Body Mount Chop - Spidertrax / 285 / New Wheels

[scottblink23]

I have a Day Star 2.5 / 1.5 lift and I currently have stock 17 wheels (7.5 wide) and LT 255/75/17 tires (32.1 x 10 wide). I also have Spidertrax 1.25 spacers.

I am considering Method NV wheels and 285/70/17 tires. The wheels are 8.5 wide (0 offset) and, as you all know, the 285's are 11.5 wide.

I know that I'll have to chop the body mount if I install the new wheels and 285s (sans Spidertrax). My question is, if I keep the spacers on, pushing the wheels and tires out even further, will choping the body mount even be a solution? Or would this help my situation? From the pics below, I don't have too much room in general... Any advice would be great.

And yes, I used the search bar.. Thanks!

 

[markaidan]

Yes, Yes and Yes.

I run 285-75 MT's and I did everything you mentioned, because you will rub lock-to-lock on the frame mounts. I actually did away with the spacers when I installed the my new rims - I opted for a 0 deg offset and 4.5" of backspacing and no longer needed the spacers.

You'll also find the 285's rubbing on the front fenders, too. I cut roughly 3" off the front fender, 45'ed the bottom and moved the liner forward about 4". I re-used all the factory hardware and you would never know the fender was chopped and moved, unless you're really looking for the modification.

This is the finished product... I have almost 3" of space between the tire and the fender-lining. I have zero rubbing up front now!

 

[dan0317]

also another thing to think about it that if you off road or have to go through an uneven road there is i possible chance that you'll rub now because when you front passenger is down and the driver is up the suspension geometry will cause you to rub a bit nothing to bad to worry about. i have 285 70 on 8.5 wide rims with an offset of -10mm but i only rub under flex with out the body mount chop.

 

[scottblink23]

Yes, Yes and Yes.

I run 285-75 MT's and I did everything you mentioned, because you will rub lock-to-lock on the frame mounts. I actually did away with the spacers when I installed the my new rims - I opted for a 0 deg offset and 4.5" of backspacing and no longer needed the spacers.

You'll also find the 285's rubbing on the front fenders, too. I cut roughly 3" off the front fender, 45'ed the bottom and moved the liner forward about 4". I re-used all the factory hardware and you would never know the fender was chopped and moved, unless you're really looking for the modification.

This is the finished product... I have almost 3" of space between the tire and the fender-lining. I have zero rubbing up front now!

The NV's have a 0 offset and 4.79 backspacing. Do you get the same aggressive stance with the bigger wheels but no spacers? I had to push the liner forward and trim the fender when I put on the 255's. What did you use to chop the mount, a dremel? Run into any problems? Thanks again!

 

[scottblink23]

also another thing to think about it that if you off road or have to go through an uneven road there is i possible chance that you'll rub now because when you front passenger is down and the driver is up the suspension geometry will cause you to rub a bit nothing to bad to worry about. i have 285 70 on 8.5 wide rims with an offset of -10mm but i only rub under flex with out the body mount chop.

Thanks - I appreciate it. I love your build! Your 285's look awesome!

 

[markaidan]

The NV's have a 0 offset and 4.79 backspacing. Do you get the same aggressive stance with the bigger wheels but no spacers? I had to push the liner forward and trim the fender when I put on the 255's. What did you use to chop the mount, a dremel? Run into any problems? Thanks again!

Then you already have a head start on getting those 285's to fit (with the fender/lining mod). As far as the chop, I used a pneumatic grinder with a sweet little pack of metal grinding disks - these things could probably cut the entire truck in 1/2! I got 5/pack at a local Tractor Supply for like 15 bucks. I cut back as far I could, while leaving a 1/4" in front of actual mount - so I would still have a little room to weld on an end plate. I don't have any pics uploaded on the web (to post on here), but you can search the forum and find a numbers of nice shots from other members who performed the same mod.

And I need to qualify my "no spacer" comment, too. I had the 1.5" All Pro spacers (pictured below), but I removed them when I installed my Pro Comp Series 52 Xtreme rims - the rims are 16" / 0 offset / 4.5" / 8" wide. A little of topic... but to accomodate the 16" rims I also had to install a 2009 FJ front brake kit (due to the Sport rotors and calipers being so large). And to get the rims to clear the shorter FJ calipers and rotors, I then installed some "generic" 1/4" wheel spacers to clear everything nicely. I also used some gorilla glue to securely adhere them to the hub assemblies and painted everything all black... :thumb:! The PA laws are really strict on spacers and you would never know I even had spacers at a glance! I can always pry them off, if needed. Sorry for rambling-on about the rim and brake information, but I always get hit-up with some questions when I mention a 16" rim on a 4th gen. And, yes, the offset and backspacing I chose still provides me with a nice aggressive stance - the 1/4" spacer only pushed out the sidewall a little past my fenders and my tread is perfectly flush with the fender. It looks proper now!

Here's a shot of the new FJ set-up... you can clearly see from from the dust shields the shorter caliper and rotor.

You may be okay without any spacers - or a very small one like mine - since you're running a nearly identical offset/backspacing on the NV's and you don't have any clearance issues with brakes cause you're running a factory size rim. I'm not an expert on the subject by any means, but I went through 3 sets of various rims before I got it down to a science. I bought the first 2 sets used and finally learned a nice little lesson on doing my math homework first, and then I bought the Pro Comps new from Summit Racing. Luckily I sold the first 2 sets on Craigslist for the same monies, so it was just a bunch of wasted time learning that I was an idiot for not researching the entire project. That's my closing argument to you.. research the entire project before you pull the trigger, you know - like you're doing in this thread!


This is the best side shot I have access to showing the stance with the 1/4" spacers. I can live with it...

