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oldtime
Member Joined: 12 Sep. 2009 Location: Missouri Status: Offline Points: 4183 |
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The tops of rear wheel house should easily clear up to 35” tall tires with standard suspension.
It’s typically the wheel offset that becomes a concern. 0r in effect the overall rear track width. 7.50 wide on a Jeep Kelsey Hayes wheel will have some minor rubbing on the inner wheelhouse panel. Yet even the military 7.00 will rub a little at rear if fully stuffed. It really only becomes a cosmetic concern for the paint. I have never seen a 6.50 that rubbed the rear inner wheel panel. No tire rubbing concerns up front if the steer angle is limited. Technically speaking the 7.50 is considered as being too wide on a 5” rim. They are supposed to be mounted on 5.5 to 6” wide rims for optimum road use. But myself I find that I always prefer my rims to be a tad on the narrow side of optimum for a couple good reasons. My reasons entail the load range, the air pressure and rim lip protection.
Edited by oldtime - 30 June 2020 at 4:11pm |
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Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
T98-A Rock Crawler using exclusive factory parts and Approved Special Equipment from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963) Zero aftermarket parts |
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Greaser007
Member Joined: 16 Jan. 2018 Location: Anderson, Calif Status: Offline Points: 850 |
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So many choices !
What is that light green Jeep in the background of the first page photo ? That jeep has some rubber i would consider for running the Rubicon. I am going to vary somewhat here, but for general off-roading I truly do not enjoy skinny tires. Up here in My neck of the woods skinny tires do not provide much floatation for driving around on an 8-foot snowpack. period. I grew up riding in a '53 Willys pickup with skinny tires and they about shook my teeth out. We all have our likes and dislikes and for most of us we wind up learning by trying this and that. I only have 18-summers experience running the Rubicon both directions. And i never ran a locker either in a '46 Willys (2-summers) stock drivetrain except for articulation mods and Saginaw Power Steering, and 16-summers in the '77 cj-7 w no lockers but the stock 3-spd trans got swapped out real quick for a T-18 trans, which made all-the-difference, just being able to go slow and easy. Being a 'local' (6-hour drive) to the Rubicon Trail, it is mostly all i know except for crawling around the local Lava Bed trails. So in Tehama County, we have more Lava flows than dirt on the east side. Choosing a Locker is like choosing an RV, there is No one-size-fits-all. The AMC Model 20 rear axle assembly is often frowned-on, but in all those summers running a T-18 transmission and 32-12.5-15 tires, i had No issues. Air pressure is your best Friend if not running traction aids. Now about free-wheeling hubs in the rear: i flat towed my jeep most years and it was always a pia to unbolt the rear driveline and wire it up underneath for the flat-tow. Warn hubs would have been nice with a free-floater set-up. The Rubicon is relentless on equipment trail-prepped or not, and as a Real old guy told me my first trek through in 1983, "you need low gears and good articulation. To reach this goal, you must make modificaions from ORIGINAL. Longer-than-stock shocks, clearance'd u-joint yokes, so you don't get Bind in a tight twist which will snap a u-joint with a loud Pop !! Any selectable locker is a nice choice. I know you are hoping to keep your jeep looking original, so it looks like you are getting close. My last year to run the Rubicon was 2001, and that was the height of the production of the Cherokee's with the Rubicon Express long-arm kits. Those Cherokees work most impressive if set up with ARB selectable lockers front and rear, and with the Terra-low 4:1 and balloon tires for aired-down grip. So, with 2001 being my last year to traverse the Rubicon, i am obsolete. It feels weird to be one of the old-obsolete-guys. hahahahaha But, i am still there in spirit. |
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EJOWest
Member Joined: 07 May 2020 Location: Petaluma, CA Status: Offline Points: 77 |
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Thanks for all the information! The Blue/Green Jeep was my original starting point but it being a halfway decent MB I couldn’t bring myself to start modifying that. That said the M38 is in decent shape to restore as original but you have to start somewhere.
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Metcalf
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 21 May 2009 Location: Durango, Co Status: Offline Points: 736 |
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I would plan on pushing the rear axle back 1-1.5" to make the 7.50s fit a bit better. Then plan on doing some trimming and/or folding a new edge on the rear of the wheel opening. I would suggest removing the spare tire mount/braces also on the passenger side if you are using a cj2-3 tub. |
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42 MB that had a one night stand with a much younger 69 CJ5 and a 50s GM truck.
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EJOWest
Member Joined: 07 May 2020 Location: Petaluma, CA Status: Offline Points: 77 |
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Okay thanks for the input! Not positive I'll be using the 7.50s yet. I'm still going for a stock look as much as possible so may just stick with the 700-16 NDT if it's not a huge difference in performance over the 750s.
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smfulle
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 16 Sep. 2010 Location: Ogden, Utah Status: Offline Points: 6141 |
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7.50s are stiffer than 7.00s because the were designed for heavy trucks. They also have fewer lugs per tire because the lugs are bigger.
