ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: INGERSOL on March 11, 2005, 06:33:24 AM
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So I have a 2003 Chevy Tracker with the stock 15"x5.5" steel wheels. I (like everyone else) want better traction on road and off, and want to fit bigger, better tires.
If I can avoid a lift kit for now, I'd like to (just too much $$ for this month). So I figured I'll try to put tires as big as possible on. I've posted and read many many threads about how big a tire can be fit onto a stock 2003 tracker/GV, and its been very informative. I understand that when I go too big without a lift I'll either rub body work or frame or both. But my question today is a little different.
If you look at the tire sizes below, you will see the tire that I have and the tire I want to run.
205/75R15 (Rim Width Range: 5 - 7.5 in)
225/75R15 (Rim Width Range: 6 - 8 in)
All the manufacturers recommend a rim between 6-8 inches in width to run a 225/75-15....but my stock steelies are only 5.5" wide.
So what will happen? Will it explode? WIll it pop the bead? I understand it isn;t manufacturer recommended, but neither is a lot of shit we do to our trucks. Can I safely mount the larger tire size on the stock rim? Most importantly has anyone personally tried this and succeeded or failed.
Let me know.
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Anything can be coerced to explode under the right conditions.
And pigs CAN fly - it's just a question of adequate thrust, and guidance.
And yes, you can fit those tires on your stock rims.
But answer me this.
You have 15 inch rims on your 2003 Tracker?
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Hey just thought you would like to know I'm running 235/75/15 wildcat all season's on my sammy with the stock rims 15x5.5 inches wide, and I run about 25 psi on trails and 35 on the street when I bother to air up, so far hasn't pulled the bead yet, but I'm afraid to lower the psi below 25 the sidewall bulge makes me nervous.
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I ran a 30x9.50 on my stock 15x5.5 rim. No problems at all, cept a touch of frame rub.
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IF it will make you feel better, I have the same rims as you, had the same Unyroyal Tigerslicks as you, and I decided to go to 215-75-15 Cooper Discoverer AT's. They fit just fine, and your tire is just one size up from mine. IT also helped correct the speedo, it's just slightly off from the factory. If you look at the Fzctory ZR-2 package they came with 215's. They fill up the wheel well a little better.
Although I think that 225's will look even better. But for me and what I do, 215's are just fine. and the Coopers made a HUGE diffrence in the snow, in fact, for times that I NEEDED 4WD in the snow, like getting out of my hilly driveway, I can do it now in 2WD.
HTH, Dave ;D
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You have 15 inch rims on your 2003 Tracker?
Yes we do ;D Chevy must have put smaller brakes or something on these trucks becasue the stock rims are 15x5.5 or 15x6 if you upgrade to the LT or ZR2 package.
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Yes we do  ;D  Chevy must have put smaller brakes or something on these trucks becasue the stock rims are 15x5.5 or 15x6 if you upgrade to the LT or ZR2 package.
Dang, I wish I had 15 inch rims on my wife's GV - there isn't much variety in 16 inch tires, and they're all pricey!
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I ran a 30x9.50 on my stock 15x5.5 rim. No problems at all, cept a touch of frame rub.
Are you talking about running these with no lift on your 91 tracker or do you have a one with the newer (99+) body style?
I have an 02 4dr V6 and I'm hoping to get my dad's 30x9.5 when he lifts his jeep and puts on 33s, and I'm wondering what I will have to do to fit them nicely.
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I thought I had hear somewhere that having a smaller rim (width) with bigger tires actually helped to keep the bead on better when aired down? But the smaller rims cause your footprint and tire bulge/roll to be worse on the street. Is this not correct?
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My tracker has 15" rims. It bugged me that the GV (which I could have bought) may have signifigantly better brakes (obviously a bigger disc), but I gots what I gots and there aint no changin now.
I noticed the ChevyTracker ZR2 has 15x6" wheels. The tires are 215's but the aspect ratio is a 70 rather than a 75. This means the 215/70-15 is almost exactly the same height as the 205/75-15.
