Calling all 305/70/17 users

[T-Runner]

Not seeing too much of this tire on 5th gen. If anyones running this size, please post pic. Just completed BMC and gained about 1.5” of clearance on my 285 with spidertraxx spacers combined with scs gen5 17x8.5 -10 offset. Would want to see how close are people getting to the front and back of wheel when locked. Planning on swapping with f5 17x9 -38 offset and removing spacers, I know I’d easily clear 295/70 so I wanna see if I can push it to 305/70.

 

[dride]

I

I rub a bit on firewall with full articulation


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[comtn4x4]

Not seeing too much of this tire on 5th gen. If anyones running this size, please post pic. Just completed BMC and gained about 1.5” of clearance on my 285 with spidertraxx spacers combined with scs gen5 17x8.5 -10 offset. Would want to see how close are people getting to the front and back of wheel when locked. Planning on swapping with f5 17x9 -38 offset and removing spacers, I know I’d easily clear 295/70 so I wanna see if I can push it to 305/70.

I don't think there's a lot of people running 305's but hopefully others will chime in. I have run 305/70's(Ridge Grappler) in the past and Now run 285/75's (Ridge Grappler, Cooper St Maxx, Wildpeak A/T3W). Both are roughly the same height and the 305's are about 3/4 inch wider. I'll just detail what I had to do to get the 305's to fit with no rubbing even fully compressed. Lifted about 2.5" but that's really not relevant. I run 17x9" rims +1 mm 5" backspacing. Body mount chop. Caster needs to be a minimum of 4.8* for my setup. Full replacement bumper so no issues whatsoever up front. Pinch welds hammered flat, and liner cut way back and shaped with a heat gun.

For me going from 285/70 to 285/75 wasn't much adjustment, I just pushed the caster out a bit and a tiny bit of trimming of the fender liner and I was good to go. With the 305's the extra width required a ton more work to get them to actually not rub no matter what. Really had to hit the pinch welds hard and get them all the way out of the way and cut the crap out of the fender liner so it wouldn't rub. Doable but a lot of experimentation/work to get there.

I honestly think the 17x9 -38 will be hard to clear. I'd probably stick with the rims you have without the spacers.
I can't for the life of me find any pics with the 305's so no help there. I did include a pic of what the fender liner looks like for my setup

 

[T-Runner]

I

I rub a bit on firewall with full articulation


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is what im looking for, thank you. Running the same setup as you, only difference is I have Gen5 on 285s instead of F5 305s and black spidertraxx instead of blue lol. Did you happen to already hammer the pinch welds? Whats with the blue tape?

 

[T-Runner]

I don't think there's a lot of people running 305's but hopefully others will chime in. I have run 305/70's(Ridge Grappler) in the past and Now run 285/75's (Ridge Grappler, Cooper St Maxx, Wildpeak A/T3W). Both are roughly the same height and the 305's are about 3/4 inch wider. I'll just detail what I had to do to get the 305's to fit with no rubbing even fully compressed. Lifted about 2.5" but that's really not relevant. I run 17x9" rims +1 mm 5" backspacing. Body mount chop. Caster needs to be a minimum of 4.8* for my setup. Full replacement bumper so no issues whatsoever up front. Pinch welds hammered flat, and liner cut way back and shaped with a heat gun.

For me going from 285/70 to 285/75 wasn't much adjustment, I just pushed the caster out a bit and a tiny bit of trimming of the fender liner and I was good to go. With the 305's the extra width required a ton more work to get them to actually not rub no matter what. Really had to hit the pinch welds hard and get them all the way out of the way and cut the crap out of the fender liner so it wouldn't rub. Doable but a lot of experimentation/work to get there.

I honestly think the 17x9 -38 will be hard to clear. I'd probably stick with the rims you have without the spacers.
I can't for the life of me find any pics with the 305's so no help there. I did include a pic of what the fender liner looks like for my setup

Id take that its way easier to fit with 285/75 than 305/70. Which of the 3 options you listed you would say is your favorite tire? With the gas prices I might be going with the lighter alternative.

 

[dride]

This is what im looking for, thank you. Running the same setup as you, only difference is I have Gen5 on 285s instead of F5 305s and black spidertraxx instead of blue lol. Did you happen to already hammer the pinch welds? Whats with the blue tape?

