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35's with no lift?

StevoandaRedK5

StevoandaRedK5

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I don't know if this is crazy or not.

I have been saving towards putting 33x12.50 BFG KM2's on my '73 K5, which will fit with a slight fender trim.

However, in the near future I am planning to do a rocker box delete, integrate sliders, and replace floorboards like colbystephen's did to his '73, and also cut 3-4 inches out of the fenders. (Mostly to get rid of rust/bondo, but also to increase clearance.)

If I try to run 35x12.50's after that 4 inch cut, what other clearance problems would I have? Will steering/suspension components rub and/or bind? Will the inner fenders need to be reshaped or trimmed as well? I'm trying to figure this out so I can decide whether the order will be tires then metalwork or vice versa.

The KM2's are the same $$$ for both the 33 and 35, and I don't want to drop $800 or so for the 33's when I could have had 35's.

This may have been covered before, and if so I apologize, I haven't mastered the art of search yet:wink1:
 
From what i remember, bushwacker cutout flares leave enough clearance for 35's stock, so i see no sheet metal interference problems from the amount of cutting you are describing.

I'll leave the suspension issues for the more experienced.
 
You'd have to mock it up on your particular truck, as fitment will depend on many aspects:

Backspacing of the wheels (but note as you space them out, they'll scrub on turns and you put more stress on the axle outers.)

Spring rate (this includes age of the springs, if they're rusted together or not, the condition of the bushings, and various attributes of the alignment of Mercury)

Inner fenders, mostly up front. Again tied to wheel backspacing, steering type (stock in your case) as well as related to various planetary events.

Did I mention it's impossible to know until you try it?

I had no, and I mean NO issues running 33"s on stock ralleys on my 85 CUCV Blazer on its stock springs -- but it was a street truck. With the trimming, I think you'd have no issues with 35"s on the street, but any serious flexing might get you into trouble.

Now, when you're changing tires, are you changing wheels? Now is a really good time to think about going 8-lug :deal:

-- A
 
If you really want to go wheeling , and eventually and have no "real" issues with anything , you would want to at least do a 4 inch lift . The engine crossmember is really close to your draglink when you do crossover ................... and even with that little amount of lift you may need a bent draglink , or new engine crossmember anyway , depending on how far you push your axle forward or not .

Drop the coin on 35's , and even then your going to want to go bigger right away when you like the 35's too much and want more :wink1:
 
pauly383 said:
If you really want to go wheeling , and eventually and have no "real" issues with anything , you would want to at least do a 4 inch lift.
Click to expand...

When time and money (do you ever have them at the same time?) are available, I plan to put on some 1ton running gear and do a 4" shackle flip with a 52/56 spring swap, maybe. (That'll probably change as I wheel it more.) I would like to hold off on the 8lug stuff until then.

The backspacing on the wheels is what may make or break it, I have 15x8 Rockcrawler steels that have somewhere around 4" of backspacing...

All else is sheetmetal and I have no fear cutting what is already halfway rusted out:D
 
picture.php
38.5s no lift
 
As for cutting out the rust and gaining tire clearance at the same time, I did just that way back when.

1-2.jpg


37's on 4" of lift, I'm sure it would have cleared 35's at stock height. Didn't look half bad IMO either, most people didn't even know it had been cut.
 
I put some 35's on my k-10 w/ no lift and sawzalled the rust off the corners of the fenders and wheeled it as is stock steering and all. Used the ralley 15 x 8 6 lug rims from a blazer. When I was tired of the cheap/bald set of 35's, I eventually put brand new 36tsl's on the same truck and they fit, if your fenders are already hammered from rust, you have nothing to lose and cut the rust off and slap some 35's on there.
here is a old pic of said truck on 36"tsl's.

browntruck.jpg


not the greatest pic, but i was flipping it back over and this was 05ish.
 
now that i remember, i did break 3 out of 4 stock springs on that truck from the hell i put those stock springs through.
 
i had 4inch lift with bfg mudders and they rub when i go out,i cut my fenders and cut but they still rub and they rub on the inner finder so i put a 8in lift and my tires look small lol i cant drive it due to me blowing the tranny.
 
I had 35s on my blazer with no lift. Didnt touch the rear wheel wells, they were fine. I did trim the front fender and a little of the inner fender
 
DriversRearRust.jpg


I'm planning to trim the rear wells anyway instead of trying to patch this area of bondo/mesh/rusted metal that resembles a fender lip...
 
dam i am not use to that i am a desert rat AZ oya i never trimed my rear but the front i cut like a mother f..... lol
 
One approach is to just take advantage of your local retailer and have them test fit some 35's before you buy them. You should probably have the intial reasonable trimming done by then.
 
a few thoughts.

w/ respect to the 8 lug thing, you should consider it now. you can do 3/4 ton swap for $300 or less. this way you won't have to replace your wheels again. saves some money in the long run.

one thing that i'm learning recently is that suspension flex is very dependent on your shocks. way back before i knew better i got these 4" lift shocks for my blazer and now I'm realizing that they REALLY limit travel. this works to my advantage in some ways, because it keeps my tires out of my fenders a bit (4" lift, 38" tires). however, I hate them because it limits my droop so much. so, consider if you are going to be getting decent shocks or not and plan bumpstops accordingly. i'm sure you could stuff a 35" tire into the fenders really hard if you had good shocks that allowed for good up travel - even on 4" lift....
 
colbystephens said:
w/ respect to the 8 lug thing, you should consider it now. you can do 3/4 ton swap for $300 or less. this way you won't have to replace your wheels again. saves some money in the long run.
Click to expand...

I'll consider it, but I doubt I'll do that yet because I'd rather wait until the 1ton swap for 8 lug stuff. If the wheels I have now won't work with 35's, I'll probably look at swapping to 8 lug stuff and buying wheels to match, etc.

On the topic of flex, I DD this rig, and the nearest place is shiloh ridge if I want to get twisty, and I don't know how often i'll be able to get out there. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it:wink1:

I do plan to test fit some 35's before I buy, after I do all the metalwork.


Thanks a whole lot for all the input fellas!
 
I say do 35's and don't look back. If your willing to cut and use a BFH too you got it made. I ran 37's on a 3" Tuff Country lift for years it works fine. If anything you can add a 1" body lift and some 1" zero rate's to help clear everything. Jimmy88 is running 42's with 2" of lift so you should be able to make it work with no problems.
 
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