I am looking at swapping a set of Waggy 44's into my YJ with plans to run 33x12.5's. (I wanted a HP44 & D60, but budgetary constraints say Waggy) With the anal PA laws, I have to make sure that all of my tread is covered by the flares to keep it street legal for a DD.

I've been lurking & searching for a little while and I am a bit worried that with standard aftermarket rims the 12.5's will stick out past even extended flares. Running the numbers I come up with:

Stock - WMS=60", 15x7 rims, 5.5" backspacing, 8.5" wide tire. Total width = 64.5" give or take a little.

Waggys - WMS=62", 15x8 rims, 4" backspacing, 12.5" tire. Total width = 74.5" give or take a little.

If I am doing my math right here, it looks like I would need 8" flares to cover the full tread of 12.5" tires. Or custom backspaced wheels with about 6" of BS.

I know that there are alot of people out there running Waggy 44's with 33's or 35's that are 12.5" wide. Those of you with street legal machines, what are you doing about the width? Running higher backspaced wheels, or just letting them hang out? Or is my math just screwed up?

I don't have the axles yet so I can't take any measurements to see how much backspacing I could get away with without having a clearance problem with the brakes or steering. If I can run 6" of backspacing without hitting anything, I don't have a problem buying custom wheels. I know there are allot of people out there running variations of this combination, so there has to be a popular solution.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I wouldnt run more then 4.5" backspacing otherwise you will really start to lose turning radius, with 4.5 the tires will rub springs in the front already. I would run 4-4.5" BS and then whatever flairs you need. God I'm glad I don't live out there I do enough body damage without body parts sticking out 8" further then they are suposed to!

We've got D44 Waggy's both front & rear.
Our axles came from the same vehicle (89 waggy).

The rear axle is actually 58" wide so you'll be 1" narrower on both sides.

The front is 62" wide.

We're running 3.75" backspacing on 15x8 rockcrawler rims. That's the closest you're gonna get..... that leaves about 1/4" inbetween the wheel and the knuckle.

We're running Xenon 6.5" extended flares and this covers everything.

I'm from PA also.
<trying to find a good side shot>
http://www.lieblweb.com/Events/PAP03.22.03/images/116-1650_IMG.jpg
If you need any more picts...feel free to e-mail me jandy@lieblweb.com

Thanks for the great info, both of you.

Janster, when I saw your sig, I thought I remembered seeing the Izzy name somewhere recently. I did a search and found your web page. You have a bunch of really great info available. The work you did on your Izzy project is exactly what I am looking to do with mine.

I'm glad to hear that the Xenon 6.5's covered the 12.5's, that gives me some piece of mind. My calc's must be off a bit. Good to know about the clearance to the knuckle too. The rims I was looking at were 4" BS. After what you are saying about the clearance to the knuckle I will look for 3.75's like yours. I'm never ashamed to copy something that works well for someone else.

Glad to hear that you are OK after that accident. From the picture you have on your site, that must have been pretty nasty.

Steve Z.

Never say *COPY*..........

It's called *Reference*

We copied off others also. We like to go with what works and has been tried and tested by others. Ya can't go wrong....

GOOD LUCK with yours! It's fun!!

I'll be busy this winter swapping stuff over onto the new jeep. If you live nearbye - feel free to stop in (e-mail first so I'll know to expect you). As always - feel free to ask questions.

That's what we're all here for - helping eachother out. Believe me, I'll be asking a lot of questions this winter. I've never had the oppurtunity to completely tear apart a vehicle. I'll be learning a HELL of a lot this winter and I'm gonna love every minute of it!!!