biggest tire size?

[Riff Raff]

whats the biggest if you were to get the lift kit for it?

Typically, the largest O.D. tire size put on "lifted" VX's is the 35" O.D. The easiest fitting 35" O.D. tire for the VX with the least amount of installation headaches is the 285/75R18. Incidentally; the 285/75R18 tire will still fit on the 2000/2001 OEM 18x7 rim, and by doing so will reduce installation fitment issues to the bare minimum.

There are only four(4) tires manufactured in the 285/75R18 (35" O.D.) tire:

(1). Toyo - Open Country A/T (only A/T made in this size).
(2). Toyo - Open Country M/T (traditional non-studdable M/T tire).
(3). Maxxis - M/T "Big Horn" (only studdable M/T tire in this size).
(4). G/Y - Wrangler M/T-R with Kevlar (only asymmetrical tire in this size).

[vt_maverick]

A word of caution on these "fit like a glove" statements - 32" tires with zero lift will fill up the visible wheel opening on a flat road, but you need to consider the effects that full articulation may have if you plan to do any offroading. That is some nice dark cladding you have there H3, would be a shame to crunch it the first time you go crawling.

Others can offer much more direct knowledge and experience, just throwing it out there as food for thought.

[tom4bren]

Others can offer much more direct knowledge and experience...

That's all the opening I needed:

VX was made for offset!!!

[H3_VX]

A word of caution on these "fit like a glove" statements - 32" tires with zero lift will fill up the visible wheel opening on a flat road, but you need to consider the effects that full articulation may have if you plan to do any offroading. That is some nice dark cladding you have there H3, would be a shame to crunch it the first time you go crawling.

Others can offer much more direct knowledge and experience, just throwing it out there as food for thought.

What is the stock diameter? Is it 30x10.5.

[Triathlete]

It takes a bit more than just a lift to fit 35's

[vt_maverick]

What is the stock diameter? Is it 30x10.5.

Stock '01 tires were 245/60/18, which is roughly 29.57 x 9.65. As Riff already mentioned the stock rims are 7" wide.

[Riff Raff]

Stock '01 tires were 245/60/18, which is roughly 29.57 x 9.65. As Riff already mentioned the stock rims are 7" wide.

VT--- your numeric "stat's" are dead-on target IAW the Discount Tire website Info Center & Tire Calculator:

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos

Other fun tire websites are www.1010Tires.com (my personal favorite for comparing 5 different sizes side-by-side); www.TireRack.com (great for individual tire weight in lbs); www.Tires-Easy.com (unbelievable selection at killer prices); www.OnLineTires.com (good selection with decent prices); www.Treadepot.com (oftentimes the frickin' lowest prices found anywhere in the USA, but somewhat limited on brands); and www.DiscountTire.com (link above) tire calculator for estimating your new "speedometer error" at various MPH travel speeds.

[VX KAT]

and the tire /rim calculator I like best....it's got the best visual interface IMO:
http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp

[Marlin]

A word of caution on these "fit like a glove" statements - 32" tires with zero lift will fill up the visible wheel opening on a flat road, but you need to consider the effects that full articulation may have if you plan to do any offroading. That is some nice dark cladding you have there H3, would be a shame to crunch it the first time you go crawling.

Others can offer much more direct knowledge and experience, just throwing it out there as food for thought.

32s on OEM offset will not touch cladding. 34s at OEM offset will rub in the front and rear on full flex on the points of the wheel wells, but not crunch the cladding at the top. That is at OEM ride height. I don't know about the rear since I am lifted 3" or so.
To fit the 34s, I had to do some trimming and pounding, but it looks fine unless you look inside the wheel well from underneath. If they are looking under my skirt, there are worse things to see other than my pounded steel.

[PK]

If they are looking under my skirt, there are worse things to see other than my pound of steel.

There ya go - I fixed if for you, big boy.

PK

[Marlin]

There ya go - I fixed if for you, big boy.

PK

Damned spell check, it always "screws" up my point.

[H3_VX]

Stock '01 tires were 245/60/18, which is roughly 29.57 x 9.65. As Riff already mentioned the stock rims are 7" wide.

I think I may have just found a couple more options I might consider.

Falken WildPeak AT P265/60/18 (30.6x10.7)
Hankook Dynapro ATM 255/60/18 (30x10.2)
Hankook Dynapro ATM 265/60/18 (30.5x10.7)
Hankook Dynapro ATM 265/65/18 (31.5x10.7)

I don't think any of these should need trimming or torsion bar adjustment..........

Also, can anyone tell me what the biggest tire size that would fit in the spare swingate would be? Would any of the above sizes fit?

[drowd]

I don't think any of these should need trimming or torsion bar adjustment..........

So, I am in the exact same spot. I've been doing research for hours now, reading and re-reading this thread, checking out some of the setups in the rims-n-rubber thread.

Unfortunately, especially in the wheels / tires combination thread, it seems like there is some conflicting information about what diameter will required a shave on the cladding.

This might be a basic misunderstanding on my part, but I am primarily looking at the diameter as the bottleneck for what combination you can have. By plugging some numbers into the Tire Size Calculator, I found:

285/55-18 -- 30.3 inch diameter
275/65-18 -- 32.1 inch diameter
265/65-18 -- 31.6 inch diameter

By making a few notes from the other thread, it seems that around 32 inches in diameter is where you start to need to make adjustments to the cladding.

I believe someone earlier in this thread indicated that 275/65-18 should work, and I just wanted to double check. I am really hoping that the BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO 265/65-18 will be a good fit (I currently have 18 inch American Racing wheels from the prior owner).

Any additional insight is much appreciated!

[vt_maverick]

drowd - The real issue is the swing arc of the tire, in other words, the arc made by the outside of the tire as you turn the steering wheel back and forth. The arc is influenced by three major factors: section width (the 265), overall diameter, and wheel backspacing (how far the wheel sticks out from the hub). Different combinations of these dimensions will result in different arcs, which will in turn require different levels of cladding trimming.

As an example, I have 265/60/18 tires on my VX. That makes for about a 30.5" diameter, which on an OEM 18" wheel with -38mm backspacing won't touch the cladding. BUT I'm running an aftermarket 18" wheel with +2 backspacing, so they rub just as much as someone running 285/60/18s on their OEM wheels.

Generally speaking, if you stick with the OEM wheels you should be able to run the 265/65/18's without much (if any) trimming. But keep in mind that our VX's were assembled by hand, so there is some variation from rig to rig. In any case, the trimming required really isn't significant.

[Hiredgoon]

Don't forget the profile of the tire's edge if you're really close. A more rounded edge will be more forgiving than a very square one, and a lot of M/T tires have a very square edge. Going with a slightly less aggressive tire may make the difference between trimming or not.