Anyone running 35's ?
Rookie
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 79
Likes: 1
First off: yes its 4x4 (wouldn't put this much into a 2wd, sorry) and its flat black from the bedliner that I covered it in. Its a trail rig used as a daily driver (but my girlfriend still gets in it looks good enough, right!
) I do as much 4x4 as time allows with school and work and like the protection the bedliner gives. Also, I like the flat black better than the maroon color I bought it in. Plus after being in a couple accidents, it helps to blend things .
Bumper:
"Anatomy":
-The bumper on these has 3 parts, from outermost part to inner:
---The plastic/fake chrome outer shell that is painted
---Black plastic that is the shape of the bumper that holds the fog lights and wraps around the sides
---Actual metal bumper that only spans from the left portion of the chasis to the right (its about 36"x7")
What needs to be cut: I am unsure because I removed both plastic pieces when I purchased the truck with the intent to build a custom bumper and I recommend you do the same. When you install the 3 inch body lift needed for the 35's, the chasis will remain in the same place while the body is higher, along with the grill and headlights (obviously). Therefore, if you use the stock bumper, you will have a 3+ inch gap above the bumper, not to mention it will most likely scrape on the tires. Most body lift kits should come with brackets to raise the bumper, but this COMPLETELY weakens the bumper. With these brackets, the bumper might help in an accident but if you ever bump it or scrape it off road or push another vehicle you will want a more solid bumper. If you are planning on using a winch, you will DEFINITELY want a more solid bumper, even if you are only going to have your roller fairlead on the bumper and winch mounted to the chasis.
I assume if using the supplied brackets in order to keep the original look appeals to you, then you will likely not want to cut the side of the plastic pieces enough to clear the tires...I honestly doubt it could pass as looking manufactured unless you cut the 2nd (under) layer of plastic as needed, put the outer plastic on, and use a heat gun to wrap the outer plastic around the side and trim the extra. Also remember, the tires may clear on the road, driving with the sway bar on, but if you articulate the tires fully up with the sway bar off you will need more clearance.
In short: Be willing to cut off a good portion (2 inches) of the plastic portion of the bumper that helps create the wheel wells. My recommendation: take off the plastic parts, install the lift kit, install the 35s, put the plastic back on, then cut the plastic where it needs to until you can replace the bumper with a custom one.
I built my bumper after the lift, which is important because it accounts for the larger distance between the chasis and body.
Front fender/firewall:
This area definitely needs to be trimmed!
I will use the driver's side as an example and describe it from the perspective of facing the side of the car (same as the attached photo is taken from).
The outer most layer on the area to right of the tire, just left of the driver's door, all the way at the bottom of the body, is made of plastic. I guess you could call it a mud flap, and it extends upward as high as the plastic portion of the bumper is. Remove it, you don't need it. Then remove the large black plastic piece that lines the inside of the wheel well that protects the engine from flinging rocks (this piece will need to be trimmed later).
Under the plastic mud flap is the metal portion of the fender, which extends downward where it is attached with a small bolt. This metal portion of the fender will need to be cut (about 2 inches at the bottom and taperd down as you go up).
Below this, there is a piece of the body that extends outward from the right to the left toward the tire and is in the shape of a triangle. When you get this far, it just looks like it wants to come off or should have never been there in the first place...you can't miss it. This metal flap is where the body seals/glues the side of the body to the firewall. The entire flap needs to be cut along with another 1-1.5 inch "lip" that hangs downard and runs perpendicular to the triangular flap. This lip only needs to be cut about 8-9 inches back. (When you cut this stuff, although I said it was where the parts are sealed, you will not cut the seal off completely so don't worry about water getting in. Leave a small, maybe 1/4 inch of the lips in place, I will post pics.)
Following this (with the 35 inch tire on), you will want to partially reinstall the large black plastic wheel well liner and use tin snips to cut off what gets in the way. Better safe than sorry, so start by cutting as little off as possible and take a little more off as needed...you can always take more off but you can't put it back on!
http://www.protrux.com/gallery_image...stic_1_237.jpg
Here is a pic from the perspective I described this from. Also, you can see that this person (just pulled this from google for now) has the 3 inch body lift but I don't think it has the leveling kit. He is running 265/75/16s=31.65 inches. This is the same size that came with my truck with no leveling kit, no lift kit, just trimming the plastic wheel well liner that I said to cut with tin snips and I was fine. However, this is a great picture to show you how much needs to be cut. If these tires are 31.65" and the 315/75/16s are actually 34.60". The difference is that the "35s" will extend 1.48 or about an inch and a half further on all sides of the tire than what is shown in this picture. (34.60"-31.65"=2.95"...divided by 2= about an inch and a half) Plus some needs to be added for when the tires are turned left and right.
Even after all this, as said before, the tire will still rub a little on the chasis but I haven't found it to be a big problem. The only time you turn the wheel that hard is when you're going slow enought that it doesn't hurt anything to rub.
Here is a pic of the fender cut as much as it needs to be and the triagular piece cut off but the smaller, 1 inch or so lip still needs to be cut back more.Attachment 11614 When figuring out where to cut, I just stood back and imagined a line and cut through whatever was directly behind it.
Will post more pics after I figure out how to do more than 1 at a time.
