Rim / Tire / Offset comparison

[espidus]

Well Riff Raff, that's why Iv'e been following Little Beast to see what he's doing. I'm getting a 3" body lift from Indy4x and yes I already got quotes on the labor from 3 places.

[VXorado]

I'm getting a 3" body lift from Indy4x and yes I already got quotes on the labor from 3 places.

You can install the body lift yourself pretty easily but you'll still need a little suspension lift to fit 35s or possibly a lot of cutting out of the front wheel wells. Either way you can do it without much difficulty. I'll have that body lift write up soon if you decide to install yourself.

[VXorado]

Nice looking proton! I don't think there has been a Proton with 35s...yet.

Here's the pic you requested, the tread sticks out beyond the cladding about 1.5". I would like to bring the wheels in more with positive offset at some point but I like my steelies & can't find exact replacements in different offset. I like the postition of the tires now but I'm afraid I'll get pulled over someday after my tires fling a rock into a windshield.

[Etfren]

I'm going for a similar setup to VXorado with mine, although I've got a 4" suspension lift and no body lift (lots o' cutting!) on my rig thanks to the previous owner. Planning on getting some 15X8 steelies, theses ones to be exact:

http://www.jegs.com/i/Cragar/260/342-5860P/10002/-1

They are a +6 offset instead of the -12 that VXorado is running, so by my math they should stick out some (which I like the look of) but about half what his do, so about .75" outside the wheel wells.

Then I'm putting some 35/12.5/15 GY MTR's on. For the price of 15" tires compared to 18" tires for the stock wheels, its cheaper to buy new wheels and tires than to buy just the tires for my 18's that would need to be powdercoated anyway.

[samneil2000]

I know it's popped up before and I can't remember the answer. Do 15's clear the front calipers?

[VXorado]

I'm going for a similar setup to VXorado with mine, although I've got a 4" suspension lift and no body lift (lots o' cutting!) on my rig thanks to the previous owner. Planning on getting some 15X8 steelies, theses ones to be exact:

http://www.jegs.com/i/Cragar/260/342-5860P/10002/-1

They are a +6 offset instead of the -12 that VXorado is running, so by my math they should stick out some (which I like the look of) but about half what his do, so about .75" outside the wheel wells.

Then I'm putting some 35/12.5/15 GY MTR's on. For the price of 15" tires compared to 18" tires for the stock wheels, its cheaper to buy new wheels and tires than to buy just the tires for my 18's that would need to be powdercoated anyway.

Thats exactly the reason why I went with 15" rims, not as blingy but you save a lot of money on tires. I purchased 5 MTRs from Discount Tire and got them for $210 each. The same tire for an 18" rim is $394 each. $1050 vs. $1970


When are you buying the Cragars? Those are the exact same rims I have but with the offset I want. I would like to see how they fit your VX when you get them installed.

I know it's popped up before and I can't remember the answer. Do 15's clear the front calipers?

Definitely no problems running 15" rims.

[tom4bren]

I know it's popped up before and I can't remember the answer. Do 15's clear the front calipers?

Mine do ... but with my offset, I rekin that's no suprise.

[Etfren]

Well they seem to be fine on VXorado's rig. I tried my friend's 15's with 35's on (only on the back, because I thought it was the back brakes it had to clear) and they fit fine with no issues. Tried two different sets actually, some steelies and some alloys with different offsets.

[Etfren]

Well you should all know that Riff's rig is stock height and on the stock wheels. He takes every chance he can get to praise the perfect fitment and low weight you get at stock height or lifted with the factory 18X7 (or 16X7 for 99's) wheels and how a 285 tire looks best and will fit on stock height with minimal trimming.

[djvx]

Alot of Riff bashers here again. Shame on you all. But what many of you defend as not being a royal pain IS a royal pain for others. I come out on the side of Riff here. Maybe you had a 2nd vehicle to drive while you spent thousand(s)or more making and paying for tire, wheel, suspension, and body mods. Glory for bustin' your tail is great if you've got hours upon hours of free time and cash coming out of your #$$. I'm very glad you have cash and by no means am I a liberal class warfarer. It's not so much the money as it is the damn research, and the crap that constantly goes wrong, or the wrong parts, all that hassle. I'm just saying for you folks with the love of wrenching or pockets packed full of cash and extra rigs to drive while yours is gettin' modded felt mis judged by Riff I can tell you he was speaking for me on that one.

[Riff Raff]

Yeah, so take that!!! Neener, neener, neener. But seriously, no harm; no foal. Ya' gotta love this VX family. It sometimes reminds me of when my relatives are over for Thanksgiving Dinner and the heated argu.... err.... "discussions" (yeah, that's it) that develop, LOL.

