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305/70-16's on 16x10 MT's

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Old 10-20-2008, 01:42 PM
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Question 305/70-16's on 16x10 MT's

I've searched many threads, but none were 'specific' to my question.

I am running a stock '99 Ram Sport 4x4- but I want to go with the Mickey Thompson Classic II wheels with 305/70-16 MT Radial Baja MTZ tires.

The 16x10 wheel has a backspace of 4 7/16" with an offset of -27mm. I am planning to install a 2" coil spacer in the front before adding the new wheels & tires.

My question is, does anyone know if there will be any clearance problems? Will this wheel/tire combination rub on the arms or fender at all?

My other thought was going with the 16x8 wheel (same backspace w/ +0 offset) and 285/75-16's... but I'd prefer the wider wheel/tires if there will be no rubbing problems.

Thanks.
 
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Old 10-20-2008, 02:17 PM
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I got 315/75/16 on a 16x8 wheel. Not sure what the back spacing is but stock or close to with very minor rubbing. It's the inside of the tire rubbing on the plastic wheel well liner. I do have the 2" coil spacers.
 
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Old 10-21-2008, 01:46 AM
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The 315's are equal to a 35" tire I believe... and the 305's are around 33".

My concern is the width of the wheel and backspacing- because if my calculations are correct, I'd be moving outward by about 3.5" from where I am with the 265's with the 16x7 wheel. I'd gain around .5" from the backspacing on the MT II's, and then an additional 3" from the new 16x10 wheel width.

Someone told me that they ran 285's on a 16x10 wheel and didn't have any rubbing- although they had the Sport Off-Road edition which is already 2" higher than my truck. But since the 305's and 285's are the same height- 33" (the 305's are slightly less than an inch wider)... shouldn't it fit similarly?
 
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Old 10-21-2008, 02:21 AM
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You are correct a 315/75/16 is a 35x12.5x rim size. A 305/70/16 is about a 33x12x rim size. So you a bit shorter in height and tid bit narrower, they should be fine. If your still nerves about it call around to the tire shops and see if they won't mount one up for you to see before you buy. If you do decided to run the bigger tire for a long time you might think about taking it to the dealer and have them adjust the "pinon factor" this is what adjust your speedometer.
 
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Old 10-21-2008, 11:10 AM
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I'm not sure what the backspacing on my wheels is but they stick a couple inches out the sides. They are 16x10 Eagle Alloy wheels not sure that you can even get them in more than one backspacing. The sites I've seen them on only list one backspacing. Anyway, I then have 305/70R16 BFG MT's mounted on there. The truck has a 3" Skyjacker lift. So a similar setup to what you are going with. Anyway, they work fine for the most part but they do rub slightly. At full lock if sitting there have space but it seems like once moving at full lock they rub or if you hit a bump or anything with it close to full lock. It's not bad at all and definately driveable but it does rub slightly on the plastic fender lining stuff. I think this is due to the 10" wide wheels. You would probably eliminate this if you ran the same tires on 16x8 wheels although I'm not positive that you would. You just wont have that stretched out tire look. The tire is stretched on a 10" wide wheel. It's sometimes hard to seat the bead with wheels that wide but overall I like this setup.
 
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Old 10-22-2008, 02:15 AM
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I like the look of the wheels sticking outside of the fenders. If someone can fit 285/75-16 Mickey Thompson MTZ Radials on a 16x10 wheel- then I shouldn't have any problems with bead seating with the 305.

I'd thought about going with a 3" lift instead of the 2"- but I really shouldn't have any problems height wise with only going 2".

I've been contemplating just going with 16x8's and 285's... but again, I prefer the look I'd get with the 16x10 wheels; I just don't want them to crunch against the fenders while turning. ;-)
 
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Old 10-22-2008, 09:39 AM
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I have 265 70x16s on a 10 inch wide wheel and no problems seating them. All my stuff is two wheel drive though so it is not for off roading. I never go to a tire with the tread width is more than the rim width. I like the tread just a little narrower than the wheel, seems to handle better and less sidewall flexing.
Just an old man's opinion.
 
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Old 10-22-2008, 09:52 AM
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Originally Posted by irishboi2000
I like the look of the wheels sticking outside of the fenders. If someone can fit 285/75-16 Mickey Thompson MTZ Radials on a 16x10 wheel- then I shouldn't have any problems with bead seating with the 305.

I'd thought about going with a 3" lift instead of the 2"- but I really shouldn't have any problems height wise with only going 2".

I've been contemplating just going with 16x8's and 285's... but again, I prefer the look I'd get with the 16x10 wheels; I just don't want them to crunch against the fenders while turning. ;-)
No no they do fit fine just stating it's hard to get the bead to seat when mounting them. Since I mount my own tires and have done all of them on the truck since I got it so far I know that it's hard to seat the bead. Never had one come off though. Then again I'm not too hard on them.

You will probably have minor rubbing but if it's like mine it will be minor. You could slightly trim the fender lining and have no rubbing.

Why not 16x8"s with 305"s? Why do you only want 305"s with a 10" wheel? If your worried about rubbing maybe 305"s on a 8" wheel with a lower backspacing would work better and stick out the side some.
 
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Old 10-22-2008, 09:55 AM
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Originally Posted by charlie1935
I have 265 70x16s on a 10 inch wide wheel and no problems seating them. All my stuff is two wheel drive though so it is not for off roading. I never go to a tire with the tread width is more than the rim width. I like the tread just a little narrower than the wheel, seems to handle better and less sidewall flexing.
Just an old man's opinion.
If you brought a tire to me with a tire narrower than the wheel when I worked at a shop or even now that I just do my own tires I don't think I'd mount it for you. That just doesn't sound like the safest idea but I may be wrong.
 
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Old 10-22-2008, 12:35 PM
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I was talking about the tread , not the tire being narrower than the wheel. . With less sidewall flex it will quicken the steering response and provides better handling. The over all width is greater than the wheel width only not as much. I'm only talking about an inch or so here, not a whole bunch.
 

Last edited by charlie1935; 10-22-2008 at 12:42 PM.


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