35's with 5.5

[CAsplorin]

Hey guys,
I know that most of you run 33's with the 5.5 in lift and a body lift for 35's. I also saw some with a 4 in lift running 33's. I would like to know if I put 35's with my 5.5 if I would be rubbing too much while wheelin since I frequent Hollister Hills and some of their top trails.
thanks.
Tim Cotta
94 xlt with 5.5

 

[mattadams]

I am running 33"s and I am STILL rubbing at about every turn/compress, I need to get a portion of my fender removed to stop them from grinding. WIth a body lift you probably would be able to squeeze in 35"s, but you would also put yourself at a dangerous height, which would be extremely tippy and put you at an increased risk of rollover. I know there have been times with my 33"s and 5.5" lift that I have gotten tippy enought hat I think with a few more inches, I could've gone over.

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Matt Adams
94 Explorer 4-door nick-named "Tippy"
http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/explorer/explorer.html

 

[rockylaurence]

I'm running 35's with the 5.5 & 2" body lift. I had to trim about 2-3" at the rear of the front fender wells and change from a 10" rim to an 8" rim (the 2 inches made a BIG difference on clearance). I imagine that without the B/L you would have to do some serious hacking at the wells. I'm looking into going with 38x11's with a little more trimming in the future. The Bushwacker flares will/do hide the area that is trimmed. Go with the 35's and them make them fit-you wont regret it.

 

[RangerX]

rockylaurence,
Are you running stock axles, and how hard do you wheel offroad? I've been wanting to step up to 35s, but I worry about the increased strain snapping axles. I run 33s offroad, and 37s on road.

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Bill Collins
93 Ranger XLT 4X4
Modified

 

[rockylaurence]

Bill; I'm running the stock axles with 4:56's, EZ Locker and Warn manual hubs up front. I run it pretty hard off road (no rock crawling in Florida) mostly mud and hills. One thing's for certain, I need a fluid cooler for the power steering with the locker--it gets HOT!\
P.S. what 37"s are you running?

 

[RangerX]

Rocky,
The 37s are Denman Coyotes. Look in an ad for National Tire + Wheel. They're listed as 315/85R15. I also cut 2-3" at the front wheelwell.
So have you had any breakage that you can attribute to running 35s?

CAsplorin,
Sorry we've strayed from your Q a little. I say whatever size tire rubs, cut away to make it fit! I was reluctant to do it at first. Now I'm convinced that the way to go is less lift and more trimming. If you lift an uncut body high enough to clear large tires, it looks kind of '80s and is too unstable. Not to mention the higher you lift, the worse your visibility around you.

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Bill Collins
93 Ranger XLT 4X4
Modified

 

[rockylaurence]

Bill; I ran 33x9.5 BFG's for 4 yrs with the stock & 4:56 gears with no problems. Once I lifted and went to the 35's my stock Auto hubs (#&*%! $285.00 ea) blew out at the bottom of a sand pit! I could'nt get out and over heated my tranny in the process (no damage-just lose of fluid). So, the boys and I (9 & 10) let the tranny cool while I aired dwn the tires. We made it out (thank God!). I then replaced the hubs. That is the only problem I,ve had related to bigger tires, other than fine-tooning the fender wells. I also had to make my own drop brackets for the "SkyJacker" radious arms to get the Caster with-in spec. I handles pretty well now with the "SUPERRUNNER" steering (except for the LEAN in turns).