Lift Kit Tire ????

[Triathlete]

Riff...you make it sound like a 35 inch tire is just plug and play on a lifted VX. This is far from the truth. It requires quite a bit of cladding trimming and some metal surgery on the rear of the front wheelwell or there will be some major interference...unless you only drive straight and never turn the steering wheel.

[VXorado]

D. Good/Year - M/T-R with Kevlar (35" O.D./65 lbs)

The meanest looking tire of the group is "D", the G/Y - M/T-R with Kevlar and is the only asymetrical tire of the group. Fellow member MARLIN has the 34" version of this tire on his Proton, and pictures in his photo gallery.

I have the 35" MT/R... awesome MT for daily driving. I wanted an aggressive MT that had decent road manners. The MT/R is the quietest & smoothest MT I've ever owned.

Riff...you make it sound like a 35 inch tire is just plug and play on a lifted VX. This is far from the truth. It requires quite a bit of cladding trimming and some metal surgery on the rear of the front wheelwell or there will be some major interference...unless you only drive straight and never turn the steering wheel.

...and the ride gets really rough once the IFS is lifted to fit 35s. I used 919 coil springs & a 1" spacer to fit the 35s & started getting a lot of driveshaft vibration. I couldn't stand it & installed the body lift after a month of running 35s. Now everything feels normal again.

[SilverBullet75]

Here's what the Nitto Trail Grappler looks like on an Ebony, 919, with stock rims.
I love them... great off and on road. Quieter than my old Good Year MT/R's.
They are ~33" (285/65-18)





I've since gone with aftermarket rims, but the stock 18s work just fine.

[mdwyer]

Here's what the Nitto Trail Grappler looks like on an Ebony, 919, with stock rims.

By the way, if anyone is interested in debadging the stock rims like SilverBullet75 did, I've got an option for you. I've been testing out vinyl stickers, and have been pretty impressed with how well they're working. If anyone else wants to try them out, I'm still offering up vinyl cutter services to the group.

[VXorado]

I love them... great off and on road. Quieter than my old Good Year MT/R's.

Old style MT/R or MT/R Kevlar? Just curious, I never had the old style...

[SilverBullet75]

Old style MT/R or MT/R Kevlar? Just curious, I never had the old style...

I had the old style MT/R.

Noise scale of 10:
Nitto Terra Grapplers= 1.5
Nitto Trail Grapplers = 5
Old MT/R = 8
Interco Swampers = 10

[VXorado]

I had the old style MT/R.

Noise scale of 10:
Nitto Terra Grapplers= 1.5
Nitto Trail Grapplers = 5
Old MT/R = 8
Interco Swampers = 10

The new MT/R Kevlar & Trail Grapplers should be pretty similar. I had Terra Grapplers prior & the MT/R isn't much louder. Hard to say because I only have 3K miles on them, I'll have update this thread at 20K miles.

[Ldub]

I had the old style MT/R.

Noise scale of 10:
Nitto Terra Grapplers= 1.5
Nitto Trail Grapplers = 5
Old MT/R = 8
Interco Swampers = 10
Nitto Mud Grappler...it goes to 11...

Fixed the scale for ya Bro...

It may be my imagination, but I've noticed that "knobby" type, offroad tires seem to get louder as they wear. My theory is, that from top to bottom, the lugs get a little wider as they wear, thereby slapping more rubber on the pavement as they age...

Just a theory...

[Riff Raff]

It may be my imagination, but I've noticed that "knobby" type, offroad tires seem to get louder as they wear. My theory is, that from top to bottom, the lugs get a little wider as they wear, thereby slapping more rubber on the pavement as they age...

Just a theory...

x2. Winner , Winner, Chicken Dinner!!! That ain't no theory Dubster, that's a damn fact. That's the down-side to M/T's is they get noisier and the ride becomes bumpier as the tread lugs wear down. The ride is excessively harsh when slowing down to a stop at a red light/stop sign. Worn M/T's feel like tank tracks when going slow, as you can feel every tread lug slap the pavement.

I used to have BFG - M/T's (old original style simular to today's Toyo - M/T) mounted on my FJ-40. As the M/T's wore down, the harsher ride nearly rattled my dentures loose, and I could literally feel every tread lug slap the pavement. It reminded me of when I used to put playing cards with clothes-pins onto my spokes of my sting-ray bicycle when I was a kid. I later switched over to the BFG - A/T's for my next set, and my FJ-40 now runs smooth as glass on the pavement. M/T's may look cool brand new; but as they wear, the novelty and coolness soon wears away with the tread. No more M/T's for me, ever.

[angeno]

Man these look GREAT!! Can you tell me if you had to do any trimming of your front cladding? If so, how hard was this?

Here's what the Nitto Trail Grappler looks like on an Ebony, 919, with stock rims.
I love them... great off and on road. Quieter than my old Good Year MT/R's.
They are ~33" (285/65-18)






I've since gone with aftermarket rims, but the stock 18s work just fine.

[Ldub]

Man these look GREAT!! Can you tell me if you had to do any trimming of your front cladding? If so, how hard was this?

The "usual" cladding trim looks like this...

[SilverBullet75]

The "usual" cladding trim looks like this...

Yep... that's about the same amount that I had to do, with a little hammering on the back of the fender-well.
Nothing crazy.

[Riff Raff]

Riff...you make it sound like a 35 inch tire is just plug and play on a lifted VX. This is far from the truth. It requires quite a bit of cladding trimming and some metal surgery on the rear of the front wheelwell or there will be some major interference...unless you only drive straight and never turn the steering wheel.

LOL, well I never said putting on 35's was gonna' be an easy task and I apologize if that's how you interpreted my post.

However, using the combination of the OEM 18x7 rims and the 285/75R18 (35" O.D.) tires is the absolute easiest route to join the elite 35" O.D. club!!! The true secret to success is using the OEM 18x7 rim which is gonna' greatly minimize any front wheel-well interference. Sure; modifications must be made during the course of installation, but the task at hand will be greatly reduced as opposed to using wider aftermarket rims with different offset(s).

Regarding the Nitto - Trail Grappler. An excellent M/T tire and it is also available in the super rare size of 295/70R18 (34.57" O.D./66 lbs est.). The 295/70R18 is only made by Nitto and in only two(2) models (Terra-Grappler A/T & Trail-Grappler M/T). The 295/70R18 can still be squeezed onto the OEM 18x7 rims without issue and would be an awesome choice. Just know they are still a tad bit heavy and so drive accordingly.




EDIT: Take a peek at the websites of www.Tires-Easy.com; www.OnlineTires.com; and www.4WheelParts.com and enter the sizes that I earlier indicated in Post #7 as you search for various choices.