Whats the best off road setup for rims?

[KYJ10]

Ive seen people run 37/13/15's on 15-7 and 15-8 and 15-10. And run 38/12.50's on the same setups. What is the best setup for wheelin? I was thinking about running 10" rims, but keep seeing guys with fat boggers squeezing them onto smaller rims. Just wondering. Dennis

[River Beast]

The reason for narrow rims is to keep the tire pinched on the rim when wheeling with very low tire PSI... when the tire is 'stretched' onto a wider rim, you have a greater tendancy to 'bust a bead' during low PSI operation.

On the flip side.... the wheeling you do also dictates the size rim.... a 12.50 tire on a 7-8" rim will not have as big a footprint it would being mounted on a 10" rim due to the 'rounding' of the tread when you pinch tires on a narrow rim... this could be a visual thing that I have noticed, but there is difference from what I can see. If you wheel in sand, you want a wide footprint to float on top and not sink.

I run 38x15.50 on 15x12's and will be running 36x14.150's on 16x10's in the near future.

I put 33x12.50's on 15x8's on my wife's 80 W/T and love it... so does she....you get lots of sidewall play when you air down and the narrower rims assists in the sidewall flex because the tires have more room and not 'stretched'.

[ January 22, 2003, 07:06 AM: Message edited by: River Beast ]

[KYJ10]

Moslty what we have around here is mud, hills, and some small rock climbing. I do alot of rutted out, uneven and angled trails and muddy hill climbing. Creek crossings and things like that. I will prolly never do any big time rock crawling. So basically, it's mud and hills!

[KYJ10]

Would the smaller rim make the sidewall more suseptable(sp) to punctures? Seems that it would roll it out more. I also do alot of riding through hardwood forest. Kinda making my own trails. Which requires me to run over tons of branches and such. Dennis

[KYJ10]

BTW, this is the setup I was thinking about running. 38/12.50/15 TSL's on 15-8 rims. Was told that is fine, it's the 14.50's on 8" rims that really change things. But want you guys opinions. Dennis

[Stuka]

a 12.50 wide tire is fine on a 8" rims. Its what I would run. Guy at work ran 35x14.50 TSL's on 15x10's and the tire was really pinched, the guys at the tires shop had one heck of a time trying to get it on. But he could drive on the hiway at 5psi and the tire was still pretty rigid (not that I advise doing that by anny means) But they is also depends on how tall the tire is. The talle the tire is, the less it will be pinched, as there is more sidewall. But ya...I say go with 15x8's with a 12.50 wide tire.

[Maynard]

i have been running 12.50 on an 8" rim as well, i like it better then the 10" rim. it protects the lip on the rim better as well.

[KYJ10]

Do the samller rims bulge the tire out further on the sides? Im currently about 1" from my leafs in the rear. Would the smaller rim bring the tire closer to the leafs? Dennis

[Maynard]

yes the skinnier rim will make the sides bulge more, i think if you use the same backspacing, with a skinnyer rim, then it would bring it closer.

[scotty]

i run 38x15 on 10" wide rims,wich is less than most people like to run,but it works well for me. tires stay on well at 5 psi and dont look flat till theres less than a pound of air in em :eek:

to some they may look pinced,but they look fine to me.

i used to run a 31x10.5 on a 6" rim :eek: and i never had a prollem with them either.

[dnixon]

Originally posted by KYJ10:
Do the samller rims bulge the tire out further on the sides? Im currently about 1" from my leafs in the rear. Would the smaller rim bring the tire closer to the leafs? DennisI don't think it will bring it closer.. the thing is that the back spacing is measure from the inside edge of the rim to the center contact point.. So if your rim decrease's in width but you keep the same back spacing then the distance is uneffected..

The issue of the sidewall buldging out is a different story. I assume if it buldges out on the out side of the wheel it will in the inside so that will probably decrease the space between your leafs and your tires. thats something that can't really be predicted I assume...

Some also say the more buldge the better protection the wheel has from objects.. so if you have nicer rims that could be a thing to consider... good luck!

[River Beast]

It will bring the tire closer to the leaf... the back spacing will be the same, therefore the outer lip is moved inward thus moving the tire under the wheelwell even more... I ran into this problem with my 39.5x15 on 10's they rubbed the leafs... I went to 12's and they cleared.

[ChrisB]

I have some 15x8 Rockcralwers on my Nissan with 3.75" of BS. Would these be good for running 35x12.50 tires after I do a lift?

[River Beast]

yeah ChrisB.... just check clearance issues prior

[Stuka]

I am failing to see how a skinnier rim which pinches the tire more makes the tire wider...that goes against physics...

Now if you take a wider rim witht he samme back spacing it will move the tire away fromt he leafs, but only because the tire is being move further outside, because the rim is wider, thereby moving the whole tire over. A skinnier rim narrows the tire as a whole, but makes it a bit taller as it bumps up in the center from being pinched.

[River Beast]

Originally posted by Stuka:
Now if you take a wider rim witht he samme back spacing it will move the tire away fromt he leafs, but only because the tire is being move further outside, because the rim is wider, thereby moving the whole tire over. A skinnier rim narrows the tire as a whole, but makes it a bit taller as it bumps up in the center from being pinched.What don't you understand? you nailed it in the above quote Brandon...

and you're right the narrow rims pinch the tire and make it taller and thinner... so where is the dilema?

[dnixon]

Hey todd.. now when you said you had clearnce issues with the 10" rim was that from buldging?

[Stuka]

todd: above they where saying a skinnier rim bludges the tire out the sides causing clearance...thats what i couldent see...which is why i stated what I thought (know) to be correct.

[River Beast]

since the offset (BS) of the rim does not change between the 10" and 12" deep rim, the outer lip was moved, recentering the tire on the rim in a different location from the 10 and the 12. Yes the 10 bulged a bit more than the 12...this with the the tire being centered on the rim a bit more inward than the 12 caused the interference

[Blackjack]

I put 33x12.50's on 15x8's on my wife's 80 W/T and love it... so does she....you get lots of sidewall play when you air down and the narrower rims assists in the sidewall flex because the tires have more room and not 'stretched'.
RB how's the handling on the street with the 8" rims? I'd like to go to 33's but don't think I can afford new rims (10")too. Most of the driving is on the street.

[River Beast]

Originally posted by GFD:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />I put 33x12.50's on 15x8's on my wife's 80 W/T and love it... so does she....you get lots of sidewall play when you air down and the narrower rims assists in the sidewall flex because the tires have more room and not 'stretched'.
RB how's the handling on the street with the 8" rims? I'd like to go to 33's but don't think I can afford new rims (10")too. Most of the driving is on the street.</font>[/QUOTE]Handling is GREAT!!! no issues at all...

[Blackjack]

Cool, thanks ;)