I like the idea of a lift. I don't do that much off roading, but it would certainly come in handy when I do. I just don't want to lift the truck to fit the tires and find out my on-road handling just went in the fucking toilet. I drive my wife and son around in this vehicle. So I'm trying to find a middle ground. I figured a taller tire, with better traction than the piece of shit uniroyal tigerslick (very funny trackinstile) with a stiffer sidewall (like those pirelli scorpions I hear about) might be a good combination of traction, ever so slight lift, off road-ability, and on road stability.
Or just say fuck it, pay calmini or rocky road the big bucks, get a set of US wheel 15x7" steel wheels and go for a 30 tire. I just think there's something to be said for a low centre of gravity in a multipurpose vehicle.
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Oh yeah. And I saw this picture of a Lamborghini LM002...
(http://207.36.225.110/archive/highres/lm002-a5.jpg)
...and I thought here's a hummeresque vehicle with huge tires, adequate ground clearance, and its not lifted to the heavans.
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;D ;D ;D Glad you like the Tigerslick comment. Although, I think someone else around this board came up with it first, but I've been using it since '03. Man those tires were horrible. I literally had to use 4WD to get up my driveway even if there was an inch of snow on the ground, now, only if theres a foot ;D. I may be wrong, but I thought that the stock ZR2 had Goodyear 215/75/15 on them, not 70's. But I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. (Jeez, am I rambling here or what). Since mine is a daily driver too, and it was our main family vehicle until we picked up my wifes XL-7 two weeks ago (BTW, she really likes it, wishes we got one sooner, as the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20). I needed something good, a little more agressive, and that's why I got the Cooper Discovers. And I'm really happy with them. They fill out the wheel well just a tad more than the Unyroyals did, and for now, I can't afford to lift it with baby number three due to come into this world by the 21st of this month, so I'm happy with what I got.
And, about the brakes, they're right ours is smaller than on the GV and XL-7's. Oh well, I'm still doing good with mine, it's got 55,000 miles on the originals so far and they're only about half worn, so, they're not all that bad either. Have fun, Dave ;D
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CONGRATULATIONS ON BABY #3 !!
As for me its just me, princess, and baby boy #1. You know, the money for the lift is an issue, but not really. Whether I have the money in my pocket is not the problem. Its whether I can justify to myself (and my wife) spending CDN$1500 - $2000 on a lift + wheels + tires. I'm still running these uniroyals, but their time has come. I'm gonna paint those 15's (ht 5-spoke design really doesn't look bad at all) and fit a set of 225/75-15 all terrain tires and call it a day (for now).
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I noticed the ChevyTracker ZR2 has 15x6" wheels. The tires are 215's but the aspect ratio is a 70 rather than a 75. This means the 215/70-15 is almost exactly the same height as the 205/75-15.
That's interesting, my 02 ZR2 came with 215/75 tires. They seem to work fine, but then again I've never run it with anything smaller.
My vote is to go for the lift ;). A 2" lift isn't going to raise the CG too much and the larger tires will offset it right ::). If you use it mainly on road and want to keep the handly good you could just install the OME kit from RRO. From what I hear that should handle better than stock, on the street. You could probably even not use the coil spacers and keep the lift at 1" if that is enough for the tires you get.
Keep us updated on what you end up getting and how the tires fit. I plan to get my list/tires in the next 5-6 months.
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Thanks for the congrats, I'm getting kind of nervous. The oldest two are 8 and 6, so, we're kind of starting from scratch.
Believe it or not I like the steelies better than the LT rims. (Hopefully no offense here). And believe you me, I know exactly what you mean by justifying a major purchase like that. Once you have kids you always think of your family first, which is a good thing. I had an old Trooper II before my Tracker and I thought of redoing the whole thing, and my boss asked me,"will it o any farther??? Will it run any longer??? So, I didn't do much to it, which in the end, he was right, within a year the frame completely rotted out in the rear cross member and a couple of holes rotted through near the front wheels. Looking back, I'm glad I listened to him. But anyways, back to coming up with a good reason for that 2" lift, ummm, do you have a lot of flood waters near your house???? That would be good to use for a reason. ;D ;D ;D Have fun, Dave
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Hey I've got a 99 2dr, 4x4, 15x5.5 rims.
I just got new tires in Nov.
I bought 225/70-15 Kumho Road Venture A/T's
They are great in the snow, rain and mud.
