Tcucv, to answer your previous post, all you have to do to fit 35's on is get the orw zero rate leaf, and move the front axle forward, I'm my opinion the axle is too close to the firewall on these style trucks any way,( something any one can see turn your tires and get out and look, they are off set in the fender opening) do a little trimming( really not much on the front) heck you may not even need to trim if you go forward, i trimmed before i moved the axle forward, So really cant say on that part, and none on the rear, 35's WILL clear, tuck, and turn with no problem... except they do hit the steering tie rod at full turn to the right due to moving the axle forward, only enough to tear the grease boot on the front tie rod. bigger tires will actually rub the tie rod. My .02 cents is go for it.. To me people seem timid to try new things, and rely on the magazines too much to tell them whats possible, as a Mechanical Engineer and a off road racer, I see things every day that the general public say is not possible, which is why I'm a firm believer in experience is the best teacher.
I don't like running 39's on my blazer, but I did only because I get them cheep,( basically recycled from our race truck) we run a race and have tons of these really expensive tires left over, its a shame to see them go to waste, as retail on them is over 700 +/- each, if you can find a shop that will/can order them, and they are not the street legal bajas, which many shops can get those. if i had my choice Id run 37's. that would eliminate a ton of extra things I had to do to make these work.
As a racer we go by these standards. Mini/ mid size trucks, should run 33's to 35's for prerunning and daily driver duties, and recommend 37's for race. Full sizes should run 35's if mostly on the street and daily driver but 37's work well for hd trucks, and 37 to 39's for race trucks, starting this year many of the full size race trucks will be running 42's, which i think is totally crazy, why would any one want to add another 50 pounds of unsprung weight for only 1.5 inches of ground clearance.. ( current tire size we run is 39x13.50x17r, the new tires are going to be 42x14.50x20R, many teams have a hard time keeping drive train parts alive with the 39's, my bet is were going to see a lot of broken trucks on the side of the road at the next race when the 42's roll out. which is good for us. )
with all this said, I like things different, I don't like to lift my truck x amount because 4wheel mag said I have to to make it work, as a Engineer I know I don't have to do that in order to make it work, and as a racer I like the low and wide look with large tires while no one can deny that a lower center of gravity will always help the handling of any vehicle especially a truck with a short wheel base and lots of top end weight of the 1009. I strive to not build cookie cutter trucks, and like to push the envelope to see what I can get a way with, or in this case as little as i can get away with. The goal of my cucv was to make a reliable inexpensive truck for a chase vehicle that can be fun on the weekends, and gets decent millage while not caring about the fuel quality of the gas in Mexico, can provide chase support for our race team, and be really reliable, all while soaking up the bumps decently and still have the ability to get out on the trails while carrying a load. So far this truck is exactly that truck. While its not finished, it is well on its way.
I appreciate your or anyone's input for that matter and it makes me very happy to hear what others have done and their ideas, I'm sure most here are of the same feeling, which is why I posted here in the first place to brake the thought that you have to lift it high to clear the tires. Which is what most all racers already know. The thread heading said looking for 1009's with minimal lift. I have a 1009 with minimal lift clearing very large tires, and it works for me while maybe not for others I just wanted to show it can be done, proving that thinking out of the box can be rewarding in its own right... just my .02 cents. thanks and sorry for the long post, I get carried away.
with that said cheers to you, and hope to hear some more and see what others have done.. keep the pics a flowin'
You should do some more weight reductions. Do you have a soft top already?
