3" lift and tire size

[liberty84]

I'm looking at a jeep magazine and they have a page with tires and it has the height size.

It says. 30x9.50R15....29.3"
31x10.50R15....30.3"

With a 3" lift would those tires rub, I don't wanna deal with the pinch weld and all that.

Thankx in advance ppl!!

 

[J-Thompson]

I'm looking at a jeep magazine and they have a page with tires and it has the height size.

It says. 30x9.50R15....29.3"
31x10.50R15....30.3"

With a 3" lift would those tires rub, I don't wanna deal with the pinch weld and all that.

Thankx in advance ppl!!

yes they will rub on the pinch weld
the 15 X 8" wheel you will need to run them will change the way the tire moves in the wheel well and make it closer to the pinch
you may get away with the 30's but why waste the money on the 30 X 9.5's when you can put a 225/75 R16 ,basically the same size tire, on the OE wheel at stock ride hight
or you can run a 245/75 R16 tire on the OE wheel with OME coils ,med or HD, and it will be very very close ,tire style will make or break the rub
3" of lift will matter very little compared to 2" of lift when you talk about the small wheel wells on a KJ

put it like this on our KJ with OME med coils and 245/75 MTR's on OE wheels
I had to pound down 1 pinch but not the other

 

[Ry' N Jen]

That is interesting!
Did you ever figure out why?
Or "let sleeping dogs lie?"

 

[liberty84]

I really want 15 wheels so, probably go with the 245/75 I think I saw somewhere that does would be fine

 

[tjkj2002]

That is interesting!
Did you ever figure out why?
Or "let sleeping dogs lie?"

Some KJ's are like that.I had less clearance on the drivers side then the passenger side(front wheel well) until I massaged it with a 3lbs hammer.

 

[J-Thompson]

I really want 15 wheels so, probably go with the 245/75 I think I saw somewhere that does would be fine

if you "really want 15" wheels then you will have to go with the 30 X 9.5's
and even then you may have to pound down the pinch
the problem with 15" wheels is the back spacing
your OE wheels have 5.5" and are 16"
the 15's come with spacing less than 4" for the most part
this move the outer side wall of the tire 1.5" or more to the out side
top that off with wider tires and presto ,rubbing

why the hang up on 15" wheels?
just keep the 16's and save the money you will spend on buying 5 new wheels then buy better tires

oh and some food for thought
on the last trail ride we had a few rigs running the 34 x 9.5 swampers ,tall and skinny and will NEVER fit on a KJ
any way they walked up dirt hills that guys running 35 X 12.5's could not even make
I plan to run a 33 X 10.5 BFG KM2 on my TJ for the next tires
and when we get a new tow rig at the end of the year I will push as much lift as I can out of the KJ and run 235/85's ,I think that is the tall skinny size that will fit IIRC it is about a 32 X 9.5 or close to it

 

[liberty84]

if you "really want 15" wheels then you will have to go with the 30 X 9.5's
and even then you may have to pound down the pinch
the problem with 15" wheels is the back spacing
your OE wheels have 5.5" and are 16"
the 15's come with spacing less than 4" for the most part
this move the outer side wall of the tire 1.5" or more to the out side
top that off with wider tires and presto ,rubbing

why the hang up on 15" wheels?
just keep the 16's and save the money you will spend on buying 5 new wheels then buy better tires

oh and some food for thought
on the last trail ride we had a few rigs running the 34 x 9.5 swampers ,tall and skinny and will NEVER fit on a KJ
any way they walked up dirt hills that guys running 35 X 12.5's could not even make
I plan to run a 33 X 10.5 BFG KM2 on my TJ for the next tires
and when we get a new tow rig at the end of the year I will push as much lift as I can out of the KJ and run 235/85's ,I think that is the tall skinny size that will fit IIRC it is about a 32 X 9.5 or close to it

WOW awesome info dude,
I understand that the stock tires are 29" height right, well I stick with the 15's what size tire would be the max I could slap on it without worries? Would the fact that I want 15x7 and NOT 15x8 matters or helps at all?

Man ur making me think about the 16's, the thing is I wanna get the soft 8's I love those wheels

 

[J-Thompson]

WOW awesome info dude,
I understand that the stock tires are 29" height right, well I stick with the 15's what size tire would be the max I could slap on it without worries? Would the fact that I want 15x7 and NOT 15x8 matters or helps at all?

