Geez Man! That thing is dirtier than my jeep! And I haven't washed that in over a year, and come to think of it, I just hosed it off...didn't even brush it!

 

Believe it or not, many years ago when I owned my 70 Z28, I had purchased a set of 8 inch wide Crager wheels for the rear (the hot set-up back then). I wanted to put on a set on L-50's (12 inch wide tire) and I asked my buddy who's family owned a tire shop for years. he smiled and said that wouldn't be a problem. When I questioned his answer, he proceeded to mount the same tire on my 7 inch front wheels and he said said drive with these for a couple of days around town,and if the tire looses its bead, I'll buy you new wheels and give you 4 new tires. I didn't have ANY issues , and he put the tires back on the wider wheels. My point is that I couldn't believe it myself. His exact words were : Unless your racing the vehicle sliding around turns, I don't see that there would be a problem with that set-up. Now, I'm no tire expert and I do realize that the lower profile tires of today have a stiffer,less forgiving sidewall, but I had to share this story. I believe that you can go wider up to a point with the stock wheel. Just my 2 cents.

 

Hhmm... is it just me or is this post from 2006 and the date on the pics 2004?

 

yes the pics are dated for 2004 everytime i change the batteries in my camera it asks me to set the date well i was lazy and didnt do it..

 

Some other things to ponder....

Offroad guys generally go as NARROW of a rim as possible. When airing down, the narrow wheel in relation to wide tire, actually holds the bead much better. (Yes, I get kicked in the ***** by the 8inch guys, every time I lose a bead on my ten inch rim and have to do a trail fix!

On the other hand....a proper size wheel will give you a better contct patch as the tire won't have to ballon as much.

 

hate to RE-Burst your bubble.....but you really havent gained much in the realm of "CONTACT PATCH" the narrowness of the stock rim is pulling the shoulders in ...you can see the proof in your own pictures...look at where dirt is and isnt you should have dirt on atleast and extra half in of each shoulder....i run a 315/35-20 on 20x11 rears I can get away with 335's if i want since it is only 11.5" minimum for 335/30-20.....but man your playing with fate.....i know a few tire guys and they said NEVER PUSH the limits by more than .5 inches......your 2.5 past.....just want a fellow lightning owner to be safe