I see alot of people with 8" wide wheels on 35x12.50" tires. I have just ordered 10" wide wheels and 35x12.50" tires. Did I make a mistake here? If so explain. If I haven't Fawked up what backspacing is recommended W/10" wheels an a SO FJ40? GEEZ I should have researched this a little more before jumping in!

15x8s are more generally used by folks that air down a lot as it holds the bead tighter and prevents the tire from rolling off the wheel. 3.5" backspacing is stock. Most folks try to order wheels with less backspacing than that for the larger tires as it increases the stance and prevents rubbing on the inner fender. It seems each SOA I've seen is a little bit different so backspacing might be a little different on yours. I think you'd probably be OK with the 3.5" backspaced wheels.

I have 10" wheels w/35x12.50x15 with 3.5" backspacing...I'm SO and when I air down they hold just fine...the setup you ordered will work great!

Thanx i feel much better about the purchase now. If August will hurry up and get here I can have the SO done :D

Yeah, I wouldn't sweat it. My Sami runs on 35x12.50s on a 10" rim and it's never lost a bead aired down, but it's also less than half the weight of a Cruiser. My Cruiser meats are going on an 8" rim with 2" BS. I like the narrower rim for a few reasons, but it probably isn't that critical.

I ran 33x12.5 BFG's on 10" steelies for 8 years and never once took down a bead...I did have my share of junk shoved in there, but never lost air or had a problem.

However....

IMO, your rim width should be about 2/3 of your tire section width. 12.5" x .66 = 8.25 ~ 8" 14.5" x .66 = 9.57 ~ 10". I run my 38.5x14.5 tires on 10" rims for this reason. I do not run beadlocks, and do run about 6 psi on the trails. I've yet to take down a bead. I run 3-3.5 psi in the winter, and have yet to take down a bead. IMO, a 12" rim is TOO wide for a 14.5 tire. For a BFG, 10" wide rims are common and work well. I would not recommend a 10" rim for a Swamper Radial however...different tire design and it doesn't stay on the rim as well as most BFG's do.

One advantage of running a narrower rim is the rim width difference is all on the outside (given equal backspacing). Going from a 10" to an 8" rim pulls that outer edge in 2" and will move the center area of the tire inwards, narrowing your track width, and perhaps keeping the tires tucked inside the fenders better. Conversely, if you are running stock steering with all those links, your odds of the inner sidewall contacting your steering linkage increases....I've seen blowouts on 8" rims where the 10" rim would have given enuf clearance.

...to each their own.... :D

And you will want larger tires later anyway....

So it all works out in the end ;)

Depends on your wheeling.. a narrower rim will help hold the bead at lower pressures on the rocks.. I was at Tellico spotting a guy going down slickrock, and at one point, you could really see his beadlocks working.. the tire was just trying its best to pull away...

I'm on 14.5's on 10" rims, and it's nice peace of mind..

My next wheels will be beadlocked 10"ers to run 12.5's or 13" tires. Can't weld, so I can't just convert mine to locks..

Sory to piggy back your post but i am going through the same decision making process.

Woody, I plan on running 36 or 37 x 12.50 inch swampers (not sure which one yet). If i run them on a 10 inch non beadlocked rim with 2 inch backspacing will i have any problems with the bead coming off. I dont plan to run tire pressures in the single digets yet but you never know.

IMO, if you are running a 36-37" swamper you are likely also running a bias tire....so to get ANY sidewall movement at all, you are running 8psi or less. More likely 6....and for them to perform well, 4-5.

IMO, a 8-9" rim is better suited for that. However, given that a bias has a stiffer sidewall, you may have no problems keeping them on the rim. However, the other arguement is that the stiffer sidewall means they won't flex with a sideload and are MORE likely to come off the bead.

According to the max load rating on my tires relative to the weight of the vehicle itself, my ROAD psi is about 8-9. Trails is 6 or less. There is a website on this linked on my tech section....right column at the bottom, IIRC. Jives really well with a 4WheelParts article I just read last night on tire pressures for road and trail.

Honestly, a lot of this stuff is relative to the tire and rim manufacturer as well. I know of 3 guys who have run various steel rims with the 33"x15.5"x15 Swamper SX on 10" and 8" rims and unless they ran 15 psi, they came off the bead. That specific brand-size of tire is useless without beadlocks. However, that same problem doesn't exist with their 35x15.5 version and I've yet to have a problem with the 38.5x14.5 version.

And also, it's all relative to your driving style. Troy Myers (Attica Badlands owner) and I were yakking a couple weeks back and he was just shocked that I wasn't running beadlocks. Couldn't believe I wasn't taking tires down on every trip. To each their own.... :D (My wife has said I can get beadlocks....she just won't allow it until I start losing beads...and I haven't....yet....)

Bottom line: personal experience is the key, and all my BS on the subject, or anyone elses, doesn't compare to real-life.

:eek: WOW! Now I have alot of info to process. Thanks for ALL the info. FWIW I will be running with FJ60 power steering on my rig. It looks like I need to call the wheel store and make sure they get the backspacing I want/need. On a side note how is the wheeling in Virginia? Getting moved to Langley AFB in Nov, and am curious. SO looking foreward to driving the Cruiser cross country! What should I expect with an SO rig on the highway? The thought of winds is scaring me a little.

would it be safe to run a 14.5" tire on an 8" rim? Oh, on a daily driver.

Sure, you could do it, your experience may be good or bad with that. How tall is the tire? A tall tire that is 14.5" wide on an 8" wheel will work better than a shorter tire like a 33 or 35. There was a guy on the PBB, maybe you can find it in a search in General 4x4, who ran something ridiculous like 6" wide rims and he had 14" wide tires. It really depends on the tire and your vehicle.

My buddy runs 38.5x14.5 SX's on 8" rims with no problems. He opted to do that for now and hold off on springing for beadlocks.

One issue with running a very narrow rim with a wider tire is you may be forced to keep your air pressure very low to get the treadprint flat on the road. This translates to additional sidewall movement when cornering, and changes what is already likely a poor handling tire into a VERY poor one.

Thanks, That is exactly the kind of info i was looking for.

Yeah Woody has a good point. The narrow rim tends to crown the tire tread so you have to run less air to get good even contact. But once again it depends on the tire. The 8 ply TSLs look the same at 15 psi as they do at 3 psi on my friend's Cruiser. They are 12.5" wide and on an 8" rim.