(http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/kumho/ku_venture_at_s.jpg)
No problem rubbing at all. Actually still the same diameter just wider.
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put on coil spacers and go for 30's
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Bob there are tons of rim styles out there in 16 inch. What are you looking for? I Stare at rims all day that would fit zuks and think how they will look. I work for american racing. I'm the sales rep for utah idaho montana. So if you need to find a good deal on rims let me know?
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I have been running 225-75R15 Dunlops on my stock rims on my 96 Tracker for three years now. No lift, and no problems with rubbing. I run 30psi on the highway and air down to 12 psi for the trail.
We have made a few trips pulling a small camper.
I have had no problems with them.
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I own the exact tracker
steelies not tha alloy 15x5.5
I run 235/75/15 and they fit fine
(a little rub on full extention)
the nice thing about running 235's or 30x9.5 (almost the same size)
is they buldge a bit and you have a bit more rim protetction
I run a really aggressive a/t tread and just with those tires I havent had any problems wheeling simply and in our deep candian snow
I run down to 21psi in the winter, and up to 28 in summer
I know the cooper stt's fit on my truck but the BFG a/t's seemed to rub more due to their shoulder lock (not much offset with our rims)
I suggest you look at the Continental AT2 (general grabber at2) or the new cooper STT
they are really aggressive AT's which will give you decent road and offroad performance
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I run 235/75/15's on the stock 15x5.5 X-90 rims with no problem.
If you want to save money on tires check out these Liberator AT's at Walmart.com for around $53 each for the 235's. I am on my second set, they are made by BF Goodrich I have been told, and walmart ships to your local store for free.
(http://i.walmart.com/i/p/00/08/66/99/74/0008669974513_500X500.jpg)
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Hey, how many mile did you get out of your set of Liberators? I'd like to add here also about the Cooper STT's, I have the AT's and am really really happy with them. I think I already said that on page one, but hey, I'll say it again ;D they're great tires, and so far are wearing like iron, I run them |removethispart|@28 lbs on the road. Have fun,
Dave ;D
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Well I didn't wear em out, had em on since 11/03 but they were 225/75's and I wanted to go bigger, they still had lots of tread on em when I got the bigger 235's on last week.
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I was looking at tirerack.com and the highest rated allterrain tire is the Bridgestone Dueler REVO.
(http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/bridgestone/bs_dueler_at_revo_wl_ci3_l.jpg)
I think they are like $100 US each (which means for 5 will cost around $700 Canadian) plus taxes (15% over here).
I figure that these tires on stock rims (plus maybe a Calmini LSD or a locker) should make this a reasonably capable off road machine.
What do you think about these tires?
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The Bridgestone I have listed above come in 225/75-15, which I think is the size I should go for (without a lift)....plus Bridgestones are the tire of choice for 7-time world champion F1 drive Micheal Schumacher.
However...
(http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/bfg/bfg_mud_terrain_ta_km.jpg)
These BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A tires are another option. Even though they're M/T tires rather than A/T tires, and they come in 215's and 235's (but not 225's) it is still another option.
So I wonder how are the BFG's on road?
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On road, they might hum a little bit, a friend of mine had those same ones on a T-100, they do great off the black stuff and ok in the snow and rain. At least for him. HTH Dave ;D
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it will work.i have a set of 32x10.50 swampers on a set of 15x51/2 sami wheels.
oscar
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My tracker has 15" rims.  It bugged me that the GV (which I could have bought) may have signifigantly better brakes (obviously a bigger disc), but I gots what I gots and there aint no changin now.
Don't worry, you have the exact same brakes as the GV on your Tracker. I have a 2004 LT and it has 15s also.
These 15s almost seem to be custom for these trucks and yes they WILL fit on a GV. It's finding after market 15s that's the trick. I can understand sticking with the factory 15's.
15 inch rims from a old body style Trackick will NOT fit. The only exception is the Sidekick sport. Those rims (16s) may fit.
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These 15s almost seem to be custom for these trucks and yes they WILL fit on a GV. It's finding after market 15s that's the trick. I can understand sticking with the factory 15's.
You're kidding me, if that is true it will be really annoying. I had planned on getting 15x8 eventually with 2.5" - 3" backspacing. I guess I may have to be very carefull picking out my rims.
