ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Model Specific Suzuki Forum => Suzuki Grand Vitara, Vitara, Chevy Tracker (Gen. 2 Platform) 1999-2005 => Topic started by: Heavyd on February 16, 2012, 01:33:59 PM
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I've been lurking here for a while trying to soak up as much info as possible. I recently purchased a '99 Chevy Tracker 2 door automatic 4X4 as a daily driver for my 230+ mile round trip commute. I love the truck so far, but I feel the handling could be improved with some wider tires. I don't really want to lift the truck & go with taller tires, just widen the stance a little bit. There's an ad on Craigslist for some 15X10 inch rims off a Sidekick with 255/60/15 tires on them. It seems they would be almost the exact height, just quite a bit wider than my 205/75/15's currently on the trucklette. Any idea if these would fit my Tracker? I guess it all comes down to the backspacing as far as clearance goes. Any info would be a great help. Thanks.
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I think it would be a good idea to get a back space measurement on the rims and knowing the year of the Sidekick would be interesting as well. I ran some aluminum rims from a '95 Sidekick on my '02 Tracker and they rolled great, no clearance problems, and I drove on them for several thousand miles... until I changed my front pads and my calipers were then fully extended. Then I had clearance problems. I could have removed the metal from the rim where it made contact on my calipers (it was very slight) but I opted to go back to steelies and I haven't regretted the decision.
I'd want to know more about the rims before I purchased them, if I were you. You could just opt to mount a 215 or 225/70/15 series tire on your truck for a little more tread 'width'. A 215/70/15 tire should have the same height as your 205/75/15 and a 225 would be less than a half inch taller. Those would both fit for sure and wouldn't require a suspension or body lift. I ran some 215/70/15s on my 2001 with aluminum rims and had no clearance problems.
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I got questions about tires and rims as well.
I bought a 99 2dr 2.0 used, and it looks like aftermarket alloys on it. There's a stamp on the rim, JW maybe? It's kinda hard to measure with the tire on, but they look to be 7" from outer rim to outer rim, so at least a true 6.5". It's also hard to measure backspace, but measuring from the outside in I seem to get a distance from the inside flange to the outside of caliper of 4 1/8, so the offset is roughly 1 1/8". They clear the disks with an inch to spare, and the inner rim gets a bit closer to the inside shield.
So anyone running a 15x6.5 with a 1.125" offset on a tracker? I'd like to go to some 30" tires with a suspension lift.
I'd especially like to know if I could get up to that tire size after a lift without spacers or new rims. The wider stance has advantages, but it also means a bigger turning circle and more stress on those parts, particularly with a larger tire.