[obansam]

Hi,

This question has probably been asked over and over again...but if I change my stock Jimny rims for 15x7 with a -15 offset fitted with 215/75 Bridgestone Duelers M/T 674s, will I likely have any scrubbing issues? I currently have a 40mm OME suspension lift, all the rest of the running gear is stock.

Cheers
Andrew

[Gwagensteve]

No good reason to run 215's on anything other than stock rims. 7's are far too wide.

Steve.

[Jezza86]

nope, but you'll have rims too wide for your tyres.

[obansam]

hmmm...What size tyres would you recommend with a 7" rim, keeping in my that I don't really want to start cutting the guards

[Gwagensteve]

Wouldn't it be the other way around? As in which rim width do a need to run the tyre size I want?

I don't think there's any tyre for a 7" rim that won't require trimming.

[31zook]

235s on 7s will fit, small trimming.

If you want offset then sure, but for 215s I would stay on zook wheels as it will turn, track, and be better on fuel.

[obansam]

that's pretty much what I was aiming for, some additional offset to improve track width, although I guess it is marginal. We use a lot of tracks that are cut out and we tend to rub against banks often, so I was thinking a wider track would also offer some protection as well as added stability. I'm not too concerned about fuel as this is not a daily driver, it's pretty much the cheapest to truck to run in our club!

Will 235's fit without a body lift?

[greenzook89]

Yes 235s will fit without a body lift. My old jimnys had 235s on 15x7 rims and just some light trimming was required. I was also running a 40mm spring lift.

[obansam]

Sounds good how was it to drive on larger tyres, did you notice much of a loss in power?

I'm guessing by light trimming you're meaning guards only? nothing structural I hope?

[Jezza86]

chuck on some stud spacers mabie? extra track and stock wheels?

[obansam]

yeah, I had considered that, but they're not road legal in NZ

[Jezza86]

theirs fair reasons for that. but it takes the same amount of time to put 4 of these on as it does to change 4 weeks. a good jack and you'd be laughing.
plus, your unlikely to get caught once every things covered in mud it all looks the same.

[greenzook89]

obansam wrote:

Sounds good how was it to drive on larger tyres, did you notice much of a loss in power?

I'm guessing by light trimming you're meaning guards only? nothing structural I hope?

It was more sluggish than standard. And low range sucked. Still would hold 110 on the highway though. If you plan to drive technical terrain I'd be inclined to gear it to avoid slipping the clutch everywhere. With trimming yeah it was only the plastics. I dodnt need to cut any metal. Check out some jimny build threads ( theres plenty) and that will give you some ideas.

[31zook]

If you have wheels outside the guards you will need trimming.

[obansam]

think I might just stick with my standard rims and put on some 215/75's and save myself a whole lot of hassle!

Cheers

[obansam]

I couldn't resist the opportunity and have bought some 15x7 -15 offset rims. Only one fitted for a test, 215/75 15. This size rim is difficult to get here in NZ so it was too good a deal to pass up. If it doesn't work out (when I do get some new tyres) I will put the 215s on the original rims. But I'm sure the 15x7's will be put to use sooner or later, there's always the 235 option, but not keen to go there (yet) without thinking about re-gearing!

Makes the stock 205s look pretty small I thought!

[Sloba]

sorry digging up an old thread but why are 215's not recommended on a 7" rim? I was looking at maybe getting some 15x7 -13 offset wheels and just running my current 215/75r15 kl51 on them for a bit more offset.

Everything else I find on the web about tire and rim sizes seem to indicate a 215 width tyre is perfectly fine on a 7" rim and is actually within the recommended widths for 7" rims?

http://www.tyresizecalculator.com/tyre- ... calculator

unless of course i',m missing something here and its all to do with when you are running them offroad at lower than normal pressures..

cheers,
Mark

[christover1]

More chance of sidewall damage and beads coming off is 2 reasons I can think of

[obansam]

I've now had my new rims with 215/75's on for 3000kms. The look great and handle really well. I fitted tubes and regularly drop my pressures to around 15psi and haven't rolled a tyre (yet!).
With the extra offset (-15mm) I was having scrubbing issues so had to trim and panel beat a bit. I only had a 40mm OME lift, but I also added 10mm trim packers which has made the difference.

[Jezza86]

sloba, yeh fine on road, but if you want to let them to 12, 10, 8 or 6 psi to do some serious work, you would want them on the standard 5.5"wide rims so you dont bust a bead

[Sloba]

Jezza86 wrote:

sloba, yeh fine on road, but if you want to let them to 12, 10, 8 or 6 psi to do some serious work, you would want them on the standard 5.5"wide rims so you dont bust a bead

Cheers for the clarification ,

I don't think it would be often I need to let my pressures down to 12 or less in a jimny , even in soft sand?


