Hey wats up fellers, I just got my first durango. It's a 1999 with the 5.9. I've already put the shackles on the back and cranked the t bars 8 turns so its lifted 2 inches. Right now it has a set of 31x10.5 inch tires on it, there about shot so I'm gonna get a new set of mud terrains. Probly the cooper stt. Anyway, I've read that the 32's will fit but the 33's won't. I want 33x12.5 on a 3.75 backspace wheel cuz I've seen pics of this and it looks awesome. The 33's just look so much beefier than the 32's.

Will the 33's fit if
A. I move the front bumper ahead as far as I can.

B. Get my sawzall out and fricken chop the living chit outa my bumper.

C. Remove front bumper and build one of those bad *** custom front bumpers. A good friend of mine ownes a welding/repair shop and he has metal saws, a big metal shear, torches, grinders and you name it, I know we could build one cuz we've built heavy duty bumpers before for old Chevys.

Will any of these ideas clear 33 12.5's with just the 2 inch torsion shackel lift and 3.75 backspace wheels or will there still be clearance problems such as behind the tire. I DON'T want to put on a body lift, I know they are inexpensive and easy to install but I hate seeing all the frame sticking out. Any opinions are appreciated thanks fellas

Also, can any body tell me what size tires came factory on my durango. It has the 5.9, fender flares, transmission cooler, and tow hitch. It has 31's on it now but in the door jam it says 235-75-15 I'm also hoping it has the lower 3.92 gears in it but that I'm not sure of either.

 

If you get in contact with dodge you can order a build sheet for free using your vin. I did it and found that I had all the heavy duty things you could slap on a D. It will also tell you which tires came standard on yours, at least I think mine did.
But you will know which gears it has and what not at least. You will have to get a programmer to reset your speedo though. Dodge will only reset up to the max stock tire size availible on a rig.
As for clearing 33's...
I would say a custom front bumper and alot of cutting in the rear part of the wheel well may be enough. But you still might rub at full lock. I have personally wondered this and decided against it simply because it would cost more then I want to spend!
If you go on copper's website and check the actual size of the 33's M/T tires it may be a bit bigger then 33".
I got Wrangler Duratec on now and though it says 31", it is actually closer to 32" with the tread.

 

no matter what you do if you put 33's on without the 5inches of lift you will have contact at some point, also you really dont want to cut up the inside of the fender too badly because that is what limits water from the road from being thrown into the engine bay (water and electronic engine sensors dont mix very well, trust me)

 

So if I do the torsion bar/rear shackle lift of 2" and a 3" body lift then ill be able to run 33/12.5/15 on 15x8 with 3.75 backspacing? And if not then what combination can i run to use this tire set up?

Does anyone know for a fact or they have them self set this particular set-up before?

 

33x12.5x15 stock rims. Frame contacts cab side. Offsets works better but find a 10.5 or 11.5 wide istead of 12.5. The most contact at bumper is easy to cut out the rear will take a bit. Scrub the tires on surfaces and use that as a cuting guide. The rear well is best to cut flare out at very bottom and I beat the rockers flat towards door. No body lift all stock in this pic. It rolles 35s with the fiberglas fenders and 6in suspention lift, no body lift.

 

Yep, it works but u gotta trim or she rubs. The front bumper is not the problem, there ya just take a sawzall and slice a little chunk of the botum plastic off. It's behind the tire that you have to saw into the metal. Since I did the cutting I've only heard it rub twice so far and that was when she was flexing while offroading. Overall it looks pretty damb tough, the 3.75 backspace wheel looks great. It sticks them meatys out just perfect. and you don't notice where I trimmed unless your lookin for it. If I can figure out how to post pics I will.

 

Here is mine. I did 2 inch shackel lift and I went 9 full turns on the torsion bars so she has just a little bit of a nose up look. Then I did the 3 inch body lift. Then I put on 15x8 pacer warrior aluminum rims with a 3.75 inch backspace and wrapped them in 33x12.5 cooper stt's.
Ok I'm doing this on my phone and im an idiot and can't figure out how to get the pics on my phone onto this post. Sorry. But it does look pretty sweet.

 

Damn I would love to see some good pics of your set up when you do get it up.
People have said the max is 8 turns...may have some problems there...

 

Here is the offset with 8.5 wide Bajas. 35x12.5x15 The front fenders cover 'em completly.