Man ur making me think about the 16's, the thing is I wanna get the soft 8's I love those wheels

to run 15's you will need to lift or run really small tires
even the 16's in soft 8's come with 4" back spacing on a 16x7

IMO
the soft 8's or black steelies are just the "soup of the day"
kind of like the "jumping off a bridge" thing
every body is doing it so it must be cool

To me you are better off keeping you OE wheels and running a 245/75 R16
it comes in just about every style tire you can think of
it will cost you very little in power and compared to the next size up you loose only .5" in ground clearance
they are basically the same size as a 31 X 10.5 R15 ,maybe a little skinnier
and with out major lift and plastic adjusting you are not fitting a 31 X 10.5's
best part is that you can pick what ever lift you like and run a 245/75 on the OE wheels

I see you are in Humble
next time we go to visit my wifes sister in the Woodlands I can hit you with a PM and show you what her KJ looks like ,my wifes
we run OME springs with Rancho struts and OME shocks
it has 245/75 MTR's on OE wheels and a red Louisiana 4X4 sticker on the back window
it may still have the LOST sticker on it unless I get the motivation to remove it
as I am no longer welcome over at LOST

 

[liberty84]

to run 15's you will need to lift or run really small tires
even the 16's in soft 8's come with 4" back spacing on a 16x7

IMO
the soft 8's or black steelies are just the "soup of the day"
kind of like the "jumping off a bridge" thing
every body is doing it so it must be cool

To me you are better off keeping you OE wheels and running a 245/75 R16
it comes in just about every style tire you can think of
it will cost you very little in power and compared to the next size up you loose only .5" in ground clearance
they are basically the same size as a 31 X 10.5 R15 ,maybe a little skinnier
and with out major lift and plastic adjusting you are not fitting a 31 X 10.5's
best part is that you can pick what ever lift you like and run a 245/75 on the OE wheels

I see you are in Humble
next time we go to visit my wifes sister in the Woodlands I can hit you with a PM and show you what her KJ looks like ,my wifes
we run OME springs with Rancho struts and OME shocks
it has 245/75 MTR's on OE wheels and a red Louisiana 4X4 sticker on the back window
it may still have the LOST sticker on it unless I get the motivation to remove it
as I am no longer welcome over at LOST

that sux (about what happend with LOST)

i like the black wheels and they are cheap that kind of why i wanna go with those, keeping the OE wheels...naaaa they are ugly dude, i got the steels ones and i hate them i dont like them, so what about getting the soft 8's in 16" can we get a 5.5 spacer or is that just not possible.

I would like to keep my stoch wheels but man hey are just fugly (blarg) some ppl might like them....but not me

and yea let me know when ur coming to town

 

[liberty84]

hey J-thompson

they make the 16x8 with a 5" bs

what u think of those?

 

[J-Thompson]

hey J-thompson

they make the 16x8 with a 5" bs

what u think of those?

those may work
now what you could do is find some one else who has black steelies on their
KJ and is willing to sell their OE alum. wheels

I guess I am just a tight wad and see no reason to buy new wheels
I had OE steel wheels on my TJ and the only reason I got the OE alum. wheels is because I did a bunch of work on a guys TJ for him so he gave me his old rims and tires
If it were not for this I would still be running the steel wheels
and I am purposefully buying skinnier tires so that they will fit on the wheels I have ,cheeper in the long run
I like to spend my money on things that function rather than things that look cool ,I have no problem spending $1000 to install a Tummy Tucker on my TJ but yet I will not even think about dropping the coin to fix the bent fender
I would rather get tube fenders so next time the function and not just bend

 

[2-old]

Just bought a 05 Sport, and was wondering if a 2.5" lift will be enough to run 265/75/16's, or a 3" lift. I will be running offroad in the desert and rocky washes, so I need the all the height I can get.

 

[J-Thompson]

Just bought a 05 Sport, and was wondering if a 2.5" lift will be enough to run 265/75/16's, or a 3" lift. I will be running offroad in the desert and rocky washes, so I need the all the height I can get.

no most of the 2.5" kits will not give enough lift for those tires
I think that Frankie's are the only lift that will clear those tires

Think about this
is 1/2" under you diff. worth the trouble that 265/75's will bring?
or can you live without that 1/2"
I know that I live with out a full inch on my TJ all the time and see little to no ill effects off road other than dragging my diff.s every now and then
you will be better served going with quality over quantity
I would go with OME suspension ,about $300 or so cheeper than a Frankie
then go with 245/75's about $200 or so cheeper for a set of 5
Take the $500 saved and get a locker for the rear
which is worth 100X more than 1/2" of ground clearance

 

[tjkj2002]

J-Thompson Quote:
Originally Posted by 2-old
Just bought a 05 Sport, and was wondering if a 2.5" lift will be enough to run 265/75/16's, or a 3" lift. I will be running offroad in the desert and rocky washes, so I need the all the height I can get.



no most of the 2.5" kits will not give enough lift for those tires
I think that Frankie's are the only lift that will clear those tires

Think about this
is 1/2" under you diff. worth the trouble that 265/75's will bring?
or can you live without that 1/2"
I know that I live with out a full inch on my TJ all the time and see little to no ill effects off road other than dragging my diff.s every now and then
you will be better served going with quality over quantity
I would go with OME suspension ,about $300 or so cheeper than a Frankie
then go with 245/75's about $200 or so cheeper for a set of 5
Take the $500 saved and get a locker for the rear
which is worth 100X more than 1/2" of ground clearance

Really depends on the type of wheeling that you are doing.Here in CO that extra 1/2" makes a world of difference over 245/75's,less strap time also.

If you stick with 16x7 rims with 4"-4.5" of back spacing 265/75's on a 2.5"-3" lift is very possible with trimming,of course the pinchweld needs to be pound down flat.You not getting away with not trimming and keeping body parts with any lift and 265/75's on a KJ.