Biggest tire

[Erics88]

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! Hope that it's a better one than the last for everyone. Okay. My wonderful wife got me a set of 17x10.5 bullitts for the back of my 88. So, my question is, what is the biggest tire that I can go without any problems or mods? I measured, and looks like a 315/35 17 will work, but, I know that tire widths differ. Any one running 315 on a 83-92 ranger? I'm also thinking of maybe running 285/40 17 Nitto 555 instead of the 315's.

[v8ranger]

Happy New Year To you and all also.... Ok, I want your wife. She bought you rims for your truck??? Thats awsome.... lol.. I guess you can run any size tire you want. It also depends on the dish of the rims. Usualy you can get all the tire specs on line somewhere. It will tell you how tall, wide the tire is. That way you will know what your dealing with before you buy them. You will have to watch your fenders, and make sure they dont hit when you have weight in the back.

[MalcolmV8]

315s are perfect for the 10.5 rim. That's what I run on my Cobra. On my 92 Ranger I ran 9" wide rims and there was plenty of space to spare. Of course back spacing and such will affect clearances too.

[Teddyzee]

If your truck is lowered, you may have issues.
My truck is lowered 8", and I have similar sized wheels. They are 18X10. With a 295/35/18 tire, I needed to roll the fender lips to avoid rubbing.

Again, different body style, so you may want to try the bare rim on there first to check.

A 315 will fit those rims nicely. Clearance to the spring is not an issue for me, but your axle ends are .75" narrower than mine.

(BTW, bed was off to clean and paint frame...)

[Erics88]

I wish that I had that much clearance between the spring and the wheel. Like you stated, 3/4" narrower axle and my 1/2" wider wheel, I'm about 9/16" from the bare wheel lip to the spring. I was going to buy the 315's but I was concerned about the bulge of the tire. I've already looked online for the tire specs, but didn't find any tire specs on a 10.5" wheel. Also, my truck is lowered about 2.5" to 3", but I don't think the the wheel well lip will be a problem. If so, I'll roll it.

[Teddyzee]

You could always fine-tune the spring gap with a spacer, if there's room to the body.

If so, I'm not sure if you've ever seen ET lugs. That's what I use on the front of my truck, running a 5/16" spacer.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lug-Nuts ... ccessories
(don't need the washers, obviously...)

There's a guy on RPS running 315's or 335's on a 1st/2nd gen Ranger. It's a white truck with a v8. Username is 347 something (a turbo build...) I think, I'll look it up for you when I get a chance.
EDIT: see below, "chico", and supercharged... right idea....

Check the corral, you'll be able to see how much differnet brands bulge on that wheel.

[Teddyzee]

Here we go, wheel stuff begins at post 6:

http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/ ... p?t=236084

(as of this writing, RPS has been moving slowly... have faith [and patience...] it will work!)

[Erics88]

Thanks. I jetted over there and looked at the posts. Looks like the cobra R wheel has less backspacing than my bullitt. Also, with the wheel spacer that he installed made the wheel/tire stick out to far for my taste. I think I'll run 285/40 17 nitto 555 for now, then maybe later I'll four-link the rear, if I want to run a larger tire. 16.5 wide tires would look good under the truck. Then, I'd need to built a motor to turn them better!!!

[Warpig Racing]

You could always move your springs inside the frame and get an offset wheel. Its really not that difficult if you have a welder and the bed off. I just welded some 3/16 plates to the inside of the frame and transfered the holes to these plates. I then reveresed the sides that the brackets were on (left on the right and right on the left) and made some new shock mounts. To mount the shocks to the spring, I just made some plates than sandwiched the spring then welded a piece of square tubing across the frame for the upper mount. I also had to mount the sping mounts to the axle where i needed them.

All of those modifications were cheap. It was the axle and tires that wernt so cheap. Basically to flip the springs to the inside cost about $30 in metal and about a day of labor between me and my brother.

I have a 9" that was narrowed to 40". But with the correct offset wheel you could probably do it w/ a stock axle.

xle.

[v8ranger]

You could always move your springs inside the frame and get an offset wheel. Its really not that difficult if you have a welder and the bed off. I just welded some 3/16 plates to the inside of the frame and transfered the holes to these plates. I then reveresed the sides that the brackets were on (left on the right and right on the left) and made some new shock mounts. To mount the shocks to the spring, I just made some plates than sandwiched the spring then welded a piece of square tubing across the frame for the upper mount. I also had to mount the sping mounts to the axle where i needed them.

All of those modifications were cheap. It was the axle and tires that wernt so cheap. Basically to flip the springs to the inside cost about $30 in metal and about a day of labor between me and my brother.

I have a 9" that was narrowed to 40". But with the correct offset wheel you could probably do it w/ a stock axle.

Very cool and well documented Nice job....

[Erics88]

Looks good. But, I can't run the leafs on the inside. I relocated my gas tank to the rear of the truck, and it sets in the stock rear tank location. Did some looking at RPS, and think with rolling the lip and 285/40 17, I'll be fine. Thanks guys.

[2lo-rngr]

You should be able to get 315's to work with a rolled lip. I have the same wheels as you on my mustang. I test fit them on the ranger with 275/40 m/t's, and they fit well, though it was close to the fender lip. I have DD 03 replica's for one of my other mustangs with the same offset and backspacing that have 315/35 hoosiers, I can test fit one of those if you'd like... though you seem kinda set on the 285 thing. Good luck!

[Erics88]

Finally. I get to see the wheel on a Gen 1 ranger. That is a 17x10.5 with 315/35 in the picture? Looks good. I wanted to use 315's, but didn't want to buy the tires, then they stick out to far or rub the leafs. Thanks so much. How much did you roll the lip to clear the 315's?

[2lo-rngr]

No, those in the pic are 275/40's M/T drag radials, which fit really nice. Are you set on a tire brand? I seen you mention nitto 555's, which I have in 275/40's on those same bullitts now, and they run SMALL. Let me see if I can find a pic of them on the stang... If not, I can go out to my storage and get one. Well, this is the best pic I have now, and it doesn't show what i'm talking about so well... maybe the 285's fix the prob, but I would go with no lower than that... the nittos look ridiculous... I'll try to get a better pic of what i'm talking about in the next few days.

[2lo-rngr]

crap it cut the picture! you can barely see the rear tires. Oh well... I'll try to get a better one if youd like...