I just got some new wheels for snow tires. I have a stock 98 Blazer LT 4x4 with slightly up sized 235/75/R15 tires (came with 70's).

The ones they said would fit were a 4 inch backspacing - I know the stock is 6 inch. I test fit them and they rubbed. The rubbing was just on the back portion of the fender, on the passenger side, while turning right. I think there is some mis alignment of the body from the factory (first owner, no accidents). The wheel would turn through it, but would get shredded on the road, so I am guessing it was into it anout 1/4 to 1/2 inch at most. It also hit the bolt holding the inner fender on.

I cut a bit, but do not want to cut much, so I took them back and they swapped them for some 4.5 inch back spacing. They said they should fit, and I did not see before they mounted them.

I will be testing them out tonight, but wanted to know if some lift (actually how much lift) would help them fit. Will a 1.5 inch tbar crank do it, or will additional such as a 2 inch body lift be needed. Also, how much of a difference would the .5 inches of backspacing make?

Thanks for the help.
Tim

 

I have that size tire right now. Before my 2"shackles and T-bar, no issues with stock rims. I just got new rims with 4.5" BS and I do not have any rubbing what so ever. Those tires are approved factory size (see sticker inside the drivers door).

 

yah, I was running the same size BFG ATs on the stocks. Glad to hear it should only take the bar crank to get it to fit, if needed.
Any other experiences?

 

Looks like it is pretty close. How much space is recommended between the back portion of the fender and the tire?

 

Its pretty normal on Blazers to have a worn out passenger side torsion bar. Just give it a couple turns to level the truck back out, and it will also fix the rubbing problem on that side.

 

Actually, I went to crank the bars last night, and was a bit surprised. I cranked the driver's side 4 turns, and went over to the other and thought, These seem a lot different."

The bolt for the passengers was almost all the way out, while after the four turns, the dirver's was almost all the way in. I did crank the passengers up, and up, and up, over several adjustments. Now I have about 1.5 inches of lift in the front, and have it evened out.

I still got a bit of rubbing with some big flex over a speed bump, so I decided to order a 2" BL along with shackles for the back.

I actually like the way the front end handles now. It is a lot more responsive, and I do not mind feeling more of the bumps. It is closer to how my Toyota T100 rides with Bilstiens.

Oh, and I think I might like the Blazer more with a bit of lift.

 

Make sure you get an alignment after cranking your tbars. Some may tell it is not needed but you just changed the alignment of your front suspension.

 

Yep. Planned on it. I was going to wait until the shackles are on, so I will be done with all the suspension parts. That should be able to happen soon. We really don't drive it anyway (except for skiing coming up).

The body lift install might wait until the spring, but I need to size that up. Any install how to's for a BL?