I am about to start making moves to lift my 02 dakota club cab with the 3in body lift from summit or national tire not sure yet but my big question is about the wheels backspacing im looking to get cragar soft 8s or something similar but cheap steel wheels . Im looking for a good offset of the wheels so it looks good and aggressive but i don't want more than half the wheel sticking out i just want a little offset to sling some mud when needed so my question is how much backspacing lets about 2in of tire out from under the fender flares im thinking about getting 285/75r16 so standard sizes 33/12.5/16 on 8in wide wheels please any feed back would be great but if your feed back is do the math please dont post cause i've tried and im kinda tired of being confused as h*ll thanks

 

now im playing with the idea of running 34's has anybody done that with a 4.7L V8 and yes its 4x4

 

You'll want more than a 3" body lift to run 34's. Prob hafta crank tbars and get some blocks for the back

 

i have at least 2 in in tbar cranks and i have 2 in blocks in the rear truck sits level right now about to take some off the front though tires wearing unevenly. also has anyone ever messed with retread tires.? i have heard good and bad as with any tire but im more worried about a blow out or really poor quality tire. but im thinking of going with a goodyear wrangler type tread any reviews on those tread styles?

 

I have had good luck with retreads i use trailmaster lt td 31/10.5/15 but the 235/75/15 is alot better in the snow and they DON'T wear good in the summer time very soft tread compond.

 

still on the topic now i've done some more research and talked to a buddy who has 33x12.5 and he says the backspacing doesn't affect the tires sticking out the side but its the offset any body know what the stock backspacing and offset for dakotas are ? and are our bolt pattern 6 x 5.5 or 6 x 4.5 thanks

 

so found out that dodge stock rims are 5 in backspacing and im thinking of just going with bigger tires and getting tire spacers to get that wider stance im looking for has anyone run 34's with a 4.7 or run 34's at all if so how much trimming was needed i think i can get away with it but eveyone i talk to is skeptical thanks for any imput

 

I'm running 35's onv mine...3in body lift, add-a-leafs in the back and new torsion keys in the front. Def need wheel spaacers. Only rubbing I've got is on the frame. Oh and mines a 5.9

 

you can get complete kits that will lift 97-04 dak's to a total of 5.5"