I just paid off my '03 this summer and decided to dress it up just a bit. I didn't really know what I wanted exactly and took a salesman's advice before doing my research. (Shame on me.)

Here's what I got. They installed a leveling kit since I never liked how the truck sat down in the front. The rear is lower in this photo because it's on a sloped driveway and my old tires and wheels are under the canvas.



I like the Nitto Terra Grapplers and I like the Eagle Alloy 079 rims, but I feel the tires just look too small. The impression is likely fueled by the greater width and the deeper rims, but the tires are 305/50R20 and they're about half an inch smaller in diameter than the nearly bald stock tires they replaced (7 years on my original tires!).

I'm going to talk to the dealer (Rhino Linings of Delaware) to discuss swapping them since I've not driven on them yet. *crossed fingers*

My question for the forum is this: Am I just imagining the problem? Would I notice a difference if I just upgraded to 305/55 or would I have to go all the way to 325/60 to really see the difference? The 305/55 would be (by my calculations) about 1.2" larger. The 325/60 would be 2.5" larger.

Would the speedometer would need adjusting? Anything else need to change for larger tires?

 

looks good, although I am partial to the wheel and tire combo....

I would however go up a tire size or two. i agree with your dislike.

 

Thanks for the reply. I spoke with the dealer, who insists that the 305/50s are slightly larger than the 275/60s they replaced. I may be new to this, but I'm pretty sure I have the math right.

305mm is almost exactly 12". The 50 ratio means 6" sidewall from rim to tread. On a 20" rim, that'd make these 32's. This matches with the Nitto website, by the way.

275mm is 10.83in. The 60 ratio means 6 1/2" sidewall from rim to road. On a 20" rim that'd make my old tires 33's. This again matches what I've found on the internet.

Yet this guy insists the new tires are slightly larger.

He also insists that on the Eagle Alloy 079 rims, anything larger than these tires would rub. If that's the case I'm going to have to return the rims as well (more restocking fee!). The Eagle Alloys have a 4.466 backspacing. The old rims have 5.25 according to a search of the forums here. Can anyone tell me if he's right? At this point I'm just not sure I can the guy to know what he's talking about since he's either full of it or feeding me a line on the tires being bigger.

Any info would be appreciated.

 

is that a 2.5" level kit? do you have a picture sitting on level ground?

when i still had my xterra, on the owners club website we had a really good tire size calc thing, but it got lost in the transition to the new website, so i sent an email and got a link to this one which has helped me out a bit with trying to find a tire in the correct size i want and compare the differance to stock.
http://1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp

 

Thanks for the link, that calculator would have saved me some work.

It's a Truxxx leveling kit, yes. The picture is off because my old tires & rims are in the bed and the truck is parked on my sloped driveway.

 

Speaking of handy calculators, here's one that lets you compare tires and rims including offset and backspacing. I don't know how accurate it is, but it says I could go 305/55 or even 305/60 without having a problem with the suspension.

http://www.1000rims.com/rt_specs.jsp

 

I think I'll go to the shop today and try to coerce them to put a 295/60 on the truck to see how it fits. Nitto website lists its overall diameter at 34.45.

 

295/60 would be a good combo. I have 275/70/20 on mine. I think the 325/60 would be sweet but doubtful to fit without a lift. Too wide.

 

The shoes I just put on are BFG MT KM2's that are 305/60R17 which are about 33" in diameter. There is no clearance problems until you get to a tire that's bigger than 34" in diameter with the stock suspension. Will the 295/60R20's fit, if given the option then try them. Their might say they are 34.45 but calculating the tires they come out to be 33.93.

 

Shop insists that if I go with 295/60 they'd have to cut the inner fender well. I'm pretty disgusted at this point and about as tempted to give up and live with the 305/50s as I am to pursue it further.

They installed a Truxxx leveling kit, not sure exactly how much lift it's providing. What I read here and elsewhere on the 'net tells me that I could go up to 34" or so without a problem but the shop insists otherwise. They'll do it if I insist, mind you. Maybe the stance they're taking is just to make it clear they're not going to let me off the hook for a restocking fee.

I just don't know.

Here's two pics of the truck on flat ground without the weight in back. Am I imagining things or is the front standing taller now than the rear? Is the front wheel well larger than the rear?