[Crossy]

Hello looking for some information on how to approach my new project, I have a 2002 grand vitara sl7 which I plan to use purely as a farm truck to get to my lake over the summer months, I want to pimp it right out with the max tyre size as possible just for looks, I have ordered a 2 inch lift kit, 2 inch body lift and 40 mm wheel spacers aswell which convert to 6 x 139 stud pattern, doing it on the cheap I want to buy rims and tyres 2nd hand because it will be lucky to travel 100km a year, whats the maxium tyre size I can put on 16 x 8 steel rims and the best offset ? I don't mind ripping the bumbers off and cutting a few things here and there because I plan on ripping off the doors and chopping the roof off aswell, basically I want to turn it into a polaris type buggy

[Gwagensteve]

OK, there's a bit to unpack here.

The short answer is that with a body lift and substantial hammering of the rear wheel arch opening at the door, a 235 85 16 (so about 31.5") will fit the car on a standard wheel. a 40mm wheel spacer will mean a substantially smaller tyre will be the largest that can fit because the tyre can't tuck inside the wheel arch anymore. likewise at the front, the increased scrub radius will cause the tyre to run into the firewall/leading edge of the door. Additionally, lots of wheel spacer (and then I assume a negative offset 8" rim) will actually make the front of the car sit lower due to the leverage on the front springs.

The largest tyre you can run on a 16X8" rim is around 38". (Michelin ASLAV tyres which are a 325 85 16 or something) and I think there are Mud Trepadors at 38 12.5 16 which will also be fine on an 8" rim. Of course they won't fit your car and it can't turn them.

What's the best offset? well you're running a 40mm spacer so you need to negate that, so around +35 which is't a common offset.

In short, the wheel spacers aren't helping anything. by the time you need custom high positive offset rims to get around the 40mm spacer to end up running the same size tyre you could have run with the stock rims it's not really a cheap solution.

Beyond that it's very hard to advise because when building a car it's conventional to start at the tyre size and then resolve the rims and work on the car to suit, rather than starting with a wheel spacer and trying to work from there.

The 2" suspension lift makes no difference to tyre clearance.

Lets assume you do persevere with extreme cutting and run something larger than 235 85 16 you will find the gearing will be far too tall and the drivetrain too weak.

In short, if you have a job to do that requires a polaris, a Sierra that's close to standard is the car that probably most closely matches what a polaris can do. Cutting up an XL-7 and putting big tyres on it won't make it a polaris, it will make it unreliable and compromised.

Sorry if you think I'm being negative, I jus think this will end up a broken unfinished project if you pursue the wheel spacers and second hand wheel route.

[fordem]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I jus think this will end up a broken unfinished project.

This was my exact thought this morning when I read this - you just can't make a polaris type buggy out of an XL-7.

[Crossy]

Basically I want a stance like this guy has on he's grand vitara, they look like 33s on steel hanging a good 2 inch out, I would settle with 31s but the same stance out

[Crossy]

When I say polaris buggy I mean something like this picture, just a mini version

[Gwagensteve]

That's just a recipe for a broken XL-7.
I'd suggest they're 245 75 16's, so 31" on what looks to be a 16X8 rim which was likely custom made for the application.
Just because there's a photo of something you like the look of doesn't mean it's reliable or functional. Strut style IFS doesn't work with high rim offset. Axle strength is marginal on stock XL-7s.

You can have a go at anything you like and if looks are more important than function I'm sure you can build something that you like, I just don't think the end result will be functional.