35's or 37's ??

[Mastiff]

I'm tortured over the decision of keeping 35's or going to 37's. I want to keep the truck streetable and not too extreme, but I want it to look good and have good off road capability too. I think it's sitting at about 5" of lift and will require trimming for 37's. It's on one tons, so can handle 37's, and will flex a bit with ORD springs. Off-road driving will be medium-ish rock trails. Trimming is a pain since the body is good and I'm no good at body work. I'll need to hire it out somehow.

The pic shows skinny 35's. I will replace them no matter what choice I make.

 

[wheels87k5]

I've got 7" lift and 37s. I had to do some trimming. You can see about how much on my build thread, around post 63 or so.

If you really don't want to trim, stay with the 35s. It looks great that way also.

Deuling? Need some input.

 

[The Pumpkinator]

I think 37s would be pretty neat, but with the setup I'm going with I plan on moving the front axle forward 1.5" to keep the tires out of the sheet metal, as you've seen in my fender trimming thread I plan on having the trim job look stock without any sharp edges and keep a nice clean body line.

If you have the gears and money to run 37s, why not?

The progress I've made in that thread so far was with a 6" cutoff wheel, 80 grit tiger disc, and a MIG machine running .035 solid wire, if you have a buddy that can weld I don't see why you have to spend the big bucks on having a body shop do the sheet metal work.

Either way I think you may have to do some trimming regardless of which size you choose, I think with a 4-5" lift with 35s and not trimming you would rub quite a bit, I lightly rub with 33s and a 4" lift.

 

[Mastiff]

Reasons not to do 37's would be: it may end up looking too "monster truck". Even though they look great on-line, sometimes stuff starts looking like too much in real life, at least driving around town. I'm still undecided on that. The other thing is the fender trimming. I'm not sure I can pull it off myself, especially the paint, and I'm having trouble finding a shop to do it.

I know everyone pushes the front axle forward, but I'm not sure I understand. Is it that the tire isn't centered in the first place, or that it moves back under compression? With a nearly flat spring, it doesn't seem like it would move back much. A flat spring would actually move forward if I'm not mistaken.

 

[The Pumpkinator]

That's true that you mention the paint, I wouldn't know if it would be hard to match that yellow, I had a friend repaint my truck with industrial grade single stage black paint, so black is black (or close anyways).

What size rims are you running? With a larger rim there would be less sidewall flex when going through tight corners on the street, so a 37r17 would handle/corner better than a 37r15.

As for the leaf/axle geometry you are correct, with the fixed pivot point of the leaf being up front under the core support, and the shackle being in the rear, the axle will swing towards the firewall under compression. However this swinging motion gets amplified with a leaf that has a more positive arch (to a point assuming the leaf can actually be flattened out under the weight of the vehicle) simply because if the leafs were flattened out side by side the ones with a more positive arch would be longer than the stock flat ones, and the center pin would travel further towards the firewall under compression because of extra length.

The zero rate that bolts to the leaf pack only offsets the center pin, although the axle was moved forward 1-1.5" it will still swing towards the firewall under compression because the geometry of the leaf/shackle setup wasn't changed, however the benifits of doing this are a better aproach angle and it helps keep the tire out of the sheet metal.

 

[wage92]

I dig the way it looks right now, i would get a fresh set of 35s and run it. Check to see if they will rub before doing anthing crazy though

 

[Mastiff]

Yeah, I'm thinking with flat leaves, there won't be much front-to-back motion under compression. My rear springs, on the other hand, have a bit of arch and I could see them moving rearward a fair bit.

I'm thinking either 16 or 17 inch rims. I'd prefer 16, but the selection of tires is more limited.

 

[gonefishin]

I have 35's and 1 tons. I drag them over just about everything. What I don't drag them over gets me stuck lol. I would like 37's, but with the paint job you have I would be scared to cut it. I cut 1 of mine perfect and then totally messed up on the other 1.

Have you wheeled it any with the tons? If it is capable enough for you to enjoy then keep 35's, they are probably cheaper too.