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it will work.i have a set of 32x10.50 swampers on a set of 15x51/2 sami wheels.
oscar
I would like to see a picture of this.
I'm having a hard time Imagining it.
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they're on there. ;D i don't have a dig camera, or i would post pics.
i expected the tire guy too cry :'(,but he just smiled and took my $$$$$.
oscar
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Hey just thought you would like to know I'm running 235/75/15 wildcat all season's on my sammy with the stock rims 15x5.5 inches wide, and I run about 25 psi on trails and 35 on the street when I bother to air up, so far hasn't pulled the bead yet, but I'm afraid to lower the psi below 25 the sidewall bulge makes me nervous.
You AIR DOWN to 25PSI? With rims of that width you should be able to go lower. I run 31x11.50's on 16x5.5" rims and can run my tires at 0PSI and never lose a bead unless my front wheels are turned and up against something when I get onto the gas...
You'll have no problem running wide tires on a thin rim, you'll just need to adjust your PSI so that the entire footprint is still on the ground.
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The man at OK Tire tells me mounting a 225 or 235 (75-15) on my stock 5.5" wide wheel is no problem. He said that although manufacturers dont recommend it (and he's not giving his personal guarantee that it wont pop the bead) the fellow says mounting and running that size tire on that size rim is no big deal. He said popping the bead is not the issue, rather, the bulging out of the sidewall is the issue. He recommended airing down to make sure the entire tread is in contact with mother earth.
Fellow also said that once the tire and rim have had time to get to know each other, the tire gets a little grove in it, kinda helping to keep the bead in place. Hope he's right.
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acctuality from what i've heard
running a smaller wheel than recommended
acctuality gives you a tiger stronger fit at a compariable psi
as long as you're not going more than 2 or more recommended inches
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I think it'll be ok, just go easy at first and let everything settle in. Have fun, Dave
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As I've said on many forums many times. You want to run as thin of a rim as you can - but still get a flat footprint with your tread. People run 20" wide 44's on 8" wide rims, and 12.50" wide 33's on 5.5" wide rims. The only reason people want bigger rims is becuase they "like the look" - or they're just stupid. Thinner rim means more contact pressure on the bead per PSI, less chance of the wheel being damaged, and 99% of the time less rubbage problems.
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if that is true it will be really annoying.
It is true. Ask anyone that owns or owned a new body style Tracker 2.0 and up.
Yes there is a lot of styles in 15's but the trick is finding ones that fit. Many people have given up and just kept their factory rims.
I'm not saying there isn't any I'm saying there's not that many.
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thsi is great then I am not fubar'd......so then I will run a 235/75 full mudder and looking into the bds 2" lift .....any rubbing issues that I should be concerned about ?? and as doing some wheeling this week end show my wife that I smash the bottom of the truck alot she agreed that armour is a priority.......maybe cuz her uncle gave me the truck ? :P
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OK I think that clears it up for me. I am gonna try 225/75-15 Bridgestone's on my stock 5.5" wide wheel. I'm glad I wont have to do any figuring about backspacing, offset, and brake caliper clearance....and I think that 225's wont be so big that rubbing the frame will be an issue. I've read a number of posts from guys with '99 and newer GV/Trackers running 225's without lift and without rubbing. So looks like that will be my route (for now) and maybe lifts and spacers and springs and shocks and struts.....later. ;D
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By the way...thanks to TinTopper....I had no idea you could run narrow rims and wide tires. I have been reading the tire manufacturers spec's and I figured it was just impossible to run those tires on those wheels. I appreciatet he help.
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Bob there are tons of rim styles out there in 16 inch. What are you looking for? I Stare at rims all day that would fit zuks and think how they will look. I work for american racing. I'm the sales rep for utah idaho montana. So if you need to find a good deal on rims let me know?
No, No, No, it's the TIRES that are lacking. Most tire manufacturers make damn few models in whatever the GV uses... 235-65R16, or whatever it is.
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Yepper, now that we bought the XL-7 we're noticing that :P
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I would like to see pictures of big tires on small rims. I'm really curious as to how this looks. ???
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I really wanna see pictures also....the only tires that are wide in my area on zuks are on crommy's and lowered
so if any one is running a full mud on stock would be good to see