This may have been covered before a time or 10, however I still want to do it again...

What are the smallest tires people run on Rockwells (successfully)? What is the average size? The largest you've seen successfully run?

:rolleyes:

what the fawk are you talking about?

i could run a 31 with a rockwell if i wanted to. would i? hell no. but successfully run? there is no limit to how small you could go.

most people run 42s-48s with them, i have seen as large as 53.

is that what you wanted to know?

btw, next time swallow your pride and http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/images/top_search.gif

You know, of the many topics I've seen through the years on POR, I've never seen a "What's the smallest..." anything thread, so a search would be pointless.


I know of a bunch of people running 42-53" whatevers, however, I haven't ever seen a 36-38" and so I was curious.

Originally posted by desertjeepin
however, I haven't ever seen a 36-38" and so I was curious.

I've seen a guy running 39.5" boggers on Rockwells that were not clearanced. Let's just say his diff. paint was a little scratched up;)

Hey 9volt, Your Mom, whatever...Why don't you just fuk off:flipoff:If you have some info to add, do it without being a dick. Phil has been here a hell of a lot longer than you, and has added alot more useful info to this board than you could ever wish to. Do us all a favor and go sit quietly in the corner like good little boys are supposed to :mad3:

Originally posted by Mustard Dog
Hey 9volt, Your Mom, whatever...Why don't you just fuk off:flipoff:If you have some info to add, do it without being a dick. Phil has been here a hell of a lot longer than you, and has added alot more useful info to this board than you could ever wish to. Do us all a favor and go sit quietly in the corner like good little boys are supposed to :mad3:

:rolleyes:

i just thought that "whats the smallest tire i can run with a rockwell" was a stupid question.

oh and just so i have some useful info to add, the reasons that no one runs rockwells with 36-38s is because there isnt enough GC without clearancing the diffs, in order to run rockwells you need a bunch of lift to clear the oil pan so 38s would look stupid, and because you just dont plain need rockwells with 36-38s. well unless youre running a twin turboed Falconer V12 :D

I have to agree that 42s should be the min

Here's a rig from last weekend's pro rocks event. He had 44's and as you can see the diffs took alot of hits!! :D I would say 42's at LEAST. But do a search on rockwell. Someone around here with a tj did a sweet clearance job on them that would help alot.

Found it for ya. :D http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51753&highlight=rockwell

Originally posted by 9-Volt
...oh and just so i have some useful info to add, the reasons that no one runs rockwells with 36-38s is because there isnt enough GC without clearancing the diffs...


WOW! i sure am glad to know that! Could you pretty please tell me again what the term "4x4' means?:rolleyes:

Give the guy a break, he was obviously asking about ground clearance issues. Meaning, what is the smallest tire you can sucessfully run on rockwells... OH I forgot, that IS what he asked...

:flipoff:

Originally posted by 9-Volt


:rolleyes:

i just thought that "whats the smallest tire i can run with a rockwell" was a stupid question.

oh and just so i have some useful info to add, the reasons that no one runs rockwells with 36-38s is because there isnt enough GC without clearancing the diffs, in order to run rockwells you need a bunch of lift to clear the oil pan so 38s would look stupid, and because you just dont plain need rockwells with 36-38s. well unless youre running a twin turboed Falconer V12 :D

well since there wouldnt be enough ground clearance with certain tires then it really isnt such a dumb question now is it:shaking:

Originally posted by TyTy



WOW! i sure am glad to know that! Could you pretty please tell me again what the term "4x4' means?:rolleyes:

Give the guy a break, he was obviously asking about ground clearance issues. Meaning, what is the smallest tire you can sucessfully run on rockwells... OH I forgot, that IS what he asked...

:flipoff:

and i would have to agree with 9 volt in saying that would probably be a 31" tire. i mean.. look at the ground clearance these hondas have... what.. about 2"? so yeah.... he didnt say what he was doing with them.. just smallest tire.:flipoff2:

Hmmm, let's see. A friend of mine has a dana rear 60 that has been shaved a bit and he was running 36's pretty sucessfully in Johnson Valley. He jumped to 38's and it definitely makes a difference. What does that have to do with rockwells? Well I can't imagine a 60 having much better clearance than an UNSHAVED rockwell and rockwells have a natural dome to them which allows you to get over the rocks easier, especially if you have to back up over them. So with an UNSHAVED rockwell I think you could maybe(not likely) get away with a 36 but a 38 I would consider the smallest tire you would ever consider running. I think you could run a 44 without all the upgraded crap and not break it if you ran 36-37 inch tires. Anythink larger and you start breaking shafts or ujoints so you upgrade axles. You could go 60 or go cheaper and stronger and go rockwells. So I'd say 38. Course since you got the rockwells out you might as well shave them cause it's hella easy and you'll have as good or better clearance than an unshaved dana 44. So having said that, if you were to run a SHAVED rockwell you could run a 36 with success. But seriously these are heavy bad boys, if you run them you don't really care too much about weight so why even both trying to compensate with smaller tires, might as well get some real meats to go with them. I run 39.5 beadlock swampers and I'm sure they will be fine for all terrain, so far so good. I am going to run 48 inch xml's though just for giggles to see if they work decent in the rocks. With a 48 I don't think I'll break but if i do it will be rare. If you ran chromo shafts then you could run the 52's and be fine most of the time. Hope that helps some.

ECF, Your point about 36 is something I would agree with if it wasn't for one thing: width. Rockwells are WIDE... even in comparison to "fullwidth" D60s & 14 Bolts.

I've tended to notice something when I drive my stock-width Toy behind fullsizes. It has a lot to do with tire placement (meaning driver skill), of course... But to put it simply, the farther apart the tires are on either end of the axle, the easier it is for something minor to reach up and hit diff in the middle... because the wider axle is less likely to have a tire on that "something minor".

It's kinda like wheelbase. A LWB pickup needs about a foot of lift to have the same breakover angle as a stock samurai, just cause the front and rear tires are about 4 feet further apart. Make sense?

What's the diameter of a military 9.00x20"?

Good case in point Evil, but my rockwells are only 2-3 inches wider than fullwidth, so while it factors in, I didn't find it to be that much. Perhaps more important is something you mentioned before and that is driver's skill. My friend who had the lowest hanging diff and smallest tires was walking up rocks that other guys with bigger tires and smaller diffs were having trouble with. There's no substitute for experience! Key thing is learning where your tires are and how much clearance you have. Gotta have driving time to know that.