Tire size for 12 inch lift on 1985 suburban?

[short]

I have no idea what you're planning to do with this truck and I probably shouldn't know for my own best interest so please don't get specific if it's something crazy lol, but I can understand the need for that type of **** sometimes seems necessary, can't say I've never built a truck with apocalypse in mind. Hell, a 4x4 square Suburban on 40s fits that bill pretty well.

I'd say impacts to the body/frame shouldn't do a ton of damage to your axles themselves. If they're REALLY hard hits and the truck is lifted super high there's a chance you could rip your axles out from under you, but that would happen with a 3/4 or 1 ton as well. Definitely don't use blocks, make sure they're beefy springs. As far as blowing up gears and axle shafts, as long as you're not dumping the clutch to build speed while attempting to "bump" stuff or smoking the tires with your foot to the floor once you've made contact and came to a stop, I don't imagine the axles will be too stressed. Heavy rocking forward and back to try to get un-stuck might cause issues. Plainly put, they're weak axles, the gears specifically. But as long as there's no extreme torque demands from them they shouldn't just explode.

Good luck with your upcoming demo derby/rampage/romp in the post apocalyptic landscape. Hope it all works out for you lol

Post up some pics once you got this beast sitting on 40s, could be cool

Thanks for the info. I definitely will post some when I have a proper look for the truck. Also that bumper cars comment was just me "hypothetically" speaking hahaha..........

 

[short]

Looks like 40's, but doesn't look like 12 inch lift. Really hard to tell, but you can kinda see the arch on the RF spring. My guess is 8". It also looks like the fenders are cut.

Thanks for the help bucket. I have these photos as well. He said the size of tires in the photo that's not filtered in 37 if that's any help. Obviously we can only estimate with photos but I didn't think it had a 12in lift either

 

[AuroraGirl]

I have no idea what you're planning to do with this truck and I probably shouldn't know for my own best interest so please don't get specific if it's something crazy lol, but I can understand the need for that type of **** sometimes seems necessary, can't say I've never built a truck with apocalypse in mind. Hell, a 4x4 square Suburban on 40s fits that bill pretty well.

I'd say impacts to the body/frame shouldn't do a ton of damage to your axles themselves. If they're REALLY hard hits and the truck is lifted super high there's a chance you could rip your axles out from under you, but that would happen with a 3/4 or 1 ton as well. Definitely don't use blocks, make sure they're beefy springs. As far as blowing up gears and axle shafts, as long as you're not dumping the clutch to build speed while attempting to "bump" stuff or smoking the tires with your foot to the floor once you've made contact and came to a stop, I don't imagine the axles will be too stressed. Heavy rocking forward and back to try to get un-stuck might cause issues. Plainly put, they're weak axles, the gears specifically. But as long as there's no extreme torque demands from them they shouldn't just explode.

Good luck with your upcoming demo derby/rampage/romp in the post apocalyptic landscape. Hope it all works out for you lol

Post up some pics once you got this beast sitting on 40s, could be cool

youre saying you cant do a mad clutch kick while Racing around on pavement in a square? With huge tires and lots of power put down. Aww

 

[dvdswan]

You will definitely want to upgrade the axles and more importantly the brakes.

The rolling mass that is created by a 44" tire and 12" lift, you will need a greater stopping distance.

 

[bucket]

Thanks for the help bucket. I have these photos as well. He said the size of tires in the photo that's not filtered in 37 if that's any help. Obviously we can only estimate with photos but I didn't think it had a 12in lift either

Yep, that really looks like maybe 8" springs. Those are cutout flares too, which you have to remove a fair amount of metal to install them. That explains why the wheel wells look like they do in the other photos.

 

[bucket]

You will definitely want to upgrade the axles and more importantly the brakes.

The rolling mass that is created by a 44" tire and 12" lift, you will need a greater stopping distance.

Yep, brakes are very important! Even with cautious driving, all it takes is just one doofus to pull out in front of you and then you are playing bumper cars whether you want to or not.

 

[bucket]

That actually may only be a 6" lift. It doesn't look all that much higher than mine with 36x15.5's on it. Mine has 4" front springs and about 5" over stock in the rear.

You must be registered for see images attach

Certainly no 12" lift at all.