 

[scottblink23]

[MENTION=7627]markaidan[/MENTION] I love the stance of your rig. Thanks for your detailed response!

I am going to try the NV's and 285's without spacers first. I'll chop the mount and hopefully I won't rub on the UCA's.

Once I do, I'll post pics and any issues I have for future reference.

 

[CXS]

also another thing to think about it that if you off road or have to go through an uneven road there is i possible chance that you'll rub now because when you front passenger is down and the driver is up the suspension geometry will cause you to rub a bit nothing to bad to worry about. i have 285 70 on 8.5 wide rims with an offset of -10mm but i only rub under flex with out the body mount chop.

Agreed, I don't run spacers either with my 285/70/17 DuraTracs on FJC wheels. I didn't need to do the body mount chop either. I do get some fender rubbing off-road but not enough to worry about.

 

[markaidan]

[MENTION=7627]markaidan[/MENTION] I love the stance of your rig. Thanks for your detailed response!

I am going to try the NV's and 285's without spacers first. I'll chop the mount and hopefully I won't rub on the UCA's.

Once I do, I'll post pics and any issues I have for future reference.

Yeah, sorry for the long winded reply! I got on a roll there... LOL.

I'm looking forward to seeing how well your set-up works, too. There's a lot of variations we can run - depending on the rim, the back-spacing and various offsets. Keep us posted.

 

[mxdubbs]

Then you already have a head start on getting those 285's to fit (with the fender/lining mod). As far as the chop, I used a pneumatic grinder with a sweet little pack of metal grinding disks - these things could probably cut the entire truck in 1/2! I got 5/pack at a local Tractor Supply for like 15 bucks. I cut back as far I could, while leaving a 1/4" in front of actual mount - so I would still have a little room to weld on an end plate. I don't have any pics uploaded on the web (to post on here), but you can search the forum and find a numbers of nice shots from other members who performed the same mod.

And I need to qualify my "no spacer" comment, too. I had the 1.5" All Pro spacers (pictured below), but I removed them when I installed my Pro Comp Series 52 Xtreme rims - the rims are 16" / 0 offset / 4.5" / 8" wide. A little of topic... but to accomodate the 16" rims I also had to install a 2009 FJ front brake kit (due to the Sport rotors and calipers being so large). And to get the rims to clear the shorter FJ calipers and rotors, I then installed some "generic" 1/4" wheel spacers to clear everything nicely. I also used some gorilla glue to securely adhere them to the hub assemblies and painted everything all black... :thumb:! The PA laws are really strict on spacers and you would never know I even had spacers at a glance! I can always pry them off, if needed. Sorry for rambling-on about the rim and brake information, but I always get hit-up with some questions when I mention a 16" rim on a 4th gen. And, yes, the offset and backspacing I chose still provides me with a nice aggressive stance - the 1/4" spacer only pushed out the sidewall a little past my fenders and my tread is perfectly flush with the fender. It looks proper now!

Here's a shot of the new FJ set-up... you can clearly see from from the dust shields the shorter caliper and rotor.

You may be okay without any spacers - or a very small one like mine - since you're running a nearly identical offset/backspacing on the NV's and you don't have any clearance issues with brakes cause you're running a factory size rim. I'm not an expert on the subject by any means, but I went through 3 sets of various rims before I got it down to a science. I bought the first 2 sets used and finally learned a nice little lesson on doing my math homework first, and then I bought the Pro Comps new from Summit Racing. Luckily I sold the first 2 sets on Craigslist for the same monies, so it was just a bunch of wasted time learning that I was an idiot for not researching the entire project. That's my closing argument to you.. research the entire project before you pull the trigger, you know - like you're doing in this thread!


This is the best side shot I have access to showing the stance with the 1/4" spacers. I can live with it...

How the hell do you get your wheel well so clean??

 

[gshadow325]

I have 285 65 18 with 0 mm offset 9 inch wide wheels and no body mount chop done. So you might not need it.

 

[Tooltime19]

WOW! Reducing the overall size and surface area of your brake package???? Heavier truck, lifted, larger tires and a smaller than stock brake package. Im sure it works, but not as well as the larger package. Be safe!
:fear:

 

[markaidan]

WOW! Reducing the overall size and surface area of your brake package???? Heavier truck, lifted, larger tires and a smaller than stock brake package. Im sure it works, but not as well as the larger package. Be safe!
:fear:

That's not so much the case with my set-up. The break pads inside my current package were taken out of my Sport Edition calipers. I did reduce the overall size of the rotor by 1/2", but the calipers are actually identical to the Sport Edition - they just sit 1/2" closer to the rotor.

When I decided to run a 16" rim, I went to Advance Auto and lined up some older Tundra calipers, the SR5 4Runner caliper, the Limited 4Runner caliper, the FJC calipers and the Sport Edition calipers - and I found out the 16" FJ Cruiser (rims) use the exact same caliper as the Sport Edition, but the mounting arms are a 1/2" shorter due to the slightly smaller stock rotor. The break pads are completely interchangeable between the 09 FJC and the 4th gen Sport Edition. I still have the same (breaking) surface area as I did with the Sport Edition calipers.

The way I see it... if they're solid enough for the FJ Cruiser, they should be okay on a 4Runner. And I've had no issue for almost a year now - no chatter or warping, whatsoever. I'm sold on the conversion.

 

[markaidan]

How the hell do you get your wheel well so clean??

Truth be told, just before I installed the Ironman FJC lift kit I power-washed everything really good. And once it was clean and tore down, I broke out some Rust-Oleum bed liner and painted everything black.

You're seeing a day old paint job inside there... but I do power-wash the wheel wells when I got home from wheeling each time. Plus, my wife goes ballistic if I don't clean the truck before putting it in the garage. Ha!