) I do as much 4x4 as time allows with school and work and like the protection the bedliner gives. Also, I like the flat black better than the maroon color I bought it in. Plus after being in a couple accidents, it helps to blend things . Bumper:
"Anatomy":
-The bumper on these has 3 parts, from outermost part to inner:
---The plastic/fake chrome outer shell that is painted
---Black plastic that is the shape of the bumper that holds the fog lights and wraps around the sides
---Actual metal bumper that only spans from the left portion of the chasis to the right (its about 36"x7")
What needs to be cut: I am unsure because I removed both plastic pieces when I purchased the truck with the intent to build a custom bumper and I recommend you do the same. When you install the 3 inch body lift needed for the 35's, the chasis will remain in the same place while the body is higher, along with the grill and headlights (obviously). Therefore, if you use the stock bumper, you will have a 3+ inch gap above the bumper, not to mention it will most likely scrape on the tires. Most body lift kits should come with brackets to raise the bumper, but this COMPLETELY weakens the bumper. With these brackets, the bumper might help in an accident but if you ever bump it or scrape it off road or push another vehicle you will want a more solid bumper. If you are planning on using a winch, you will DEFINITELY want a more solid bumper, even if you are only going to have your roller fairlead on the bumper and winch mounted to the chasis.
I assume if using the supplied brackets in order to keep the original look appeals to you, then you will likely not want to cut the side of the plastic pieces enough to clear the tires...I honestly doubt it could pass as looking manufactured unless you cut the 2nd (under) layer of plastic as needed, put the outer plastic on, and use a heat gun to wrap the outer plastic around the side and trim the extra. Also remember, the tires may clear on the road, driving with the sway bar on, but if you articulate the tires fully up with the sway bar off you will need more clearance.
In short: Be willing to cut off a good portion (2 inches) of the plastic portion of the bumper that helps create the wheel wells. My recommendation: take off the plastic parts, install the lift kit, install the 35s, put the plastic back on, then cut the plastic where it needs to until you can replace the bumper with a custom one.
I built my bumper after the lift, which is important because it accounts for the larger distance between the chasis and body.
Front fender/firewall:
This area definitely needs to be trimmed!
I will use the driver's side as an example and describe it from the perspective of facing the side of the car (same as the attached photo is taken from).
The outer most layer on the area to right of the tire, just left of the driver's door, all the way at the bottom of the body, is made of plastic. I guess you could call it a mud flap, and it extends upward as high as the plastic portion of the bumper is. Remove it, you don't need it. Then remove the large black plastic piece that lines the inside of the wheel well that protects the engine from flinging rocks (this piece will need to be trimmed later).
Under the plastic mud flap is the metal portion of the fender, which extends downward where it is attached with a small bolt. This metal portion of the fender will need to be cut (about 2 inches at the bottom and taperd down as you go up).
Below this, there is a piece of the body that extends outward from the right to the left toward the tire and is in the shape of a triangle. When you get this far, it just looks like it wants to come off or should have never been there in the first place...you can't miss it. This metal flap is where the body seals/glues the side of the body to the firewall. The entire flap needs to be cut along with another 1-1.5 inch "lip" that hangs downard and runs perpendicular to the triangular flap. This lip only needs to be cut about 8-9 inches back. (When you cut this stuff, although I said it was where the parts are sealed, you will not cut the seal off completely so don't worry about water getting in. Leave a small, maybe 1/4 inch of the lips in place, I will post pics.)
Following this (with the 35 inch tire on), you will want to partially reinstall the large black plastic wheel well liner and use tin snips to cut off what gets in the way. Better safe than sorry, so start by cutting as little off as possible and take a little more off as needed...you can always take more off but you can't put it back on!
http://www.protrux.com/gallery_image...stic_1_237.jpg
Here is a pic from the perspective I described this from. Also, you can see that this person (just pulled this from google for now) has the 3 inch body lift but I don't think it has the leveling kit. He is running 265/75/16s=31.65 inches. This is the same size that came with my truck with no leveling kit, no lift kit, just trimming the plastic wheel well liner that I said to cut with tin snips and I was fine. However, this is a great picture to show you how much needs to be cut. If these tires are 31.65" and the 315/75/16s are actually 34.60". The difference is that the "35s" will extend 1.48 or about an inch and a half further on all sides of the tire than what is shown in this picture. (34.60"-31.65"=2.95"...divided by 2= about an inch and a half) Plus some needs to be added for when the tires are turned left and right.
Even after all this, as said before, the tire will still rub a little on the chasis but I haven't found it to be a big problem. The only time you turn the wheel that hard is when you're going slow enought that it doesn't hurt anything to rub.
Here is a pic of the fender cut as much as it needs to be and the triagular piece cut off but the smaller, 1 inch or so lip still needs to be cut back more.Attachment 11614 When figuring out where to cut, I just stood back and imagined a line and cut through whatever was directly behind it.
Will post more pics after I figure out how to do more than 1 at a time.
Rookie
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 79
Likes: 1
finally...
Here's a couple pics...sorry it took so long, I had to figure out how to post em properly and in good quality.
cutfirewallandfender.jpgnewtirewithfendercutline.jpg
cutfirewallandfender.jpgnewtirewithfendercutline.jpg
