Undersized tyres

[pyemaster]

Chaps

Thinking of changing my BFG ATs for some mud tyres, and I've been looking at some pretty good reviews of the Nankang Mudstars (bonus that they're cheap too).

Now the problem is most Mudstar owners have reported them coming up small - advertised 32" tyres have been reported as being 30.5"-31" in reality.

My truck is raised 2" on the body and I'm fairly confident with a little bulkhead massaging would take 32" x 11.5 mud tyres without too much drama.

My question then is should I chance it getting some 33" tyres in the expectation they'll probably be nearer 32" in reality, and therefore what I'm after? The problem is if they are actually 33" they won't fit as I don't want to commit to a suspension lift if I can help it . (Not yet anyway). The other question is whether 12.5" tyres will be too wide without the suspension lift... I'd be putting them on 8 inch deep steel wheels.

Any thoughts from the forum's brain trust ?

Owen

[surfenstein]

General rules of thumb is that 33" tyres require a 2" body lift and a 2" suspension lift. .its hard to say what sidewall diammeter you will get because the narrower the rim width the taller the tyre will be and thus the wider the rim the shorter.you also need to take into concideration full lock and full bump on the suspension. Otherwise you will end up ripping half the wing off or the tyre jamming in the bulkhead.

[pyemaster]

Thanks mate, which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid by wanting a 32" tyre... I don't want to splash out £400 on new 32" tyres though only to find they're smaller than 31", which is why I was considering the 33" in the hope it would be more like 32" in reality. Not sure though if it's the overall diameter or width which might cause me problems?

Owen

[Lewd Lux Lover]

Why not order them up and if they are incorrect send them back? It would seem to me that this is a fault with production and one with which you can play about with at their expense.
Or ask your local tire place to ask the supplier to measure a set in situ so you know, regardless of whats on the sidewall what you will be getting?

It never hurts to ask.

[pyemaster]

Yeah I spoke to a well known national website who says while they stock them they don't have them on the shelf, so can't measure them and tell me Nankang weren't willing to measure them either as they're all 'made to tolerance'. They refused to pass on a contact number for their supplier so I could ask them to measure them, so I called Nankang UK direct who said their system said the 32" tyre was 801mm in diameter and all tyres would definitely be that size. On asking for a tape-measured check they said they would, then never got back in touch.

So I figured I'd ask the forum as there must be a number of guys who have had both 11.5 and 12.5 width tyres on 8 and 10 inch wide wheels and who know what catches on what...

Owen

[budweiser]

got 305/70/16 (equivalent of a 33 12.50 R15)on a 2inch body lift 2nd generation, and goes fine, i think its the offset of the nissan patrol wheels i got (10) wide

[pyemaster]

So I wonder, might it be better for me to bung them on 10 inch wheels rather than 8 (to bring the overall tyre diameter down a tad)? As mentioned I'd hope the 33s will be more like 32s anyway ...

The question is also whether 12.5 inch tyres on 10 inch wheels will be okay on a 2nd gen without the suspension lift...

Owen

[budweiser]

the offset will make a big difference. but i didn't bring this jet offroading, on road its fine

[pyemaster]

Fair point, and it would certainly have at the very least mild off road use.

Can anyone with experience (or at the very least more knowledge than me) confirm if a 32" x 12.5" would have more problems (on a 2nd gen with two inch body lift) on an 8 inch wheel or a 10?

Cheers
Owen

[surfenstein]

you also need to take into account the tread cleat depth, and the degree of aggressiveness of the tread. Something with side wall biters will hit because of the aggressiveness of the tread where as something like an BF all terrain won't and they would both be 33" tyres.

[pyemaster]

Yeah this is the tyre I'm after:



Anyone with any thoughts?

Thanks
Owen

[pyemaster]

Okay so after some further weekend research I'm none the wiser, so final question - would anyone know if 32"x12.5 tyres would fit on an 8 inch wheel on a second gen with a two inch body lift?

Owen