Sorry for lack of context I’m lazy. I cut all of that away to fit -10mm with 1.25” spacers. Deeeep BMC, pinch welds, fender liner mod etc..not the best lighting but this is what my wheel well looks like now. I wanted to keep the fender liner and remove as little fender as possible. At some point I may try to mold a custom fender liner but this works for now and looks stock unless you know what you are looking at. In hindsight I would have done things a bit different if/when I go 315 I will remove spacers

 

[comtn4x4]

Id take that its way easier to fit with 285/75 than 305/70. Which of the 3 options you listed you would say is your favorite tire? With the gas prices I might be going with the lighter alternative.

Yes the 285's are much easier to fit that the 305's. A bit easier on gas too. Although they did look great. More tire options in 285/75 too. Here's my thoughts on the three:
Ridge Grappler I wouldn't run again. Lot's of issues with balancing, absolutely horrible in snow and on ice, Just ok off road for our conditions here in the Mountain west, They're heavy but they all are in this size. On road no louder than any of the other AT's but not quiet. I didn't get a lot of miles out of them 28 K.

ST/Maxx are really amazing tires if you're taking advantage of what they're designed for. Super tough heavy tire made to take a beating. These tires really lean towards being a MT. Took some weight to balance but were fine once dialed in. About average on noise but got louder at about 40K miles. Lasted till 45K. Excellent tread depth. Very good in snow and on ice, Excellent off road in all conditions I deal with (Not much true mud here) They run taller and narrower than a true 285/75. The numbers listed on their site for size are accurate. I'd run these again but they've become quite expensive and I'm not sure if maybe Cooper is discontinuing?
Falken A/T3W is what I'm running now. Incredibly smooth and quiet tire. I'm 18 K in so we'll see if it holds up. Hard to balance and keep that way, I balance every oil change and they've needed attention every time. They follow road grooving etc. a bit more than I like but it's not awful. Heavy and I'm really not sure why. Very good on snow and ice, comparable if not better to the Duratrac in that area. Good off road when aired down etc. in all conditions, again no real mud where I'm at. Really no issues with the tire but it's kind of pedestrian in that's its strongest traits are lack of noise and snow performance. Very expensive. I haven't seen anything so far that would prevent me from running them again.
I hope that helps

 

[T-Runner]

Sorry for lack of context I’m lazy. I cut all of that away to fit -10mm with 1.25” spacers. Deeeep BMC, pinch welds, fender liner mod etc..not the best lighting but this is what my wheel well looks like now. I wanted to keep the fender liner and remove as little fender as possible. At some point I may try to mold a custom fender liner but this works for now and looks stock unless you know what you are looking at. In hindsight I would have done things a bit different if/when I go 315 I will remove spacers

Dang, thats the first time I've seen cut/mod. Im guessing its to clear during articulation when wheels are turned? Are you able to show what it looks like behind the front wheel where the fender cap should be? Also do you recall what your caster is set at? Do you think you would've had better clearance with a body lift?

 

[WEAK_E90]

im planning on going 305s next month. Ive had enough of my RGs in 295/70s. i am on the -38mm x 9" f5's

I dont really rub unless really flexed hard - which is fine as i dont do hardly any hard off roading.

my casters maxxed out, bmc i have plenty of room. To fit the 295s i had to do the rocker cap tab mod - i can see i will probably need more in order to clear 305s. Only 1/2" bigger then what I am running now...

But sometimes 1/2" is alot...:jaw:

Ill grab some pics of my setup with 295s... i know its not 305s but i think its close (from all the research ive done).

 

[WEAK_E90]

I don't think there's a lot of people running 305's but hopefully others will chime in. I have run 305/70's(Ridge Grappler) in the past and Now run 285/75's (Ridge Grappler, Cooper St Maxx, Wildpeak A/T3W). Both are roughly the same height and the 305's are about 3/4 inch wider. I'll just detail what I had to do to get the 305's to fit with no rubbing even fully compressed. Lifted about 2.5" but that's really not relevant. I run 17x9" rims +1 mm 5" backspacing. Body mount chop. Caster needs to be a minimum of 4.8* for my setup. Full replacement bumper so no issues whatsoever up front. Pinch welds hammered flat, and liner cut way back and shaped with a heat gun.

For me going from 285/70 to 285/75 wasn't much adjustment, I just pushed the caster out a bit and a tiny bit of trimming of the fender liner and I was good to go. With the 305's the extra width required a ton more work to get them to actually not rub no matter what. Really had to hit the pinch welds hard and get them all the way out of the way and cut the crap out of the fender liner so it wouldn't rub. Doable but a lot of experimentation/work to get there.

