Stupid Noob Tire Question

gumcrew2 · February 5, 2006

Before I get flamed, I know this is a stupid question that is probably asked every week but I AM a newb and I'm just doing this to help my dad out. I'm a Jeep guy and he got jealous of my Jeep and wants his Tahoe to look better, lol. ('94 Cherokee, 8", 35's, 4.56's, lockers, etc)

He has a '99 Tahoe 2door, completely stock. Currently it's got stock tires (265/75R16)

Which measure out to about 31.5".

My question is: What is the largest tire that fits without rubbing????

I know nothing of this series of truck/suv's so please explain things in detail.

YES, I used the search button, but nothing helped because I'm too stupid, lol.

People say things about "cranking" the torsion "keys" ???

He's one of those guys that wants something that can flex like a million dollar rock crawler and still ride like a Cadillac.

I looked around on it and did some guestimating and it looks like it could fit 33X12.50 without any rubbing.

As far as recalibrating the speedo, he's got a tuner so it's not a problem.

Any and all help is appreciated, thank you.

97chevy350 · February 5, 2006

Cranking the torsion bars is done by turning hte bolts or "keys" at the ends of hte bars where they go into the cross member. The general safe distance to crank them is 2 ", be sure to get it aligned after. With cranking there is sometimes a possibilty of some extra suspension wear, but BE SURE to get it lined up after.

No more than two inches, put it on jackstands to do it, and get it lined up. Not sure about the tires though.

pm26 · February 5, 2006

There are two things o consider when mounting oversize tires on the existing rims:

1. Is the rim wide enough to safely mount the new wider tire on? You can get that answer from any tire store. they have tables that show minimum and maximum reuqired rim widths for any size tire. For example, to mounta 31 X 10.5 R15 tire, a rim with 7 inches minimum width is required. The maximum rim width for that tire is 9 inches. Thus a 7 inch wide, 15 inch rim will acomodate tires anywhere from P215 to P265 (or 31X10.5). A 9 inch side, 15 inch rim will accept much wider tires.

2. Is there going to be tire to inner fender interference when turning or suspension bottoming out. Sometimes vehicles have adjustable wheel stops that limit the amount a front wheel will turn. I had these on a 95 Nissan V6 4X4 pickup with 31 X 10.5 R15 tires. I would think you could go to 285R16 tire without any problems. Any wider than that, you may need to lift the vehicle, and adjust the maximum turn on the front wheels.

Keep in mind also that mounting oversize tires on a vehicle will place more stress on the axles and bearings, and it will effectively raise the gearing ratio. Sometimes lower gears are needed to compensate. Also, your speedometer will be off unless you use the correct sending unit to compensate.

gumcrew2 · February 6, 2006

Well you both make very good points. Probably only going to go to a 285 so I'm not TOO concerend. I'll see how it is without the torsion bars turned. And for the speedo being off, it's got a hypertech power programer that can change it back. And as far as gearing, I doubt it'll be a large lose of power considering I went up 3" in tire size on my Cherokee without big problems. We do have plans for an intake and exaust which should help balance it back out a bit.