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Alright, so this post is a little different. I don't have any lift on my jeep yet, but I hear people ask a lot "how much trimming to I need to fit x tire" or "what will fit wihout trimming anything".... so here it is.
Stock w/ 27" street tires (255/60r15)
Sad and pathetic
Stock w/ 235/75r15's
Still stock w/ 235/75r15s, but fenders trimmed to the lip
Still stock height, still trimmed to the lip - but on 31x10.5r15s
Coming soon.... 3.5" lift w/ trimmed fenders and 31's
1. 2" budget kit w/ original Up Country suspension including sagging rear springs, 245/75/16 DuraTracs (30.5"), 16x8 rims with 4.5" backspacing
(rubs a little trailing edge of front wheelwell)
2. Same budget lift w/stock rims (no rubbing)
NOTE: trying to decide on 3.5", 4" or 4.5" quality lift right now. PM with suggestions!
Owned it for ten years...sorry just been lurking.
Last edited by racerxrick; May 20, 2015 at 09:18 PM.
Im new to the jeep game. What exactly does the backspacing do? This is my 400$ XJ
Rough Country 4.5" li
32x11.5x15 Goodrich Wrangler MT's with Kevlar
Ultra Motor Sports 8" wheels with 3.75 backspacing
Installing Bushwaker Cut Out Flares any day now because Rough Country stated to me that I would not need any trimming with the 4.5" lift, and there should be no rubbing. Not the case. Minimal rubbing, and that's with no flex.
However she looks purty.
It basically means your wheel will be set further out from the inner fender so you can have a bigger tire on without it rubbing against the inner fender when you turn. For example I think the wheels on your Jeep have 5 inches of backspacing. You don't have much room to grow, so what we do is put wheels on that have 3.75 inches of backspacing (for example) so we can get bigger (wider) wheels without them rubbing every time we go full lock (sharp turn).
Hopefully that makes it clear. If you have any other questions just let us know. Nice rig for the price, too!
It basically means your wheel will be set further out from the inner fender so you can have a bigger tire on without it rubbing against the inner fender when you turn. For example I think the wheels on your Jeep have 5 inches of backspacing. You don't have much room to grow, so what we do is put wheels on that have 3.75 inches of backspacing (for example) so we can get bigger (wider) wheels without them rubbing every time we go full lock (sharp turn).
Hopefully that makes it clear. If you have any other questions just let us know. Nice rig for the price, too!
You're very close, but I'd like to make a couple of corrections that may make it easier to understand the "why" of backspacing.
The purpose of backspacing is to run wider tires more-so than wider wheels. Most stock wheels are 5" backspacing. The backspacing refers to how far back the center of the wheel is offset from the wheel mounting surface. A backspacing of 5 means that the wheel mounting surface is 5" OUT from the center of the wheel/rim. Therefor, you want a wheel/rim with LESS backspacing to clear your control arms and swaybar when you turn. 3.5" to 4" is preferred, 4.25"-4.5" is helpful, but the most you'll be able to squeak by with would be a 30x9.5 or 31x10.5 - which would probably be pushing it.
It's confusing understanding backspacing at first because people think they need to go for numerically higher backspacing - to push the wheels further out from the body, when in fact you want a numerically LOWER backspacing to push the WMS further IN to the center of the wheel.
