hello all, before i say what im planning on getting i'll give the vitals on the truck first
2003 Scab FX4 stock 17's stock ride height

heres my plan:
im on a budget, a scrict one for the time being, but i need tires, but i want something more aggressive and since we're on farms and camping all the time im going with an m/t tire.

the tires i've chose are the Maxxis buckshot mudders in a 285/70/17
i've been pondering the idea of a leveling kit also, so what i wanted to know is where can i find some info on these leveling kits and any pro/con's about them, sorry i just dont know anything about them, and would a slightly larger tire fit if i ended up going with a leveling kit? keep in mind i am keeping the stock fx4 17's

thank you guys for the help in advance

-*****

 

I'm not sure about the Scab, but the supercrews for 2003 and earlier don't have an available leveling kit. You just crank the torsion bars in the front to achieve more front end height. I just had that done on my 02 Screw FX4. To use the info I received off of this site, only concerns are to make sure you aren't putting your CV joints at too severe an angle and you must get an alignment after cranking the torsion bars. Also make sure you turn each of them exactly the same amount.

As for the tires, keeping the stock 17's help. You could go a bit bigger. I think if I remember reading on here correctly, you can go with a 35 with the front end cranked up and the stock wheels. Just keep in mind the recommended wheel width for the tires you choose. If the wheel is too narrow you could end up with uneven wear on the center of your tire tread. 33's are for sure no problem though. Hope this helps.

 

yeah you just would need to crank the t-bars to level your truck out...I just had mine done and I am really pleased with the look just sits it up level and gives it a better looking stance in my opinion. Russ has got it straight.......check out my gallery for pics on how it would look. I also have 285's and I like them on my stock rims. And like Russ said you can fit up to 35's on your stock rims it is just a bit tight....you can also consider the 305/70/17 which is a 34x12 tire. I know that the Buckshots come in that size.

 

I agree. You can fit up to a 315/70-17 (35x12.50) if you keep the OEM wheels. Personally, I'd stick with a 305/70-17 or slightly smaller tire unless you plan on lifting your truck in the near future.

 

I attempted to put the BFG A/T 315/70/17 on my stock 03' FX4 wheel, and had pretty bad rubbing. Actually, I wouldn't even consider it rubbing, it was more like bending the front valance by about an inch. Also, those tires weren't rated to mount on the OEM 17x7.5 wheel either, so I wouldn't have been able to run them on those wheels anyway, it was just to test the clearance.

I went with the BFG A/T 285/70/17 on 17x9 wheels. With the 17x9 wheels I had to crank my torsion bars about a half inch, and trim about a half inch of the corner of the front valance. However, on OEM FX4 wheels those tires would have fit without adjustment of anything. You can see in my "after" picture that the front end is slightly more level from the torsion bar adjustment.