I honestly think the 17x9 -38 will be hard to clear. I'd probably stick with the rims you have without the spacers.
I can't for the life of me find any pics with the 305's so no help there. I did include a pic of what the fender liner looks like for my setup

you didnt even have to cut your tabs you just bent them over? I see you left your pinch welds in tact (metal meeting above the rocker cap tab) <goes vertical> but had to cut your liner up some (maybe 4-6"?)

TRDHULK fit 315s and this was his guide... https://i.imgur.com/887VFEh.jpg

 

[harper7]

The thing about running 34's to me is not the fit but how they made the transmission shift points off on the highway at 70mph. I ran them a year before I regeared with 4:56's and was night and day.

These are bad enough with 33's but highway driving with 34's before re-gearing ,it kept shifting back and forth between 4th and 5th gear if there was the slightest hill or puff of headwind out on the highway. That crazy shift that these things do where it downshifts and floors it at the same time then shifts and then floors it and down shifts again 30 seconds later.

Unless I kept it in 4th gear ,Tranny temps over 200, and I was heavy but no trailer, going through hills or mountains because of it shifting back and forth. Not to mention that made that the gas mileage about 10-12mpg on a good day with the gearing being off .But I was running heavy KM2 MT's but I think all 34's that I've seen are HEAVY tires.

My advice....Regear first with anything over 33's on the highway or the drive ability sucks and the transmission/torque converter will thank you. Especially if you live or are going to the mountains.

 

[comtn4x4]

The thing about running 34's to me is not the fit but how they made the transmission shift points off on the highway at 70mph. I ran them a year before I regeared with 4:56's and was night and day.

These are bad enough with 33's but highway driving with 34's before re-gearing ,it kept shifting back and forth between 4th and 5th gear if there was the slightest hill or puff of headwind out on the highway. That crazy shift that these things do where it downshifts and floors it at the same time then shifts and then floors it and down shifts again 30 seconds later.

Unless I kept it in 4th gear ,Tranny temps over 200, and I was heavy but no trailer, going through hills or mountains because of it shifting back and forth. Not to mention that made that the gas mileage about 10-12mpg on a good day with the gearing being off .But I was running heavy KM2 MT's but I think all 34's that I've seen are HEAVY tires.

My advice....Regear first with anything over 33's on the highway or the drive ability sucks and the transmission/torque converter will thank you. Especially if you live or are going to the mountains.

100% Agree. I switched to 34's then regeared. It was miserable, especially here at altitude. And if you're going to 35's consider 4.88's.
Hands down the regearing is the best mod I have done for driveablilty. I wish I'd done it years sooner

 

[comtn4x4]

Dang, thats the first time I've seen cut/mod. Im guessing its to clear during articulation when wheels are turned? Are you able to show what it looks like behind the front wheel where the fender cap should be? Also do you recall what your caster is set at? Do you think you would've had better clearance with a body lift?

My cutting is pretty ugly. Considering I did it gradually as I went bigger in tires and when I started not many people were doing it. You can definitely make it look far better than I did.

Yes the body mount chop and trimming the rear fender liner are to clear the tires scrub radius.

The front of the fender isn't there at all anymore. I have a full replacement bumper so in front you can go as far as you need.
Caster is at 4.8* and I've had it as high as 5. IIRC there's enough adjustment left to go to about 5.5*
As far as clearance goes I have cleared both the 285/75 and 305/70 with no rubbing whatsoever. Both on the trail and with the coil over removed and cycling the wheel up and down. So for me no I wouldn't go a body lifty. Maybe if I was going 35"+ but for both the 34's this set up works perfectly

 

[comtn4x4]

you didnt even have to cut your tabs you just bent them over? I see you left your pinch welds in tact (metal meeting above the rocker cap tab) <goes vertical=""> but had to cut your liner up some (maybe 4-6"?)

TRDHULK fit 315s and this was his guide... https://i.imgur.com/887VFEh.jpg

</goes>
Yes that's correct I bent the pinch welds over. However, If I had it to do again I would have ground them. When hammering the piss out of the welds it's easy to bend the body panel behind the wheel well so it doesn't line up with the door. Ask me how I know. I was able to bend it back into place but it scared the crap out of me.


Yes some have fit 35's and have no rubbing in the situations they use their rig in and with their setup. Every rig is different. My rig is pretty heavy empty and when I'm loaded up for a week out it's a damn pig. So it may be different. As I said above I use my rig hard and it's been set up like this for about 4 years. I can say with certainty it doesn't rub.