For the record, I praise those folks that go the extra effort and mod their VX's to their own personal liking (heck; they own it, so go for it). They take the risk of going through with the mod and that it may present some unknown challenges before final completion or may possibly open-up a whole new can-o-worms creating a domino effect of issues or continued required maintanance due to the mod. That is the risk versus reward factor. Bottom line-- be happy with your VX and do those things or intentionally NOT do those things in your continued quest to be a satisfied VX owner.

[JoFotoz]

WOW djvx...

Alot of Riff bashers here again. Shame on you all. But what many of you defend as not being a royal pain IS a royal pain for others. I come out on the side of Riff here. Maybe you had a 2nd vehicle to drive while you spent thousand(s)or more making and paying for tire, wheel, suspension, and body mods. Glory for bustin' your tail is great if you've got hours upon hours of free time and cash coming out of your #$$. I'm very glad you have cash and by no means am I a liberal class warfarer. It's not so much the money as it is the damn research, and the crap that constantly goes wrong, or the wrong parts, all that hassle. I'm just saying for you folks with the love of wrenching or pockets packed full of cash and extra rigs to drive while yours is gettin' modded felt mis judged by Riff I can tell you he was speaking for me on that one.

I must have done mine ALL wrong.
It took me about an hour of research here..
About three hours of labor and waiting for alignment...
And under $1000.

Thanks for the heads up on whats really involved

I'll set aside hours and hours this weekend, check my #$$ for thousands of bucks...

...and do it right this time





jo

[djvx]

WOW djvx...




I must have done mine ALL wrong.
It took me about an hour of research here..
About three hours of labor and waiting for alignment...
And under $1000.

Thanks for the heads up on whats really involved

I'll set aside hours and hours this weekend, check my #$$ for thousands of bucks...

...and do it right this time





jo

When I modded my rig I decided on old man emu's. I bought some General Grabbers, spent alot of time researching, but it went pretty smooth for me. Cost was a little over $1200 with alignment and a full size spare and an extra stock 18" rim. Minor clad cuts, and torsion cranks, the usual easy stuff.I think it takes an average vx'er more than 1 hour to decide on tires and wheels and do all the research. But doing basic mods like tires, rims isn't what I was talking about.
I've read alot of threads on Little Beast and several others who documented weeks of massive mods with pages and full threads devoted to the project. One was the vx'er with those kmc Rockstars, think he's from Utah or something, the list of parts he bought was like a page long, and it was thousands of dollars. Those are the projects I was talking about. Obviously what I opined about differs from your personal experience. Thanks for letting me know that.

[JoFotoz]

Ya..what you "opined" about was super generic..

...and, if not refuted would scare the $h*t outta those
very happy to spend a w/end tinkering with their rides.

( No rental car..no bucks outta their #$$ )

There are levels...and one TRUTH is,

...lifting a VX is EASY.

I know it is...cause as a neophyte ......................

...I did two as a ( learning ) helper......
...and one, in 45 mins on my own.


My point wasnt to slam you, but to encourage others to TRY..
.
...rather than scare the $#it out of them.



Jo

[VXorado]

Alot of Riff bashers here again. Shame on you all. But what many of you defend as not being a royal pain IS a royal pain for others. I come out on the side of Riff here. Maybe you had a 2nd vehicle to drive while you spent thousand(s)or more making and paying for tire, wheel, suspension, and body mods. Glory for bustin' your tail is great if you've got hours upon hours of free time and cash coming out of your #$$. I'm very glad you have cash and by no means am I a liberal class warfarer. It's not so much the money as it is the damn research, and the crap that constantly goes wrong, or the wrong parts, all that hassle. I'm just saying for you folks with the love of wrenching or pockets packed full of cash and extra rigs to drive while yours is gettin' modded felt mis judged by Riff I can tell you he was speaking for me on that one.

C'mon Man! The VX is one of the cheapest rigs to lift. Buy new coil springs and crank the torsion bars... done . Even with all the suspension lift bells & whistles, its still cheaper than any new Jeep lift out there. I have a tiny amount of money invested into the VX compared to any new car for sale today. And my other car... only in my dreams

Your assumptions are way off... I will now assume that because you have a Harley, you have boat loads of money and spend all your time polishing the chrome exhaust pipes. Did I just figure you out? Probably not...

And I don't think anyone is against Riff Raff, its all for fun & okay to disagree with the "Tire Guru" every once and a while.

I understand your argument though... my advice to anyone is don't modify your VX without some time & money to spend. Leave it stock & enjoy it

djvx, I'm a little surprised that you feel this way since you were just interested in building a rear door spare tire carrier. I spent more time on that project than anything else with the VX and your post sounds like you have no interest in modifying. Are you still planning on building a spare tire carrier?