4" and 36" tires survey

[ftn96]

4\" and 36\" tires survey

I've reviewed all the charts adn such for the amount of lift and fender trimming for tires and all. And after talking with Grim-reaper and trustyk5 I have lots of mixed emotions now.
I know lots of trucks are different and the manufacture of the springs has some to do with it.
But I have a 90 and 4" lift and Im wanting to go with 36" TSL-R's. I have no probs cutting fender. Im in fact a trigger happy...well thats not appropriate. Anyway....
Im looking fo those of you who have the same or a simular setup and can tell me how it all fits together as far as the rubbing and clearance and all.
As far as I can see there is only so much fender I can cut in the front.
Thanks in advance.

"you know... the guy with the BAD A$$ spring perches!!!

<a target="_blank" href=http://www.nashvillek5.freeservers.com>www.nashvillek5.freeservers.com</a>

 

[J.R.]

Re: 4\" and 36\" tires survey

check out fox's k5, i think he is only running a 4inch lift but did some trimming on his truck.

BIG BLOCK MAN
"MORE POWER"!!

 

[tRustyK5]

Re: 4

Hey Sparky

I know this post is going to get a number of opinion's. I understand Grimmy's truck is pretty flexy too. My 81 isn't the flexiest but does fairly well with stiff front Rancho's (1065 on a 20 degree ramp

)

I run 36" TSL's on 8 bolt 15" steel rims with 3 5/8" backspacing. My lift is 4" with a 1" ORD body lift. I trimmed my fronts almost exactly like Steve and quite a few others have and I don't come near to hitting anything now. I confirmed that on our club's ramp when I pulled the 1065 RTI. The limit of your trimming is the floorpan, not anything on the fender itself

I would go with the 36's (they'll go nicely with the 4.56's) and trim it the same as Steve did to the UAV. I recommend the UAV as an example because there are several clear pic's of the fender trim for reference. If by some act of God your tires do hit under full compression...install a slightly longer bumpstop as a tempory or permanent fix. The temporary or permanent part is up to you.

If you have access to a forklift your clearance can be checked very thoroughly.
My TSL's clear mt rear fender opening by less than 1/4" in places but nothing has been trimmed back there. I think with more backspacing I'd be close to having the tire hit the inside of the wheelwell on the inside. For now though the tire stuffs deep into the wheelwell without hitting anything

Rene

<font color=green>Dyslexics of the world...UNTIE!</font color=green>

 

[CK5]

Re: 4\" and 36\" tires survey

I used to run 36" swamps with a 4" lift, if you off-road at all you will need to cut the front fenders and they will rub a little on the inner fennder well. Do yourself a favor and just cut them all the way, you will end up doing it in the long run when you go with a bigger tire (you will).

Steve

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[muddysub]

Re: 4\" and 36\" tires survey

i wanna cut my fenders too but i'm scared to do it . i want mine to be like the UAV's. i'm runnin a 4" and the 36"s are in the mail. are the ord 1" body lifts good?

donate to the "Build Scott's Suburban Foundation"
scott,
1989 GMC suburban 3/4t 4" lift soon to be rollin on 36" swampers, tbi350, th350, np241

 

[CK5]

Re: 4\" and 36\" tires survey

I will let you know, I am installing the ORD 1" lift this weekend.

Steve

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[xnoahx]

Re: 4\" and 36\" tires survey

Ive got 4" and 36's, its all right, but i could see how it would rub with some good flex happening

My 73 K5 <a target="_blank" href=http://www.geocities.com/xk5blazerx/73k5.htm>http://www.geocities.com/xk5blazerx/73k5.htm</a> 350/TH350/NP203, Q-jet, Edelbrock intake, Vortec heads, 4" lift, and 36" TSL's

 

[tRustyK5]

Re: 4

I installed the 1" ORD body lift and new poly body mounts at the same time for obvious reason's. The quality of the kit is very good with clear instructions. It's not the most technical mod but I found it was well worth it. The only other mods I had to make were the fan shroud needed trimming or else the fan would hit it. I used an air sander with a thin cut-off wheel and trimmed enough so that there was a minimum of 1" to the fan.
I have a 4 speed so the clutch linkage needed to be adjusted (prolly needed it anyways...

and the filler neck on the gas tank I loosened the clamp and slid the filler out a bit as necessary. I was in the middle of a rear half body replacement when I did this, so I had removed the gas tank. This may not be necessary, but I think it would end up being easier in the end.
Try and soak all the body mounting bolts with a good quality penetrant well in advance of the big day, like PB blaster for example. Then cross your fingers, say a prayer, sacrifice a small farm animal (kidding) and if you're real lucky you won't break a body bolt during removal of the old stuff. I broke one bolt just under the drivers footwell. I had to drill it out and run 1/2"x13 UNC tap through the hole. Trust me this is no fun on your back. I had access to a mag drill but there was no way to use it under there.

Here's a pic, on 36's with the 4" susp, and 1" ORD body lift and front fenders trimmed. The fender trim is sort of visible...

<a target="_blank" href=http://community.webshots.com/photo/21656060/21656250PzWiNIqwvN> tRusty pic </a> Click on normal or large for a better view.

Rene

<font color=green>Dyslexics of the world...UNTIE!</font color=green>

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by tRustyK5 on 10/02/01 10:03 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[BigTex]

Re: 4\" and 36\" tires survey

I was running a 4" lift with 36" Swamper TSL radials for a while. My tires would rub the fenders even on the friggin' driveway! In my opinion, the 36" tires are pretty tall. I jumped from 33" BFGs and they were way bigger than the 33s.

Unlike most here, I personally do not like the look of trimmed fenders. That's why I installed the body lift. The only trimming I did was to the front of the fenders. Ever since I did that, no rubbing!

