Tire sizes and wheels descisions...

I need some help and opinions. I'm putting my shock relocation kit on tomorrow and need to put tires on my pathfinder rims. I want to run 18s after I get my 5 lug conversion done. I plan on putting 215/60/15 tires on the pathys. They are the same size as a 225/40/18. I don't want to run an 18" tire any smaller than that cause we have crappy roads out here and I bent the crap out of my last set of 18s with 35s on them.

Is anyone out there running an 18" wheel with 225/40 on them? Does anyone know if I will have problems with the firewall or the clutch master cylinder? Right now its layed out on my chrome stock 14s and I still have about 1 1/2" before the frame lays. The front cross member is laying on the ground as well as my lower controls arms hitting the frame. I will trim them up later.

Any info on this is appreciated. I need to get my shock kit welding in so it will lay on 18s. I don't want to have to cut it out later and redo it. Once I know 18s will clear while laying frame I will do the math and figure out where my shock kit needs to be located. I have a rough idea now, but will finalize everything tomorrow before I start welding. Hopefully someone will give me the info I need by then.

It looks like I'm going to either have to drag an inch or so out of that cross member so it will lay frame. Perhaps I can just move it up... dunno. I will have to either drag or trim off the corners of my lower control arms also. Thats basically what its laying on now. lol...

Oh and I can't turn the truck at all while laid out. Those damn strut bars are hitting my tie rods and the steering wheel will only turn about 1/2 a turn. lol... pain in my ass!

sounds to me like since you can't steer while laid out that you ought to convert the stock control arms to a-arms like was mentioned in this post

& incorporate your shock relocation on that, so you can do away with the strut bars & be able to steer it.

also you probably can't move the front x-member up to far or you'll be into the oil pan, you could trim it, but would need to reinforce it once trimmed, if your on stock 14 & would have to take an inch out of it to lay frame, when you put the 18's on it, that is going to raise your frame another 4 inches +/-depending on tire size unless you have enough geometery in the front suspension not to bind & still lay out on the 18's.
relative to that note, you'll need to measue with the truck laid out now on the 14's to see how much room you have left w/o contacting the clutch master cy., if it is less than 4" you'll probably have to relocate it too......

i'm sure that someone with more knowledge of a bagged vehicle could help you more, but that is my take based on what you have said.....hope that helps....

I plan on converting my lower arms over like in that thread, but right now I cant do that since its not bagged yet. Its going to be my daily driver for a while until I get my wife another car (hers was totaled a couple of months ago frm an idiot not paying attention). She is driving my Nissan and the Mazda turned from project into DD while we shop for another car.

Also with 18s compared to 14s... The overall diameter of the 14s with 185/60s on them is 22.7" and the 18s with 225/40s is 25.1", Thats roughly 2 1/2". With the truck laying on the 14s, I would only need about another 1 1/2" of drop to lay on the 18s. From the measurements I took last night I should clear everything when its laid out with the exception of trimming a small lip off of the firewall that runs down the wheel well.

So I figured I locate my shocks to lay on the 14s and them move them up another 1 1/2" to 2" and all should be good. Then when the wife gets a new car its back to bagging it. I would bag it now, but anything I do to it has to me finished and the truck driving again before monday morning when its time to go to work. That makes it hard to get anything done other than small things like this. My step notch will go in on the next 3 day weekend I get from work.

Well needless to say the mazda has shocks now. Its soo much nicer to drive now that it doesnt feel like Im sailing a boat.

Since I had 9.5" compressed shocks I set them up to be fully compressed while running on 17s. So if I want to run 18s and still lay I only need to get a 1/2" shorter shock. In the end it works out.

I also fixed my reverse lights while I was putting the torsion bars back in. I found one wire that was cut so I soldered it back together and they work. Well... atleast the passanger side reverse light works. Bulb is probably bad on the other side.

It was a productive day. All I need now to make driving it a little more enjoy able is to put a stereo in it. I will also start working on the body work fixing some dents and minor rust, start shaving it, and get it primered.

I found this pic this may help in the idea dept for the crossmember

Cool thanks. I might use that idea.

THat seems like a good idea, looks clean!


Nice!



Dev