Also please keep in mind that the lift doesn't affect if your tires will rub the front or back of the fender well. As the wheel travels through it's cycle if it's gonna rub it'll do it. Assuming you actually push your suspension that far. If you don't off road heavily then you'll probably only rub in reverse with the wheel at full turn coming off your curb.

My approach is to keep the lift lower to maintain as much of the stock travel as possible. The higher you go the more down travel you sacrifice. I'd go down to 2" but I have my rear dialed in really well and it'd look weird . I still have factory ish rake FWIW. That way when I get fully loaded I still have a bit of rake or flat at worst, not reverse. If I was a trail only rig and left it loaded all the time I'd lower the front to 2" for sure


Edit: Yes the cuts in the fender liner come up 5 3/4" inch. Good eye

 

[comtn4x4]

im planning on going 305s next month. Ive had enough of my RGs in 295/70s. i am on the -38mm x 9" f5's

I dont really rub unless really flexed hard - which is fine as i dont do hardly any hard off roading.

my casters maxxed out, bmc i have plenty of room. To fit the 295s i had to do the rocker cap tab mod - i can see i will probably need more in order to clear 305s. Only 1/2" bigger then what I am running now...

But sometimes 1/2" is alot...:jaw:

Ill grab some pics of my setup with 295s... i know its not 305s but i think its close (from all the research ive done).

1/2" taller and 3/4" wider. In my experience going from 285/75 to 305/70, both being the same height, the extra width created a lot of fitment issues.That being said every rig is different I I feel confident you can get them to fit. The question really is what will it take

 

[Jakeepoo3]

That's regear territory so this tire is rarely used. Once you regear most people want tires bigger than that. I want to regear!! So are you regearing I'm jealous!

 

[dride]

Dang, thats the first time I've seen cut/mod. Im guessing its to clear during articulation when wheels are turned? Are you able to show what it looks like behind the front wheel where the fender cap should be? Also do you recall what your caster is set at? Do you think you would've had better clearance with a body lift?

Correct. I haven’t put the fender cap back on yet, I am contemplating how to completely remove the portion of fender that the cap clips on too and make it look reasonable. I wish I would have sandwiched my liner when I hammered the pinch welds. Castor is 4.4 I think. Personally I wouldn’t bother with body lift, I am not a fan of the look and if you are fully articulating your suspension you will probably still rub with a large - off set. The vehicle doesn’t like these big heavy tires and I have a set of 4.88’s waiting to be installed.

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[slonny]

comtn4x4 that is a nice setup you got. Simple and functional.

 

[WEAK_E90]

The thing about running 34's to me is not the fit but how they made the transmission shift points off on the highway at 70mph. I ran them a year before I regeared with 4:56's and was night and day.

These are bad enough with 33's but highway driving with 34's before re-gearing ,it kept shifting back and forth between 4th and 5th gear if there was the slightest hill or puff of headwind out on the highway. That crazy shift that these things do where it downshifts and floors it at the same time then shifts and then floors it and down shifts again 30 seconds later.

Unless I kept it in 4th gear ,Tranny temps over 200, and I was heavy but no trailer, going through hills or mountains because of it shifting back and forth. Not to mention that made that the gas mileage about 10-12mpg on a good day with the gearing being off .But I was running heavy KM2 MT's but I think all 34's that I've seen are HEAVY tires.

My advice....Regear first with anything over 33's on the highway or the drive ability sucks and the transmission/torque converter will thank you. Especially if you live or are going to the mountains.

the 305s on truetire and manf say they are the same weight as my 295s. (yes circum is larger).
Im not bothered with shift points on my 295s at all... i drive like a gheezer tho. Never really loaded other then trailering a tiny trailer with da dirt bike.

 

[WEAK_E90]

Correct. I haven’t put the fender cap back on yet, I am contemplating how to completely remove the portion of fender that the cap clips on too and make it look reasonable. I wish I would have sandwiched my liner when I hammered the pinch welds. Castor is 4.4 I think. Personally I wouldn’t bother with body lift, I am not a fan of the look and if you are fully articulating your suspension you will probably still rub with a large - off set. The vehicle doesn’t like these big heavy tires and I have a set of 4.88’s waiting to be installed.

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what do you mean by "sandwich the liner" My goal is to keep my rocker caps...