If you want to use stock rims, you don't have much choice. Probably only 2:

• Spacers and body trimming, or
• Spacers and body lift - maybe a suspension lift in this gen Dakota would also work.

Around here, the police don't like protruding tires and there's a law on "rooster tails), so if you drive a vehicle with protruding tires in the rain & cause a lot of spray from the tires, you can get a fairly large ticket and they'll force you to remove those tires - that's in Ontario, other provinces usually have similar laws.


For winter, those tires will give you very poor traction unless you're on dry pavement. They also harden with the cold temperatures, making them poor even on pavement.

 

I'm out in alberta hmmm, I wonder what shipping would cost.. My idea is to do a2inch on top of my lift to get 35s under there but I'm kind of in the same boat where I don't know how much spacer is enough. I guess the turn and measure is probably the only way to know with out mounting

 

I could be wrong with the 45 degree angle, but the point is when you turn the wheel the corner at the front/back and outer wall will come closer to its respective well than the contact tread.

This is a pretty redneckin' idea, but I wonder if you take two sheets of paper and stick em out 2" from the outside of the tire, duct tape it to the top left quadrant (180*-90*) of your left tire tread and turn it right. See if it rubs any?

 

well im northern Ontario and no problems yet.... but another 2 inches out.. would be very noticeable from how it is now..

im aware of the tires and cold weather but honestly I run 10-12 psi and they work nice in snow and the -25 we have right now .... and still far better traction then my previous Baja M/T's on wet road ... regardless I still have my 235/75/15 Wrangler territories and my other 33's so that's not the problem.. problem is figuring out if I can make these 14 wides work properly :O

 

You can do a first cut at figuring out how they'll fit and what spacing you'll need with nothing more than some paper. a pencil, a long straight edge (like a yardstick), and something to measure angles with (it doesn't have to be precise). You'll also need to know the plan view (cross section) geometry of your desired wheel. You'll need to know exactly what the offset (or backspacing, depending on how you measure things) is on the rim and how much of the tire sticks out on each side of that. You'll need to measure (with the wheel off on one side of the truck) some things inside the wheel well, like:

• With the wheels pointing straight forward, you'll need to know how much room you have up, forward, and back from the center of the hub. The yardstick comes in handy here.
• With the wheels turned to one side and then the other, you'll need to know where the wheels will rub on the frame or wheel well. This is where you'll need the cross section values as they apply to the offset. You need to know how much of the tire is inboard & outboard from the hub. With this knowledge and a small square, you can figure out the rest. Clamp the square to a point on the straight edge that will represent the outside of the wheel and then put the straight edge against the hub (you obviously need a point marked on the straight edge where the wheel center is). Now with the wheel turned fully one way, you can see how far out you need to pull your straight edge for the wheel not to hit the frame (you see this from the distance you have marked on the square). You'll also see where the tire is likely to hit any parts of the wheel well.
• You can also take all these measurements and draw them on that piece of paper - this is where the "angle measuring device" is needed, to measure the angle your hub is at from full one way to full the other.

If my instructions are somewhat hazy, let me know and I'll sketch a picture and post it for you - it's not hard once you can picture what I'm flapping about. Having someone else handy to hold things makes the whole process a lot easier.

 

yea I gots yea.... cant do it till later on but il post my results to possibly help others with similar dilemma... its -20 right now but should be likewarmer hovering around freezing later this week ..... but some quick checking so far looks like I may have to shave the edge of the front cab body mount ARGHHHHHHHHHHH...... looks around at the 33X12.5's in porch ! LOL

Remember: im trying to get these tires to be fully functional with max suspension flex possible as I do use it in the mud and rough trails hell northern Ontario roads are rough enough as it is...

and for reference my front tires when straight stick out past stock flares 1 3/8 inches and rear are 1/2 inch past so hardly noticeable right now...

 

I think that if you want to achieve maximum front suspension articulation with 33" wheels, you'll need a lift of some variety, whether you go with body or suspension (or a combination of both) really isn't the issue at the moment. I would first determine how much "up" travel your current suspension is capable of (with the rest of the truck sitting flat on the ground), and then you can see how much room you'd have with the 33's on (with no lift and with the OEM inner fender). The number that you end up with here will tell you how much of a lift you'll need at a minimum to give you this articulation. Now when you have that lift in place, the geometry of how the wheel will fit before hitting the frame is going to be different. I say that if you want to make things simple for yourself, you need to solve one set of problems at a time. If you know you want larger wheels and max articulation, I would calculate how much the body needed lifting and do that first. Next, I'd work out how much of a spacer I would need to give me max side-to-side steering capability. I've found that it's fairly easy to screw things up by trying to include all the variables at one time. For the next step, if you're already committed to putting on those 33's on OEM 8" rims, get 1 or 2 mounted (2 would be best), it doesn't cost that much for the mounting. Now, with the lift in place, put the two 33's on the front and see how much trimming you need and how much of a spacer you need to get full turn. You're doing less measurement this way, but you're still moving toward the same objective in positive steps.

 

well the 33X14 tires are on the truck now and have been for like 2 months I have the clearances at the moment for suspension travel without issue.. except for turning I hit frame with the 33X14.. but in summer with the 33X12.5 on 6X15 rims I was fine but they rubbed frame at steering lock to lock.. so I had 99% steering .

Adding 2 inches outwards would be more then enough ... now using a rim with more offset or spacers I still end up with the same result Pivot angle being offset from how it is now.. but moving this pivot means more room for turning clearance, I gottta widen the fender opening to compensate.... now whether I can get enough by trimming or have to combination more body lift and trim will be determined when it warms up a bit out there.. -36C with wind right now :O

 

I obviously missed the fact that you already had the 33s on your truck - it could have been that I didn't read all your posts or in speed reading, that was obscured. In any event, I don't think that matters too much - all you got was some extra info from me that you didn't necessarily need. If you're happy with the suspension travel, all you need to do (when it warms up or when you can borrow some heated garage space) is the turning measurements. A body lift will ensure that you have a lot less problem with inner fender trimming and a suspension lift will ensure that you have less problem with the turn AND the fender trimming.

 

yea sorry I figured you would have seen a pic on the forum my bad ....

I have 5.5 inches of lift now 3.5 from suspension with moddded keys and shortened bump stops (now this is 3.5 from when I got the Truck . NOT necessarly 3.5 from stock height

Also I added 2 inch body when I changed my cab mounts .
If I gotta go a little more on the body so be it .. fabrication time :O