New wheels on the Tow rig!!!

[turbosniper1]

Well I worked on the fenderwells this weekend to open them up a little bit as promised. The tires were hitting right in front of the doors even when sitting on flat pavement, so I had to do something about it. It was so bad that I was starting to munch the tires up and even eating up the fenders up with only a couple trips on the new tires... so I didn't want to ruin either and couldn't have the truck out of commission.
So... under the knife the truck went! Instead of lifting the truck higher, I cut the fenders. This was my first attempt at body work... so I was a bit nervous with the thin sheetmetal, but it came out just fine!
Here are the results.... I can almost guarantee it won't rub now!! There is A LOT of room in there now, almost 4" between the tire and body instead of 1" as before. Even when the tires turn there is a lot of room left with the new body lines, and I cut it so it does not look too out of the ordinary and almost follows the contour of the fenderwell. The untrained eye might not notice it.


And please keep in mind that the side shot of the whole rig has the back of the truck in a bit of a hole... it is not that loaded... it really sits quite level, and I usually ride with the RamCrawler turned the other direction on the trailer, but had to winch it up that way due to breakage

And LT... this one is for you:

NICE AND CLEAN!!!!

Hope you like what you see!
Matt

 

[ChestonScout]

Good work Matt!

 

[sprueitt]

That picture of your Rock Ram on the Trailer and the matching Tow rig is cool.!!!!

 

[pELYgroso]

I had those tires on a truck for awhile. I sold them because of the flat spot issue. every stinkin time I got in the thing after sitting more than a couple hours and it wobbled the death out of me until it "smoothed out." They were also nearly impossible to balance. I paid walmart for the lifetime balance ($7.00 a tire) and had them in there plenty of times. one time they burnt up the motor of their balancer trying to get it right. haha.

 

[turbosniper1]

I had those tires on a truck for awhile. I sold them because of the flat spot issue. every stinkin time I got in the thing after sitting more than a couple hours and it wobbled the death out of me until it "smoothed out." They were also nearly impossible to balance. I paid walmart for the lifetime balance ($7.00 a tire) and had them in there plenty of times. one time they burnt up the motor of their balancer trying to get it right. haha.

True... they do flat spot a little bit as I stated previously. But you also have to take into account the fact that the truck I have put them on weighs nearly 8000 lbs. Today was the first time I took the truck on the interstate and I was very surprised with the results!! There is some vibration of the wheels and tires,(due to balance issues and bias construction I am sure), but they smooth out perfectly at speeds above 65 mph and rode AWESOME at 75 mph!!! They have considerable howl, almost that of Swampers, but if you are used to mud terrains of any sort on your vehicles... I highly recommend these tires!! The wheels are super strong, with the Magnesium runflats they are the true double beadlock and will take me places even with a blowout, they look awesome, and the tires are almost new... not to mention the price was less than you would pay for tires OR wheels alone!!!:greg:
For the value these are SWEET!!!!
Matt

 

[turbosniper1]

Here are some pics of the surgery process from the weekend... thought you all would enjoy them!
First I trimmed the plastic fender liner for clearance and to make working on the patch panel easier, then plotted out my cut:

Here is a side view of the planned cut line:

This took out just enough material to give the tires clearance, but still leave more than enough material in the fenders and didn't even touch the floor panels! (that would have cut into the door to get that far)
And the final result after adding some bedliner for a little body protection from the tires sticking out as far as they do now:


And finally a couple more shots of the entire tow rig:

Again, keep in mind that I usually tow with the RamCrawler facing front. It is loaded on the trailer backwards due to breakage and it being easier to load it that way.

Overall I am VERY pleased with the final product! I now have more than enough clearance for the 36" tires (measure out to 35 1/4" loaded) with only a leveling spring on the front!! The truck sits nice and low, but the tires look like they fit! Since they have minimum backspacing, they make the stance very stable and ride GREAT!!!:greg: I would highly recommend this modification to anyone with the same set up and plans as I have!!
Matt

 

[LT.]

Jeez, it's about time you did something other than bolt on stuff! I am typing with one hand and I will leave you wondering why.

LT.

 

[turbosniper1]

Jeez, it's about time you did something other than bolt on stuff! I am typing with one hand and I will leave you wondering why.

LT.

TOO MUCH INFO!!! I really don't want to know why you were typing and making a sandwich at the same time!!! YOU SICK MAN!!!

SO WRONG!!! With all of the salmonella poisonings going around these days... that is dangerous!!! Use both hands to make you PBJ ... for GOD's SAKE MAN, it is P B and J!!!!

Give me a buzz when you get off work tonight brother!
Matt