Stiffer = less flex off road resulting in less traction Fewer lugs = fewer edges to grip stuff resulting in less traction Larger diameter = more “lift” resulting in better ability to get over belly snags My OPINION is that the first two downsides are not overcome enough my the one upside to make it worth the effort to do. Your milage may vary. |
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EJOWest
Member Joined: 07 May 2020 Location: Petaluma, CA Status: Offline Points: 77 |
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Very Good Points Stan! Thanks for that!
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oldtime
Member Joined: 12 Sep. 2009 Location: Missouri Status: Offline Points: 4183 |
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I’m also interested in Stan’s post.
It’s obviously backed with ample experience. Looks to me like the 7.00 only comes in 6PR and the 7.50 only come in 8PR. And I must say that 6PR has ever been my gold standard. I have also noticed too from reading specs and observing various tread widths that the 7.50 has just enough of a wider tread width to effect the maximum allowable steering angle. Also that extra tread width will be noted at full stuff on rear wheelhouse paint. Stan, what rims are you running 4.5 or 5.0 width ? 6 ply right ?
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Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
T98-A Rock Crawler using exclusive factory parts and Approved Special Equipment from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963) Zero aftermarket parts |
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Joe Friday
Moderator Group Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 26 Dec. 2010 Location: Jeep Central Status: Offline Points: 3654 |
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Awful lot of tire knowledge there Stan. Maybe I should change jobs. |
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EJOWest
Member Joined: 07 May 2020 Location: Petaluma, CA Status: Offline Points: 77 |
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I was told the M38 ran when parked but it had been sitting for 12 years. Fired right up after a little tinkering and drove out of the barn and around the barn yard this weekend. The tires were completely shot and I had these 750s on hand so I put those on for now. Need to do a little fine tuning but I think the go devil is in business!
The T90c and Tera Low D-18 are on their way as well as spindles for a full floating kit. Edited by EJOWest - 13 July 2020 at 10:31pm |
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Ol' Unreliable
Member Joined: 25 Sep. 2016 Location: CO Springs CO Status: Offline Points: 4226 |
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"It even has brake lights. Wow, look at that!" But does it have brakes?
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There's a reason it's called Ol' Unreliable
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EJOWest
Member Joined: 07 May 2020 Location: Petaluma, CA Status: Offline Points: 77 |
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Still in the planning stages. I've been looking into suspension mods. I don't really want to lift the Jeep if I don't have too but have been reading mounting rear springs in the front might be a good option to add a little axle travel without changing things too dramatically. Any pros or cons to putting rear leafs on the front?
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EJOWest
Member Joined: 07 May 2020 Location: Petaluma, CA Status: Offline Points: 77 |
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Finally getting to work on "Trigger". Trigger Gets lower gearing and overdrive.
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bobevans
Member Joined: 31 July 2005 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Status: Offline Points: 844 |
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Nice! And you have a sweet garage to work in!
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'48 CJ2A
'56 DJ3A '79 CJ7 And two of them actually run! |
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EJOWest
Member Joined: 07 May 2020 Location: Petaluma, CA Status: Offline Points: 77 |
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Next week is my bucket list Rubicon Trip so I have a little updating to do since my last post. We had a little health issue in the family the past several months and I didn't think I was going to make the Rubicon this year. Things have improved on the home front and it looks like I'll make it. Here's the run down of what I've been up to since February.
I replaced the leaf springs with new crown ones, new shocks, and Big Willy U bolt skids. Installed Lock right in the front. Installed a Detroit Locker in the rear. Installed 11" brakes all around and full floating kit in the rear. I did the stud knuckle conversion. Duel reservoir MC I installed the beefier steering drag links and ends, also the m3a1 style shackles, and ended up sticking with the 700x16 NDTs I installed some Big Willy Rock Sliders I mounted a warn M8000 winch and located the control box under the dash. After getting everything back together I took "Trigger" on a 100 mile test drive out to the coast and it was running a little hot so I did some improvements on the cooling system. I put another 50 mile test drive on it and the cooling is running perfect. Also I noticed there was a power drain on the battery over night so I replaced the old frayed wiring with a new wiring harness. No more drain on the battery. I'm looking forward to taking "Trigger" on the Rubicon Trail next week with the CJ2a Page group! |
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ace32107
Member Joined: 19 Sep. 2017 Location: Maine Status: Offline Points: 110 |
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Man, great job on Trigger |
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sparky13
Member Joined: 06 Feb. 2013 Location: Lancaster Pa Status: Offline Points: 320 |
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What for bikini top are you using? I like the way that one looks.
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Mark
1946 CJ2A |
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EJOWest
Member Joined: 07 May 2020 Location: Petaluma, CA Status: Offline Points: 77 |
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I picked the top up from ebay for $45. It was described as a 55-75 CJ5 bikini top. It takes the awning style channel on the top of the windshield. I just attached the awning channel on the windshield there were some existing snaps on the side of the windshield that Matched up with a a little fold and tuck. I meant for it to be temporary until I get something better. Grandpa use to call it temporary permanent. You put something on temporary and it ends up permanent.
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