i have a 2004 1500 quad cab 4x4 with the 5.7 hemi and love it to death. I want to add bigger tires to it to lift it up a lil more for the look then anything. Im going off roading every once in awhile and want a tire that can do the job but it wont be an every weekend off roading experience. Any suggestions on size and if i need a leveling kit? I dont really want to do the body or suspension lift, but just a lil taller truck, and im wanting it to match up well, meaning the look of it.. huge lifted trucks with 35's still look like they have tiny tires because the truck is to high in my opinion. I also want the spare to fit in the factory position. And accomplishing all of this without rubbing the wheel wells or anything. i have the factory 17 inch rims right now.. would love to keep with them, but if it is needed i could purchase new rims. Thanks everyone. once it is done ill post some pics of the new tires on it.

 

I just put 285/70/17's on my 03 4x4 and love them. They look nice and don't rub at all. I probably could have gone a size bigger, but I like what I got. Toyo open country a/t's. Love those a lot too.

 

I put a leveling kit with a rear add-a-leaf on my truck a few weeks ago. It gave it a very nice stance. Last night I got my new rims and tires mounted. They rub a little bit, but nothing a little torsion crank and wheel well trimming won't cure. My rims are 18x10, and my tires are 325/65/18. If I did it again, I would not have gone to a 13.50" wide tire and stayed with a 12.50. Oh well, live and learn. I definitely would not put 35x12.50 tires on a truck that less than a leveling kit. Cranking the torsion bars just does not cut it.

 

Cranking the torsion bars gives you approximately 2" of lift in the front, I have been running with my bars cranked for 2 years. It accomodates a 35" tire EASILY. I am using 20" rims. Also, some people say not to crank the bars. I find that after cranking the bars, my truck drives better and handles even more smoothly. Also, I have not yet had to replace my shocks, only during serious offroading have the shocks ever topped out...

 

Not sure if I am getting this correct... keeping the factory rims for now which are 17inch rims I can put 35in tires without rubbing anythign if i crank my torsion bars enough to add for the clearance? And checking around i see the 325/65/18 tires i understnad that i the measurements but where do you find the 35" tire? I am guessing it somethign really simple I am just missing and will get a chuckle from mos tof you but Im at a loss. I understand the differen e in teh conversion but most tires i see are the 285/70/R17
correct me if im wrong. the 285 is in mm and is the width of the tire and 70 is the height of the sidewall and the 17 is the size of rim it fits... if this is correct.. where does the 33" and 35" tires fit in there.

 

i dont know what the first number (285) stands for but i think youre right about it being millimeters. the second number (70 in this case) is the percent of the sidewall compared to the width of the tire. like if the side wall is 70 percent as tall as the tire is wide then the second number would be 70. if its 50 percent as tall as the tire is wide then it would be 50. get it? its sort of hard to explain. the last number (17 in this case) is the height of the rim that it fits on. i think like 315s are equivalent to 35s or something like that im not sure about that tho. the when people refer to 33s and 35s they just converted the millimeters to inches i think. again not sure...

 

ok so now how do i know for sure what size tire will fit? any ideas

 

Alot of times you have to measure the tire to find the true size...it varies with different tire manufacturers. Typically, a 285mm is a 33" tire, 305mm is 34", and 315mm is 35". These are not exact though. By cranking the T-bars, you do actually "tighten-up" the front end, and may feel that it handles slightly better. Many say that the danger here is that it puts too much strain on the front half-shafts and CV boots. However I have never had any problems, and I think you should be fine if you crank them 1-2", but do not max them out. Also, your alignment may be off slightly after adjusting the T-bars.

 

Thanks fella, and shep love the mojaves on your truck.. looks awesome! I think im going to try and tighten up the torsion bars tomorrow if it is not too cold. Ive never done that before but after reading abou tit on here i think i can handle it. now im debating on whether or not to buy bigger rims also and the 33in tires. Dont think I want anything bigger then 20" rim. right now i have 17" rims

 

How to read metric tire sizes, I'll use 285/70/17 as the example. As has been stated, "17" is the rim diameter, the "70" is the height of the sidewall stated as a percentage of the width and the "285" is the width of the tire in millimeters. As Shep21's comment, "a 285mm is a 33" tire, 305mm is 34", and 315mm is 35". These are not exact though". The reason is because it depends on the height of the sidewall. For example, a 285/70/17 would be taller than a 285/60/17. HTHs