- Joined
- Jun 3, 2019
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- Location
- Plymouth Michigan
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 Bronco Badlands non-sas 4 door manual
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
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- #1
Hey guys, I finally decided to join the big tire club. **Some clearance issues**
(See video at bottom of post)
First things first, I got the non-sasquatch for a specific reason (aside from the manual) it has more wheel travel. So naturally I was concerned I might see more clearance issues than your typical sasquatch equipped bronco.
Before pulling the trigger on tires, and possibly wheels I wanted to see what clearance issues I might run into. So I created a 3D printed tire clearance gauge, specifically for my 33" KO2. The gauge includes a 37"x12.5" tire offset profile, that can slide to the side to simulate variable wheel offset. (I will post a video on that later).
This gauge found the usual suspects, crash bars and frame (with 55mm offset). It also found the UCA, which surprised me a bit. Ultimately it became clear that if I wanted to run 37's I needed less than 55mm offset. I absolutely refuse to go negative, (every time someone goes lower than 0mm offset, a chassis engineer dies). 0mm is where I draw the line and unfortunately that's apparently where beadlock manufacturers draw the line too. So I was stuck between RTR's sexy wheels with 30mm offset, or 0mm beadlocks. I was in denial for weeks, but ultimately, I realized my heart was set on beadlocks.
I spent a lot of time researching tires. I know everyone has their favorites, but my short list was: KM3, Mickey Baja Boss, Nitto Trail Grappler, Cooper STT Pro, and MAXXIS RAZR. I always like to be the odd one out, and since everyone runs all those but the MAXXIS, and since the MAXXIS also had no faulty reviews (and were excellent in my MTB experience) I decided on the RAZRs. Just as I decided on the RAZR's I discovered that its more aggressive big brother the Trepador had a tamer well-mannered radial variant. Aptly named the Trepador Radial. SOLD.
As for beadlocks, I made a spreadsheet, compared styles on other rigs and prices yada yada, nobody cares. I went with Black Rhino Avenger Beadlocks (Gray). Honorable mention to the Black Rhino Primm and shoutout to AEV making what I found to be the most affordable Beadlock (just not my style)
Set them up myself (doable but slow going). Having great success with balance beads!
To the point, here are the before and after pics:
And the post test Money Shot:
I was a bit disappointed to learn that my gauge was not perfect. Either my radius was just a bit off, or the tire profile, or likely a bit of both. The Trepadors on 0mm offset did rub the rock rail, not undrivable, but bad enough that it needed addressing soon. Also, at full lock the tires just graze the wheel liner near the bottom, nothing I am going to worry about at this time.
What about at full jounce? I tested that both with a gauge and the tires and found that if I am going to be seriously wheeling, I better remove the fender flares. I don't care about those though, the BIG question is did I hit body/fender? Somewhat. See update on page 2
note: picture below not at quite at full jounce
Would I hit body if I jumped it while turning? Probably. So I won't do that, and neither should you.
So how do the new tires perform? Great! Well, isn't the bronco already great? Yes! Thats why I performed a back-to-back comparison on the farm.
Trigger warning, I forgot to disable the proximity sensor, it's not too bad from the driver's seat but holy cow my phone speaker picked it up. I am not a professional video editor, so just be ready to adjust the volume at certain points. I will shut it off for future videos!
Let me know if you'd like to see me find or build some more obstacles on the farm!
I will add to the post tomorrow detailing how I trimmed the rock rails (very easy and no more rubbing!)
(See video at bottom of post)
First things first, I got the non-sasquatch for a specific reason (aside from the manual) it has more wheel travel. So naturally I was concerned I might see more clearance issues than your typical sasquatch equipped bronco.
Before pulling the trigger on tires, and possibly wheels I wanted to see what clearance issues I might run into. So I created a 3D printed tire clearance gauge, specifically for my 33" KO2. The gauge includes a 37"x12.5" tire offset profile, that can slide to the side to simulate variable wheel offset. (I will post a video on that later).
This gauge found the usual suspects, crash bars and frame (with 55mm offset). It also found the UCA, which surprised me a bit. Ultimately it became clear that if I wanted to run 37's I needed less than 55mm offset. I absolutely refuse to go negative, (every time someone goes lower than 0mm offset, a chassis engineer dies). 0mm is where I draw the line and unfortunately that's apparently where beadlock manufacturers draw the line too. So I was stuck between RTR's sexy wheels with 30mm offset, or 0mm beadlocks. I was in denial for weeks, but ultimately, I realized my heart was set on beadlocks.
I spent a lot of time researching tires. I know everyone has their favorites, but my short list was: KM3, Mickey Baja Boss, Nitto Trail Grappler, Cooper STT Pro, and MAXXIS RAZR. I always like to be the odd one out, and since everyone runs all those but the MAXXIS, and since the MAXXIS also had no faulty reviews (and were excellent in my MTB experience) I decided on the RAZRs. Just as I decided on the RAZR's I discovered that its more aggressive big brother the Trepador had a tamer well-mannered radial variant. Aptly named the Trepador Radial. SOLD.
As for beadlocks, I made a spreadsheet, compared styles on other rigs and prices yada yada, nobody cares. I went with Black Rhino Avenger Beadlocks (Gray). Honorable mention to the Black Rhino Primm and shoutout to AEV making what I found to be the most affordable Beadlock (just not my style)
Set them up myself (doable but slow going). Having great success with balance beads!
To the point, here are the before and after pics:
And the post test Money Shot:
I was a bit disappointed to learn that my gauge was not perfect. Either my radius was just a bit off, or the tire profile, or likely a bit of both. The Trepadors on 0mm offset did rub the rock rail, not undrivable, but bad enough that it needed addressing soon. Also, at full lock the tires just graze the wheel liner near the bottom, nothing I am going to worry about at this time.
What about at full jounce? I tested that both with a gauge and the tires and found that if I am going to be seriously wheeling, I better remove the fender flares. I don't care about those though, the BIG question is did I hit body/fender? Somewhat. See update on page 2
note: picture below not at quite at full jounce
Would I hit body if I jumped it while turning? Probably. So I won't do that, and neither should you.
So how do the new tires perform? Great! Well, isn't the bronco already great? Yes! Thats why I performed a back-to-back comparison on the farm.
Trigger warning, I forgot to disable the proximity sensor, it's not too bad from the driver's seat but holy cow my phone speaker picked it up. I am not a professional video editor, so just be ready to adjust the volume at certain points. I will shut it off for future videos!
Let me know if you'd like to see me find or build some more obstacles on the farm!
I will add to the post tomorrow detailing how I trimmed the rock rails (very easy and no more rubbing!)
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