With a Badlands you won't need lift or level, you will need either different rims or wheels spacers. Don't know how many miles you have on your Bronco, but Badland take-offs sell for about $300 less than Sas take-offs. Prices vary regionally, but a Sas take-off set can now be had for around $1500 here if you are patient, I was able to get a set for $1000 but that was pretty lucky.
Interesting. I was under the impression that to run a little taller Tire on these rims I would need to add either a leveling kit or lift to some degree to avoid possible rub. This not the case ? Perhaps just the crash bars is what I'd have to delete or go with slim bars to avoid concerns of rub / turn clearance ?
The 285/75R17 measure 33.9”x11.5”, not 35”. The 315/70R17 Sasquatch tires actually measure 34.5” tall, so the 285/75R17 is within .6”. I found the +35mm offset (pushed out 20mm from stock) squares up the 285 wide tires so the tread is just covered by the non SAS flares. I didn’t have to remove the crash bars for this setup. If I were upsizing from here I’d go with the same wheel offset the the Toyo 35x11.5R17. The extra width is where things start rubbing upper control arms and require less offset. I stayed one size smaller because I’ve made the mistake of going too big/heavy in the past. I’d rather sacrifice that extra .3” of ground clearance and better looks to save 7# of unsprung weight per tire and have that little bit more clearance in the fenders. Another factor with the manual transmission 6th gear is already not that usable on anything but flat highway, the larger and heavier the tires the worse that situation gets. Fortunately I have the 4.70 gears, the 4.46 manual transmission guys who went 35” generally regret it. With the 10 speed it doesn’t make as much difference.
Thanks. Great info. I wasn't aware manual VS 10spd would play a roll with wheel size in that regard. Interesting. 10spd here, but good to know regardless.
If you stick with 285/75R17or the Kenda 35x10.5R17 they should be narrow enough to fit on your stock wheels with no or slim crash bars. Most do a 1” front level like I plan on doing. Here is an example of the Kenda’s on your semi wheels with a 1” front spacer.
The 10 speed has more choices of closer ratio overdrive gears, so maybe yours stays in 8th or 9th gear more rather than 10th with larger tires but you don’t even need to pay attention. With the manual I have to decide between 5th and 6th every time and on every hill. I drive by the boost gauge in the cluster, the lower the boost the better the MPG so 5th generally does better even at the higher RPM. I get 20-21 mpg highway averaging 70 mph.
Great thread. Thanks for the link! What do folks generally prefer for taller tire on non-sas badlands w/ stock rims without a level kit or lift, whike avoiding any rub / clearance concerns ? To be honest, I'm fine with swapping in slim crash bars, but might not go with a lift / level kit out of the gate since the factory rake doesn't bother me. If I can just go with taller tires on my factory rims to gain a little height, I might just start there and see how I feel before changing anything else. Just want to avoid rub.
The Kenda Klever seemed to be the most popular with early builds. But the Baja Boss 255/85 is gaining acceptance and it's taller than the stock Sasquatch tires. It's crazy to me that anything less than 12.5" inch width is now considered a "pizza cutter".
I agree the 255/85 is an interesting size that will fit, but I wouldn’t consider an E rated tire for one of these Broncos. I know plenty of people do it, but my previous experience with trucks lighter than 3/4 ton with E rated tires was unacceptable.
How do you like the Eibach coilover replacement? Did you need to change UCAs? What type did you get and would you recommend?It also has a wider track width with the different offset wheels. And wider flares/bumper.
This is my standard badlands with Eibach replacement coil springs on 315/70/17's