<font color=red>"SETTING OFF ALARMS IN A CITY NEAR YOU!"</font color=red>

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[DesertDueler]

Re: 4\" and 36\" tires survey

My next set of tires for the Jimmy will be 38.5s. I will be using them with a 4 in lift. Lots of cutting but they will fit.

86Jimmy 4"&35"MTRs,87 burb 4"&35"MT,69Firebird w/525 hp,and 70GTO live in PHX,AZ<a target="_blank" href=http://www.geocities.com/modifierperformance>My vehicles</a>

 

[ftn96]

Re: 4

I have though about the body lift. And have yet to make that decision. I will if I find that I need it after trimming the fenders and the tires rubs.
So looks like the majority say that the 36's will fit fine with the 4" lift and fender trimming. Anyone else?
By the way, I am not running the sway bar.

"you know... the guy with the BAD A$$ spring perches!!!

<a target="_blank" href=http://www.nashvillek5.freeservers.com>www.nashvillek5.freeservers.com</a>

 

[CK5]

Re: 4

Trusty
I just got the lift and poly mounts in and haven't looked at the instructions yet, any pointers, do's and dont's, did you do this in your garage? I'm trying to think about how I'm going to lift the body, how did you do it?

Steve

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[ftn96]

Re: 4

LAst body lift I did, we had to sit the jack up on block adn used a piece of wood and just jacked just jacked the body up.

"you know... the guy with the BAD A$$ spring perches!!!

<a target="_blank" href=http://www.nashvillek5.freeservers.com>www.nashvillek5.freeservers.com</a>

 

[Boss]

Re: 4

Steve,
I just did the body lift and mount swap like 2 weeks ago. Very simple (considering it was my 4th time). Took me a total of about 5 hours or so. Very easy. I have a bunch of pics too, but just need to download as always.
Anyhow, I used a bottle jack to lift the body up. I used stacks of wood under it to get it up there and then a 2x6 about maybe 3ft long to spread the load. Do one side at a time, like driver first and then passenger.
Loosen all the bolts first. The rear bolts you'll have to lower the tank to replace the bottom two bushings. The two bolts on position 4 needs to be grinded from the inside, b/c GM welded the head of the bolts to the bed. Pray that the captured nuts in position 2 and 3 don't brake loose and spin in there on yah. That happened to me once, but not when I just did it recently.
Apply lots of grease to the bushings when installing.
That's basically it.
Oh, raditor mount, the bottom piece needs cutting definately. Use a grinder, it's quick. And tranny linkage needs adjusting, but does not need to be lengthen, so you don't have worry about welding.
Boss

Pic of my truck Before N' After
<a target="_blank" href=http://coloradok5.com/gallery/BeforeNAfter>http://coloradok5.com/gallery/BeforeNAfter</a>

 

[Boss]

Re: 4

Ok, I said radiator mount, but meant fan shroud, (just reread). And another tip, when removing you have a bolt removed, use that to compare to the bolts ORD supplied and just add an inch, and use that. They supplied 3 different lengths of bolts. And you have to remove the front grill to get to the first two bolts in position 1. It's such a simple job Oh, and you have to reuse your factory sleeves in position 1, 2 and 3.
4 &amp; 5 are provided in the kits. And I did this in my driveway.
Boss

Pic of my truck Before N' After
<a target="_blank" href=http://coloradok5.com/gallery/BeforeNAfter>http://coloradok5.com/gallery/BeforeNAfter</a>

 

[tRustyK5]

Re: 4

Steve,

The only pointer I have is to coat the bushings and bolts with some form of grease. Anti-seize on the new body bolts is prolly a good idea too. The 2 rear locations for the body bolts, the heads of the carriage bolts are tack welded to the bed itself so they'll need to be ground at the very least. More than likely the nuts for these bolts will be rusted beyond hope, what I did was ground the heads off the bolts and pounded them through the old bushings. I would drop the gas tank...it's just so much easier. I ran a 3/8" UNC die down the threaded part of the tank strap, that cleaned the crud and rust of those threads preventing the straps from needing repair later.
Lots of PB blaster well in advance of the big day will help.

I did the ORD body lift and new poly bushings when I swapped my rear tub. I was lucky my boss let me use the shop, so I had a 15 ton overhead crane, forklift, air tools, torches, welders grinders etc. at my disposal. Check the pic's out...

2 weeks after these pics were taken I got rear-ended.

<a target="_blank" href=http://community.webshots.com/album/21656060DRxwUOwcYL> body swap pic's</a>

Without any of the cool tools at work I would have used a floor jack and a good block of wood. Apparently the trick is to loosen all the bolts on one side of the truck, then remove all the bolts on the other side of the truck. Jack up the side that you took the bolts out of and replace the bushings and add the body lift discs. Get all the bolts on the new side started but not torqued down. Now lift the other side and replace everything on the second side.
One thing I did do was spend some time with a tape measure to make sure the body is not shifted to one side before I torqued the bolts down.

Rene

<font color=green>Dyslexics of the world...UNTIE!</font color=green>

 

[TXsizeK5]

Re: 4

Point of Information:
Somone in a 4wd mag was running 38"s on a 4" lift and heavily trimmed tires.

6in 87' K5 w/ 35" BFG muds.
305/Sm465/ NP208, 4.11's coming soon.
Kn filter

 

[CK5]

Re: 4

heavily trimmed tires?

Steve

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[tRustyK5]

Re: 4

That's what you get when you don't heavily trim your fenders...

Rene

<font color=green>Dyslexics of the world...UNTIE!</font color=green>

 

[Cmoe]

Re: 4\" and 36\" tires survey

My 35" hit on the street when I turn at timees and that is with a 4" lift adn new urathan body mounts.

C'moe

Kill Roy was here!