 

[The Pumpkinator]

Well, any 2" and greater lift will have a positive arch on the leafs in order to, well, achieve said lift

However I think the transition to 37s with no rub is going to cost you more in the long run than 35s. Moving to 37s tends to have the rolling snowball effect, 37s will net 3/4-1" of lift, installing zero rates to relocate the front axle will net another 1" of lift, then you need a pair for the rear in order for the truck to sit level, then you may run into issues with the steering and may not have enough adjustment on the drag link to compensate for the front axles' new location, and after that is all said and done you still have to trim out the front fenders.

So it still depends on how bad you want those 37s over 35s, and I still think you will rub with 35s

 

[runamok151]

What gears? If 4.56s, I'd stay w/ 35s. I think it looks good w/ the lift and 35s. 37s will definitely get into the fenders when stuffed. Big consideration if you like the metal and paint.

 

[Mastiff]

What gears? If 4.56s, I'd stay w/ 35s. I think it looks good w/ the lift and 35s. 37s will definitely get into the fenders when stuffed. Big consideration if you like the metal and paint.

I've got 4.56. I always thought I may have overdone it with 4.56 since it revs up over 3K RPM on the interstate. No overdrive in TH400.

I know the 37's have no chance without trimming. I don't mind trimming, but it needs to be done right, not just 15 minutes with a sawzall.

 

[Mastiff]

Decided to go with 35's. Not totally sure it's the right choice, but it was a lot of trouble in terms of body work (to me) in order to gain 1" clearance. Anyway, here it is with brand new Toyo MT's. I'm still hoping the ORD springs settle in just a bit more. I've only got about 50 miles on them.

And here's the army truck, happy to have the skinny 35's back.

 

[Kay86K5]

to this day, i have never really understood why people are so scared to cut their fenders. First of all, dont use a sawzall, just use an angle grinder and take a second to mark your lines. If i can do it without hacking it, anyone can.

Truck looks good dude. Really clean and has a good stance. But sometimes i think u need to do a little more research on your own. If u had, i think u would have found many pics showings rigs with clean cut jobs. Its not a big deal at all, even with a truck that has good paint like yours.

 

[Mastiff]

I researched like crazy. I think it comes down to what you consider clean. Straight lines and smooth curves, but with edges that will cut you? Inner and outer separated? My CUCV has a sawzall job and it looks fine on that, but it would look like crap on the Blazer. Here's a guy I consider to be doing it right:

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314470

And he's spending a lot of time and effort to get that. I'm not motivated right now to learn bodywork and paint to that level. I'm not saying I think it's impossible for me, but it would be a long project to learn as I go, including how to lay down a good clearcoat paint job when the body work is done.

Incidentally, I'm really not a paint job person. I was in Iowa and I needed to paint it since it was starting to get rust holes. If I was in AZ the whole time, I'd have just let it get that harmless southwest "patina" of dull paint and then cutting the fenders would have been no big deal.

Now that the tire decision is behind me, I'll focus on steering and drivehsafts.

 

[Deuling]

35s are perfect. Looks awesome

 

[muddermilitia]

Truck looks good, but I hate to break it to you, you will need to trim the front fenders before you take that thing on any trails that will twist up your suspension. I chopped up two of my 35s back when I was on 1/2 ton axles and 4" tuff country ez ride springs with no trimming.

 

[Mastiff]

I twisted it up a little and it's very close. I'm aware I may need a little trimming. It's actually slightly trimmed already at the very bottom of the back of the front. This was with the other 35's jammed in pretty tight, not touching yet.

 

[Kay86K5]

I twisted it up a little and it's very close. I'm aware I may need a little trimming. It's actually slightly trimmed already at the very bottom of the back of the front. This was with the other 35's jammed in pretty tight, not touching yet.

Turn back driver in this exact same situation, and you will see what everyone is talking about

Man, with a close up shot like that.....you really do have a good body on that one. One of the cleaner ones I've seen in a while

 

[mckustomfab]

Clean Blazer! Here is a thought, if your not going to be getting to crazy. You could extend the bump stops down some to keep it from stuffing to much. And did i mention Clean Blazer?

 

[Mastiff]

I went out to my "flexing stump" with the new tires, and sure enough they are getting into the sheet metal. Will need to do some minor trimming, or just let the tires do it themselves. I even got it to hit the back of the inner, not just the painted lip.