I always thought running anything 10 or less is pretty easy to pop it out the bead no matter what combo and not really advisable (unless you have bead locks) or it may happen anyway regardless of if you have 7 inch wide or 6

Noticed vet 180 was popping beads at those pressures even on his standard rims/tyres which backs that up, it's kinda just the risk you take with low pressures anyway

[fordem]

Sloba wrote:

Everything else I find on the web about tire and rim sizes seem to indicate a 215 width tyre is perfectly fine on a 7" rim and is actually within the recommended widths for 7" rims?

It's not just as simple as rim width/tread width, the tire profile (or sidewall height) has to be taken into consideration, and as mentioned before, it impacts the ability to retain the bead at low pressures.

Most tire manufacturers publish "pattern guides" and/or data sheets, some of which are available on the net - pick the manufacturer you like and get hold of theirs - the information will include the recommended width for a given size - study the tables and you'll see that the recommended rim width is not constant for given tread width, it varies with the profile, from memory as the profile increases, narrower rims can be used, because the sidewalls have more flex.

By the way - not everything you read on the internet should be considered as gospel - that table you linked to, I have no idea what source it's creator used, but I'd say it's questionable - it limits a 7" rim to 225 tires - I know of at least one tire manufacturer who considers a 7" rim acceptable on their 245 width tire, and Suzuki themselves spec. 7" rims with 235 width tires as the OE size on a Grand Vitara.

[Gwagensteve]

I'd suggest that table is for road car tyres with a 60% profile or lower. This is not applicable to tyres with a tall sidewall.

For a 215 75 15, a 7" rim stretches the tyre too much and results in poor bead retention and increased risk of rim damage.

[Sloba]

thanks guys for your wealth of knowledge. Some good information in here.

As suggested by fordem I tracked down some of the tire manufacturers specs and recommendations, BFG say the rim width range on there KM and KM2 tyres for the 215/75/r15 is 5.5-7.0 as do Kuhmo with there All terrain, so to me that says even the tire manufacturer is saying its ok to run these on 7 inch rims albeit that is the max of their range?

sources:
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-sel ... #techspecs
http://www.kumhousa.com/tire/category/t ... 43551871B2 (please note this is for the road venture AT51 as their specs for the KL71 like mine dont seem to include down to my size)

[obansam]

I run the BFG KM2 tyres and yes the manufacturer does state a 7" rim is maximum width.

I'd show a pic, but I can't recall how to load them sorry

[Jezza86]

i have 30x9.5"s on 7" rims
i have some rim damage, because i should have got 6.5 " rims.

also, in soft sand, if you go a mud terranin tyre, with LT walls, then yeh youll need to drop to 10's and 8's on hot sand because you have the worst tread pattern avalible for sand.

[Gwagensteve]

The maximum figure is perfectly acceptable from the point of view of the manufacturer, but will provide inferior offroad performance.

Steve.

[shep]

I have 235s on stock rims and they are fine.

[vet 180]

Sloba wrote:

Jezza86 wrote:

sloba, yeh fine on road, but if you want to let them to 12, 10, 8 or 6 psi to do some serious work, you would want them on the standard 5.5"wide rims so you dont bust a bead

Cheers for the clarification ,

I don't think it would be often I need to let my pressures down to 12 or less in a jimny , even in soft sand?


I always thought running anything 10 or less is pretty easy to pop it out the bead no matter what combo and not really advisable (unless you have bead locks) or it may happen anyway regardless of if you have 7 inch wide or 6

Noticed vet 180 was popping beads at those pressures even on his standard rims/tyres which backs that up, it's kinda just the risk you take with low pressures anyway

I went out on the weekend and didn't pop a bead. Mind you I was leading a couple of newbies so was driving pretty tame. I also ran 13.5 psi in the front and 11.5 in the rear. I measured after and I had lost around 1psi in the tyre that always pops and half in the rear. So end of drive I was at just over 12 psi front and 11 rear. I didn't check the other side as I forgot and stuck the compressor straight on. I also waited 5-10mins to deflate this time round. I do think that maybe I am being too aggressive with the car trying to maintain momentum to keep up with the more powerful cars I wheel with and/or that tyre has a little sand in the bead. the first time I popped that tyre I was doing around 60kph (I needed to be going faster to make it) in a big bowel with very choppy sand bouncing me around just after it rained. So that was kind of fair.

A mate with an Xterra (think pathfinder that's good offroad, Nissan's fj cruiser) has 16x7 inch wheels with 265/75R16 hoops stock from the factory. The tyre balloons great and I would feel more confident not popping a bead in that. Even at street pressures it has a good bulge and makes it hard for sand or dirt to get in. I actually think each time I pop a bead it could be because my rim it tapping the sand (ground).

I personally wouldn't run a 215/75r15 on anything wider than a 6 inch rim.

[krat]

shep wrote:

I have 235s on stock rims and they are fine.

Same for me on a swb Vitara.
I run them at 5psi on the beach if I have to and they are great.