Well, Now We Wait... Bought More Struts and 34s...

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Expedition Dave

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I decided to put my money where my mouth is, and pulled the trigger on even more stuff:

1) I finally decided on the Nitto 295/70-18 (34.3 x 11.7, 50.6lbs) Terra Grappler GII ATs.
They are rated by most folks well, look good enough, and are D rated and light for size. And they will give me a full 1 inch more ground clearance.

2) Getting an extra Ford FX4 rim to utilize as full sized Nitto spare, either underneath deflated (if I can fit it) or on a rear hitch carrier (if I buy one), or in the back hatch (temporary).

3) Ordered an extra pair of Bilstein F150 struts for a 3inch lift up front (vs. the Expy Bils with the 1.5 inch lift) hopefully arriving Tuesday.

All expected to be installed on Friday, along with my .25 inch spacers.

Still on the fence with the F150 Bilsteins 3-inch front lift b/c in my heart--I know the Expy Bilstein 1.5s will ride a lot better, but the 1.5 inch only lift may *look* funny with a 34.3s stuffed in there and certainly rub a lot more. The 1.5 inch lift looks perfect with 33s IMHO, but I wanted to go a bit bigger so I may need the 3 inch lift.

My next fear will be a "nose-up" cant with gear in the back or towing.

I may need to go with a brush bar and winch just to bring the nose down :confused:

I will post before an after, extensively. It is the least I can do since I been hounding you guys for pics and questions lol!!

Any pictures you have of your current 34-35 inch combos, I'd still love to see them (again lol) and how you got it to work. There are a ton of pics here but they are all splattered around the Gen 4 Forum. We do need a sticky of lifted Gen 4s, but I have never seen a moderator here to do so?

Be safe!!:anitoof:
 

cfldad

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Excellent! I am interested to hear on how well the spare fits underneath.
 

5280tunage

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I really liked the Terra Grappler G2's on my previous rig. The G1's were terrible and got less than 20k miles on them, but the G2's they replaced them with under warranty worked great, I was definitely pretty impressed with them off road and I liked that the tread wrapped onto the sidewall a lot. Definitely kept me from destroying the sidewall on rocks off road. I am pretty sure these will be my next tires once these factory ones wear out.
 
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5280tunage

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I really liked the Terra Grappler G2's on my previous rig. The G1's were terrible and got less than 20k miles on them, but the G2's they replaced them with under warranty worked great, I was definitely pretty impressed with them off road and I liked that the tread wrapped onto the sidewall a lot. Definitely kept me from destroying the sidewall on rocks off road. I am pretty sure these will be my next tires once these factory ones wear out.

So for ***** and giggles, I just took a quick look. I'm curious if anyone has had experience with the TG G2's vs. say the Nokian Rotiiva AT's? I have had the Nitto's before, and I did like them, but are they worth an extra $300/set? Just a quick search and I'm seeing a difference of around $78/tire. The Nokian's have a 60k mile warranty and the Nittos are 65k, but other than that, they are both AT's. I have read better reviews for the Nokians in snow though, but I'd love others experiences here. Or even then Nokian One HT's, they aren't AT's but they are supposedly good All Seasons.
 
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Expedition Dave

Expedition Dave

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My five 295/70-18 tires are on on the way Monday along with my lifting Jack.
Bilstein F150s are arriving Tuesday.

Fullsized spare FX4 rim should be here Wednesday.

My install was for this Friday, but I may postpone, depending. My instinct says mount 1 tire on the spare rim and check the front for clearance and address cutting early.
Or, install them, and when I find rubbing during steady state, use the jack and remove each wheel to personally address with light cutting tools and zip ties (though I'd prefer something more professional, permanent and robust). A lot of folks have modded here, and it would be an amazing sticky of what gets cut, bowed, chopped and HOW.

So I got under the front and did a lot of staring to get a 'lay of the land'. The upper control arm is roughly 1/2 an inch from the top part of the stock tire (Michelin Primacy 32.1 x11 x18 inches). The below pic is a super closeup, and sorry for the angle but trust there is only an average size finger width between them. The second shows the tire an rod in the top portion but you should clearly get the idea that fat tires may fit the rim, but not the rims offset.

39207-446db6b54cee48d55f4a03b1ce004b21.jpg


39206-a18240bdfbb5baad0123c4a2355e2f2f.jpg
 
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