35" tires. '91 4" Explorer

[John Dency]

Has anyone run 35 12.50's with a four inch lift only? For a few weeks, I ran my 33 12.50's with my 1.5" front lift, and the only rubbing was on the sway bar, and a little on the radius arm. But that was only at full steer. It never rubbed offroad. My stock wheels are 7.5" and when aired down a little, I never had trouble with tread wear, especially in the center of the tread. no problem. If I had an aftermarket rim, with different backspacing, offset, or size, it would rub a lot more. I tried an 8" rim, an American racing ar767 rim, and my 33 would touch the fender while parked in the garage. And it looked bad sticking out as far as it did. I've never heard from anyone, that has put a 35, 1250 on a stock explorer rim. Does anyone have any info or suggestions.
thanks, John

 

[Paul Sabin]

I think most guys won't put anything wider that 10.5 on a 7" rim. I would recommend going to at least 8.5" rim with sufficient backspace to keep the tire from rubbing. This will most likely require extend-a-fenders to cover the meat that will obviously protrude from tthe wheelwell. I've got 31x10.50s on 15x8 rims with 4" backspacing and I've installed Bushwacker "Extend-a-Fenders"...looks great! Good luck.