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Rim Backspacing

B

BudgetXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
I know that there's a bunch of threads on here that touch on this but after going through search results for the past hour, I just want to confirm what's what.

I currently have about 3.5 inches of lift and I'm running 31x10.50r15's on the stock 5 spoke aluminum wheels on my 92 XJ. I have cut the fenders front and rear and removed the sway bars to maximize flex. The main places that I rub are on the LCA's at lock and the inner fenders out back (pretty bad too. The sidewall of the tire gets pushed into it pretty hard when flexed).

My next set of tires are gonna be 33x12.50r15's so I basically want to know if I'll have any rubs if I go with 15x8 rims with 4" of backspacing. And just out of curiosity, if anyone can tell me what the backspacing is on the stock rims.

Thanks in advance,

Tristan
 
I think the stock rims are 5-5.25" backspacing. I'm doing the same thing you are, going from 31's to 33's on 3.5" lift. My 31's didn't rub at all, but I'm going to be trimming the fenders as I'm sure the 33's will.
 
My 31's only rubbed at full stuff before trimming. Don't rub anymore and I don't have any bumpstops back there. I'm not worried about the height difference when I go to 33's. I'll just cut more if I have problems. The only thing that I am concerned about is the extra width. I had to lengthen my steering stops on the front with just 10.5" wide tires on the stock rims so I was hoping to be able to shorten them again and regain all of my turning radius with the new rims. I've been doin some more poking around and I think I might actually go with 3.5" to 3.75" backspacing as I'm going to make my own flares anyways I really don't care how far they stick out.
 
with 3.5 12.5's will stick out HARD

go with either 4 or 4.5
 
Awesome thanks. Thats pretty much the conclusion that I came to as well but its always nice to get other's opinions.

If anyone has any pics of 33x12.5's on their XJ's with backspacing info they would be much appreciated. Also, is it worth spending the money on say rock crawler steelies or are the generic ones for like half the price pretty much the same? I know alot of companies will just slap a brand name on generic parts and charge way too much for them.
 
I run 35x12.5's with 4.5" backspacing, and it fits just right.
 
315/75/16's on 16x8's with 4.5" backspacing.

You can see here where it tucks:

IMG_0160%20(Medium).jpg


IMG_0165%20(Medium).jpg



And you can see a little bare metal here, thats all the rubbing I get - mind you, that's a 35's thing and not a backspacing thing. I could adjust my steering stops a little and stop it, but with WJ knuckles you have to weld to the stops and I'm lazy.


IMG_0161%20(Medium).jpg
 
BudgetXJ said:
How much is HARD? I'd rather have them stick out than keep plowing the sidewall into the inner fender. With an open diff, it pretty much stops the high side tire from spinning.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing more than half the tire past the fender sheetmetal
 
For a solid basis of comparison, here are 32x11.5's on stock wheels (15x7, 5.25" backspacing). They rubbed my LCA's just a hair.

dsc00435.jpg


dsc00434.jpg
 
BudgetXJ said:
haha. Good to know. Thats gonna be overkill then. I'm going to go with between 4" and 4.5" backspacing.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I have my 31's on right now and need to replace some of the rear wheel studs before I mount my 33's, but I did a test fit and with 4"BS I remember thinking, man, maybe I should have got 4.5"... Food for thought
 
BudgetXJ said:
How much lift do you have cal?
Click to expand...


In the first set of pictures, I have about 6.75 inches. Its sort of hard to say after you add up custome bracketry, coils, isolators, acos, the weight of bumpers and winches, etc.

In the lower set, thats a RE 4.5" superflex kit almost brand new.
 
I almost think its a little too tall. I'm running 12" shortbody bilstiens, I have 7" uptravel and 5" droop.

5.5-6 is about right, IMO, for 35's.
 
That does need to sit high on the list. I detonated my d35 with 32's. :)
 
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