easily removed when/if I sell the truck, and just enough to make the truck look better with 32"-33" tires. I really don't want to hit the 35" tire mark……. . overkill for how I will use the truck…IMO.



As for the gearing, I don't plan to tow anything heavy (2k lbs max ATV trailer fully loaded) so I'm guessing the 3. 73's will be fine with 600 ft-lbs of torque these babies put out. I usually keep up with traffic so I cruise around 80mph. Lowering the rpm's by 200-300 will hopefully increase mileage over keeping the rpms the same with a gear change. (I'll probably get mixed reviews on this one)



I ordered the truck over 2 months ago and never intended on lifting it or towing anything heavy so I couldn't justify the 4. 10's. However, seeing how good these trucks look lifted got me thinking….



I've done a few gear swaps in my time so if I need 4. 10's I can do 'em. Probably do an ARB locker front and rear at the same time (remember deep snow upstate).



Thanks for your comments!!!

 

[Spooled-up]

You say you want to run only 32 or 33" tires? I'd say a 4" kit would be overkill for that. I'd think the 33" tires would look a little out of proportion with the 4" lift. 35" tires will lower your overall gearing to around 3:54 or so. There is a calculator out there that I'm sure some other member will post. My last truck had 3:54 gears and 33" tires and it ran 1900rpm at 75mph. Nice and quiet and I got great mileage.

 

[NDanecker]

Spooled-up!



Thanks for the links. Those rims look nice!



I'm going to read the thread also... thanks!

 

[Walcott]

Been there done that

I have already installed the 4. 5 Tuff country lift,I have the 3. 73 gears with 315's. If they haven't experienced it first hand i don't see how they can tell you what will work!I tow 24,000 lbs. on a regular basis,drag race my truck,run estimates,tow my boat ect...

I have NO PROBLEM. The combo works great!!!! The lower rpm's on the freeway are a added benefit.





Alan in AZ

AZ TDR Chptr.

 

[NDanecker]

Walcott... . got any pics?



Thanks!

 

[Kurt Henzler]

walcot

walcot check you pm

 

[fencebuilders]

A 2"leveling kit with the 315's give a pretty husky look. Check my sig for rims. My truck gets looked at a whole lot more now. I did try some larger tires but the 315's with the 2" is a sweet combo. I have 3. 73"s with the RAMifier and have plenty of giddyup.

 

[Walcott]

I'll post some pictures this weekend,stay tuned!!

 

[NDanecker]

Looks like I'm going with the 315's.



One questions though: BF recommends a 8. 5" to 10" wide rim for the 315's. The stock rim is 8" wide. Does this really work that well? Does the tire wear evenly?