235/85/16's on Moab's ?

[Brent T]

then you must not fully flex it out

Exactly. With Moabs and 265/75's and an RE 3.5" kit, I ripped both front fender flares off and rubbed a hole in the front lower edge of the rear flares and tweaked the sheetmetal too. No problem until I actually started wheeling it hard, then it was goodbye fender flares. Now I'm flareless and cut.

 

[Vanimal]

Exactly. With Moabs and 265/75's and an RE 3.5" kit, I ripped both front fender flares off and rubbed a hole in the front lower edge of the rear flares and tweaked the sheetmetal too. No problem until I actually started wheeling it hard, then it was goodbye fender flares. Now I'm flareless and cut.

but apparently lockers fix that so you're not hard core
i cut several inches off my fenders and did the severe rear quarter trim where i welded in new wheel wells and i still rubbed with 31's. if you actually wheel, you'll rub with any lift and 31's without bump stops.

now i have lockers and 33's with 5" of lift and i ruined my severely cut fenders from tire rub. i must really suck at wheeling

 

[garr]

but apparently lockers fix that so you're not hard core
i cut several inches off my fenders and did the severe rear quarter trim where i welded in new wheel wells and i still rubbed with 31's. if you actually wheel, you'll rub with any lift and 31's without bump stops.

now i have lockers and 33's with 5" of lift and i ruined my severely cut fenders from tire rub. i must really suck at wheeling

It has nothing to do with hardcore or not,
You guys do a different kind of wheeling out west, Here it is either Soft sand beach driving or Upstate mud, no rocks.
+ My rig is properly bumpstopped.

 

[BlackCTXJ]

I've got an extended set of bump stops and make sure everything is legit before I twist up my fenders - my last XJ was trimmed up, this one will not be as extreme.

**Back to the point - looks like I'm going with 245/75/16's on the MOABs, guess they'll look smallish with the RE 3.5"

Not going with 265's - don't want anything that wide.

Anyone have any sidewall pics of 235/85/16's on 8" wide rims? I understand the tire pressure issues and "odd" wear patterns I might encounter.

 

[deucestudios]

All this talk of tire size vs. fenders, and no mention of backspacing.
With skinny rubber, and factory like backspacing, 32s fit on 3.5" of lift. (255/75/r17 on 17x7 4.5"bs)
This doesn't rub, cause it's actually in the fender well, not 4" out past it:
I have some of the inside corners of the flare cut out, and all that touches is control arm to tire at full steering lock. Barely.

 

[BlackCTXJ]

All this talk of tire size vs. fenders, and no mention of backspacing.
With skinny rubber, and factory like backspacing, 32s fit on 3.5" of lift. (255/75/r17 on 17x7 4.5"bs)
This doesn't rub, cause it's actually in the fender well, not 4" out past it:
I have some of the inside corners of the flare cut out, and all that touches is control arm to tire at full steering lock. Barely.

If those are 7" wide I'm less than confident my 8" moabs will work - crap

235/85/16 MTR's call for 6"-7.5" wide rims ....that extra 0.5" is a deal breaker.

Looks like 245/75/16's are my only route

 

[98stocker]

TJ moab rims are kinda hard to find out here. An option might be to sell those to someone who can use them, and then buy rims that fit the tires you actually want to run.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

im with duecestudios... backspacing makes a big difference. moabs are what? 5" of backspacing? i say add a 1" spacer. youll want/need it if you ever step to a bigger tire anyway.

RE 4.5" lift. 31x10.50 on 4" backspacing. and 2" bump stops. rubbed but never tore anything off lock to lock:

with 2" bump stops, regardless of coil size, you should acheive the same result when you reach full compression.

 

[blubullett]

I wouldn't go any skinnier then 265's on an 8 inch wide wheel or its gonna look funny. But as said before, they will rub unless you properly bumpstop before you wheel. For mild forest trails they are fine.

 

[Ian Christiansen]

TJ Rubicons came with 245/75R16's from the factory on 8" wide wheels and I don't they look goofy.