last minute TIRE ADVICE (for AR chambers)

[ZEUS]

You can only trim so much plastic on the rear...then its time for the BFH
If you remove the cladding you can easily see the metal behind the cladding, Knock it back a bit then reattach the cladding, trim as needed and *presto*!

I just removed my wheel well liner the night before last to get a better look at what needs to be removed, or folded over. It was so very easy to remove the liner. The cladding doesn't need to be removed at all - but I am not sure if that is what you meant or not, Billy...?

I am sure you could fit that rim and tire combo, cyronman. I have 275/65-18's (32"x11") waiting to be fitted to my VX. My rims are 18x8.5 with 0 offset, for your info. I am going to make them clear with the 2.5" lift I have so I don't have to lift it anymore than that. I will take pics of what I am doing tonight or tomorrow.

[cyronman]

I just removed my wheel well liner the night before last to get a better look at what needs to be removed, or folded over. It was so very easy to remove the liner. The cladding doesn't need to be removed at all - but I am not sure if that is what you meant or not, Billy...?

I am sure you could fit that rim and tire combo, cyronman. I have 265/75-18's (32"x11") waiting to be fitted to my VX. My rims are 18x8.5 with 0 offset, for your info. I am going to make them clear with the 2.5" lift I have so I don't have to lift it anymore than that. I will take pics of what I am doing tonight or tomorrow.

Zeus,
I'd appreciate it.
I'm going to go crawl under it right now and get a look at it myself. I've been glued to tirerack and google since I got home.

man, the tread barely rubbed that back corner, although it wasn't a brand new tire, so factory tread would be even a smidge higher. But what the techs were talling me is that even with getting it to clear, it still has the probability of hitting that corner with the tire moving up & down (driving on uneven surfaces).
It's not that much different from stock though...

There's that word again....................."lift"

[ZEUS]

Don't think lift yet! You could crank on the tosion bars a bit to remove the rake a little which gives a little more aggressive offroad stance, IMO. If you want those tires, I say go for it. I looked at my VX again before coming back to work tonight (60 to 65 hour work week). It looks to me like you could gain 2.5" clearance by trimming and hammering - you wouldn't need near that much room for those 30" tires! I took a couple pics already but will have to post them later...

[Triathlete]

I will be doing a LOT of trimming to the front of my cladding when I do my SAS since I want to move the front axle forward to fit 35's with as little lift as possible to keep a low center of gravity. Might have to do a little BFH work to the rear of the front cladding also...so it will be good to see your pics Zeus.

[ZEUS]

I added some pics to my gallery that might give you some ideas. Check it out if you want - more to come as I progress. Cy, keep in mind, my cladding has been trimmed for over a year. I trimmed the liner as well, but the pics show it removed. This trim job is all I needed to fit 31.6" tires on 8.5" rims w/0 offset and a torsion crank up to 1". Like I said though, you should be golden with 30's and a 0 offset - I cranked my t-bars, but you should not have to if you remove enough plastic and a bit of metal... I seriously doubt you would need to do any hammering. FYI, I used a sawzall with a long blade (small teeth) and made one single straight cut per side.

[cyronman]

I added some pics to my gallery that might give you some ideas. Check it out if you want - more to come as I progress.

Like I said though, you should be golden with 30's and a 0 offset - I cranked my t-bars, but you should not have to if you remove enough plastic and a bit of metal

Thanks for the pics. I got a good idea yesterday when I crawled underneath to look at what needs to disappear.
I don't think I'll need to crank either.

I know I'm being really stubborn about sticking with this size but I just know it should work. I'm DETERMINED!
It just seems like options are really limited for thinner tires, although it seems the "right" thing to do.
I see a lot of 245/70's but most are P and not LT.
How can an SUV tire be P rated, are they for much lighter/smaller SUV's?

Clock is ticking...I'd like to have these on in time for my road trip next Friday.

[Ldub]

Get the load rating from the sidewall, if it's anything over 1000 lbs. you should be OK.

I've always been prone to error on the side of strength/safety at the cost of extra weight & $.