16x8 w/ 245/75/16..fitment question?

[nick.]

Hey gang,
First post here in a long time (had a previous login about three years ago, but lost it). Anyway, been lurking quite a bit for the past months, and recently picked up a new 1997 AWD (G80, GT4, full power LT model) that I am planning on lifting at the end of the month. Last night I picked up the SDtrucksprings 3+1 leaf pack, appropriately sized Rancho5000's, and the fastenal bolts/ summit spacers needed to homebrew my own 3-4" lift.

My question now relates to my wheel/tire package. I'm set on the Hankook Dynaprot ATM RF10's as I've run these on previous trucks and been really happy with wear, snow/ dirt traction, and noise on the freeway. In the 30ish diameter size, it actually winds up being significantly cheaper and easier to pickup a pair of 245/75/16's than a 30x9.5/15 size tire, so I'm thinking about picking up 16" wheels instead of my originally planned 15's. I've got my eye on the wheels below, since they are only about 5 bucks more per wheel than 15"s.


http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance- ... Id=1395303

Which is a 16x8 with a 4" backspacing in the astro 5x5 pattern. I'm wondering if with the 16" wheel and backspacing here I will be running into any slider problems, or need more than the usual amount of fender/ bumper work to get them to clear. I'm assuming they are going to stick out a fair bit further than the stock setup, which is ok with me, as long as I'm not running into slider issues, or wheel fitment issues.

Any input on this tire/wheel size from the gurus here? Thanks in advance.

[doyoulikeithere]

I think 245 wide should fit fine with the 4" backspace.
I have 275 wide and my door opens all the way.
BTW, Chevy used to make 15x8 rims that looked just like (your pic linked) & just like the stock Astro 8 spoke wheels, on Pickups and K5Blazers in the 70s.
They are 15x8 with 4"BS. and you could probly get them cheap at a P&P...

OOps, I meant 80s

[LiftedAWDAstro]

They will clear the slider fine. Where you may run into trouble is in the rear of the front wheel well right at the body seam. It really won't be an issue as you can make enough room there with some cutting, grinding and/or hammering. Can't wait to see the pics!

[nick.]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm less worried about the backspacing than the overall height at this point. I was perusing threads at the other site and ran across Corsemoto's where he posts picks of his 247/7516's and they looked absolutely massive. Wondering if I'll have the clearance in the front for a tire that tall without having to crank the crap out of my front t-bars. I was hoping to get by with about an 1" to 1.5" max to keep the front end happy.

Hmmm...condundrums

[doyoulikeithere]

with a 4" lift, anything over about a 29" tire will require a bit of persuading with a hammer & cutting disc to the van
So, Remember that before you take your new lift and new tires out for a ride and flex the springs a bit across a ditch or whatever.

[Stroverlander]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm less worried about the backspacing than the overall height at this point. I was perusing threads at the other site and ran across Corsemoto's where he posts picks of his 247/7516's and they looked absolutely massive. Wondering if I'll have the clearance in the front for a tire that tall without having to crank the crap out of my front t-bars. I was hoping to get by with about an 1" to 1.5" max to keep the front end happy.

Hmmm...condundrums

Hey, that's me over there, lol.

With the wheels you're interested in with 4" backspacing you might end up better off, in the front anyway. The 245/75-16 tires (30.7" diameter) on stock 16x7 wheels (31mm offset / around 5.2" backspacing) I could use 1/4"-1/2" spacers to prevent light rub on subframe rails at full lock.

I use this wheel/tire comparison tool: http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp

In the rear, I'm not sure if there is an extra 1"+ of clearance with the slider open though it's probably close and could be made to work. I'll measure my slider clearance again tomorrow.

Probably all the photos you've seen are before I did most trimming/cutting/shaping. I did have to to do a fair bit of trimming and metal clearance work. Even in the rear wheelwells, I recently cut some of the body molding and body seam metal out for clearance when fully loaded. Will probably go back and finish it off later on and/or fab a rubber liner for that section.

[nick.]

Yeah, I've been going back and forth a lot about tire sizing. From what I'm reading, it almost sounds like I will be in for a fair amount of massaging everything no matter if I got 30x9.x/15, or the 245/75/16. I actually like the look of your van when it had the 235's, but I'm worried that if I go that small with the lift I will eventually be wanting more. The nice thing about the 245's is that even though they are on the tall side, they are narrower which is kind of what I am looking for.

This descision is getting no easier.

[Stroverlander]

That's why I went 245/75-16 as well, I wanted the additional sidewall and narrower profile. While sure footed now, van feels almost over-tire'd if that's possible but probably also due to larger diameter affecting gearing and acceleration. I'm sure 4.10 gears would cure that. A 30" tire may be a good compromise.

I checked slider clearance today and have more room than I thought, almost 2" before any contact. So like others have already said, clearance there shouldn't be a problem.

[nick.]

Did you notice a pretty big drop off in acceleration/power and mpg with the bigger tires? IIRC you've got 3.73's as well. That's def. something that I want to avoid, along with having to crank the t-bars too much. Maybe I should just go with a 29-30" tire.

Thanks for all the info man.

[Stroverlander]

Yeah, 3.73 gears, it's noticeable but I wouldn't say it's huge or maybe that's because I'm used to the setup now. I don't know how much of that is diameter or additional weight of the E load tires which are almost 20 lbs heavier so you may not be as noticeable with a lighter tire.

Tough to tell how much of the mpg drop (-1 to 1.5 hwy) is tires or rooftop tent.

Reprogramming transmission shift points helped overall as well but could have lived without that I suppose.

No problem, not trying to influence your decision either way just providing my experience so far.