What do you think?

[vzehler]

So, I'm trying to put together a wheel and tire package for the Comanche. So I have two questions

 

1. If you were starting from scratch, what would be the best wheel and tire combination for a Comanche with 4.5" of lift? (take backspacing into consideration)

 

2. If you had a set of stock Moab's from a rubicon laying around could you get away with running a 285/75/16 (33.1x11.3) without running into issues with backspacing?

 

I just want to avoid going the wrong route and making the purchase twice.

[MiNi Beast]

add some spacers and call it a day.

[Pete M]

1. If you were starting from scratch, what would be the best wheel and tire combination for a Comanche with 4.5" of lift? (take backspacing into consideration)

 

What am I doing with said MJ? That would greatly affect my decision.

[BLHTAZ]

The 285's on stock wheels would probably be a little tight on the inside. You would need a little less BS to run those. I would run a 32x11.50 on a wheel with about 3.75" BS personally...but, like Pete said, the purpose has a lot to do with this decision too.

[vzehler]

well... mostly daily driving... alot of mall crawling and the occasional wheeling trip.. I don't really want to re-gear and that's what makes the difference to me.

[mvusse]

You could do what I'm planning to do when my current tires are worn down too much to be usable enough off road: get a spare set of rims, use one for road tires, and the other specifically for play tires. That way you won't wear down your play tires driving on asphalt all the time and you could run your road tires way past the point where they would be useless off road any more..

[vzehler]

well that would cause to to have to buy 2 sets of tires... I think it would look kinda stupid to drive around with stock tires on 4.5" of lift...

[mjdoa]

I dunno,I do it.Much cheaper to drive to work than my Chev diesel,

Takes 30 minutes to change after wheeling,I spend 2 hours

pressure cleaning it anyway,good chance to get the brakes cleaned

of mud and nasties.

I just kept the stock tires and rims when I bought my offroaders.

Didn't cost anything.

Does it look silly with 4.5" lift on street tires?Probably.Do I care?Nope.

I bought it to wheel,not to show off.Don't worry too much what

other people think your ride looks like.

If you're like the rest of us,it'll look like poo anyway after you

wheel it a bit.Sheet metal is way overrated.

[mvusse]

Sheet metal is way overrated.

 

That's what rock sliders are for. Of course, like everybody else, I messed up my rockers *before* realizing that.

[bigd44889]

rock sliders only protect the rockers not fenders ,doors ,rear quarters ,grill,lights ,i'm not scared of rocks but trees are a @#$%^&&

[mvusse]

Exo-cage?

[Eagle]

Backspacing is even more of a problem in the back than it is in the front. In the front, you can use WJ lower control arms, and shim the steering stops. In the rear ...

 

... in the rear, on stock 15x7 rims a 31x10.50 will rub the inner sidewall against the inside surface of the fender/box if there's any off-camber articulation in the axle at all -- plus the sidewalls run perilously close to the spring packs, which can have some comparatively sharp corners that don't play nicely with sidewalls. I would say a 10.50 is the absolute widest tire you can put on the rear with rims that use the factory 5-1/4" backspacing.

 

BTW -- this seems sort of like a tech-ish question, so I think I'll move it over to "Tech."

[mvusse]

Even with 235/75R15, I rubbed the inside of the fender well while on an RTI ramp under full flex. If it can happen on a ramp, it can happen off road. I doubt you'll see that much articulation on the road, though.