 

[Vbb199]

I wish I still had a spare 10 bolt front axle shaft and a 10 bolt rear axle shaft laying around so I could show you the disproportion of one of them next to a 40" tire. Its a twig compared to a 40"


But in the meantime, you're in luck.. I'm servicing my Dana 60 front axle on my trail truck,, so enjoy a picture of what a 1 ton axle shaft looks like next a 1/2 ton shaft, (old pic) and then what a 1 ton axle shaft looks like laying inside of a 39.5x18x16 tire, and maybe think about if you really want to strain that 10 bolt like that. Hell even the 60 looks like it could break with enough traction and power.

 

[short]

Thank you guys for the feedback. So what would be the best option if I'm on a budget? Here's some photos of what I want my truck to look like. The owner told me the tires were 40s in most of the photos and 37 in the unfiltered photo that has cut out flares. I'm not sure about the tire size in the filtered photo. Bucket estimated that it has around a 6in lift. Bucket also noticed the fenders were cut to accommodate the flares/bigger tires. If any one has any experience with fenders, would you be able to give me an estimate on how much was cut above the wheel? Thanks again

 

[short]

One more

 

[short]

That actually may only be a 6" lift. It doesn't look all that much higher than mine with 36x15.5's on it. Mine has 4" front springs and about 5" over stock in the rear.

You must be registered for see images attach

Certainly no 12" lift at all.

Thanks for the help. The flares look pretty similar to yours. Could you give me an estimate on how much metal is cut out above the wheel? I just asked this on my other thread not realizing I could've just asked you

 

[Vbb199]

Thank you guys for the feedback. So what would be the best option if I'm on a budget? Here's some photos of what I want my truck to look like. The owner told me the tires were 40s in most of the photos and 37 in the unfiltered photo that has cut out flares. I'm not sure about the tire size in the filtered photo. Bucket estimated that it has around a 6in lift. Bucket also noticed the fenders were cut to accommodate the flares/bigger tires. If any one has any experience with fenders, would you be able to give me an estimate on how much was cut above the wheel? Thanks again

So, the biggest issue with these trucks is, there's usually plenty of vertical fender space, but never enough horizontal fender space.

What some people usually do is just trim the corners of the fenders off + lift to accommodate larger tires. You eventually just get to a point where you have to lift the entire tire out of the fenderwell and put the truck above the tire once it's a big enough tire. LOL

I'd say if those really are 40's, it's probably a 6" lift based off how much of the tires fit into the fenderwelll.

I would (personally) stop at that 6" because you'll start having to get into custom driveshafts if it keeps getting lifted, and then eventually you'll wanna consider crossover steering because the factory steer will begin to suck and making left turns becomes difficult past that.
Imo, that 6" lift is kinda the maximum lift on a budget for minimal work.. past that 6" things become expensive if you wanna do it up decently and still have 4x4.

For budget purposes, I'd say just get your 8 lugger 3/4 ton set, or at least put a 14b ff rear end in, and skip the stage if a sf 14b. Those tires scare me on a semi floater... I've lost axle c clips due to larger tires on semi floaters....

The 3/4 ton 8 lug axle is just hubs, brakes, spindles, the axle tube, gears, and axle shafts are the same as a 1/2 ton 10 bolt.
you'd definitely as aforementioned want plenty of stopping power. You may even consider tossing the 1/2 ton Master cylinder and replacing it for a 3/4 ton master cylinder as well to assist in stopping the rig.

I meant to say by the way, I hope you didn't take my post as me being ****** with you when I said "maybe think about if you really want to strain that 10 bolt like that. "

I meant no malice in it

 

[bucket]

What's the definition of "on a budget" in this case? Buying new or used parts, or a combo of both? What's the specific look you are going after? The pictures of that brown Burb show two completely different looks, imho.

I think the way I did mine makes the truck look bigger and meatier than it actually is, but it really wasn't budget friendly I guess. The 12" wide wheels were fairly cheap, but the wide tires were not. The cutout flares also were not cheap for what they are, and they break easy. My first trip into the woods, I snagged a small tree and yanked one partway off.

 

[bucket]

Well hell, I just replied to the wrong thread, lol.

 

[bucket]

Thanks for the help. The flares look pretty similar to yours. Could you give me an estimate on how much metal is cut out above the wheel? I just asked this on my other thread not realizing I could've just asked you

And I just accidentally replied to the other thread, lol. I'll try to merge the two and maybe it will all jive.

I believe Bushwacker is the only maker of the large cutout flares for our trucks, so they are probably the same. Doesn't matter if it's front or rear wells, you actually don't take any from the top. Just the sides. I've got a thread around here somewhere that I showed what gets cut, ill have to find it. I'm not sure I have the pictures anymore.