Part Two For years, most of the staff had said, "Who in their right minds would drive down the highway on 44-inch tires?!" Well, we still don't know anyone who would drive on 44s, but we decided to give some 47s a try. Last month we introduced a fullsize Cherokee on 47-inch Pit Bull Growlers that we started to drive back and forth to work, out around town, and for one final trip in the dirt. A short excursion to take a few pictures in the dirt turned into a few-hour rescue after both rear axleshafts and one front hub broke loose while we were trying to get over a tiny berm. But before everything let go, we were able to get a pretty good feel for what we needed to do in order to make these tires fit and to keep everything alive. Obviously, this 4x4 was going to need a lot more axle to live under this truck. The engine had enough power to push the big Jeep at freeways speeds without problem, and the 727 transmission was built to take the abuse, but the steering and axles were going to need some improvement. We used the downtime to take a step back and figure out what we really need to feasibly live with 47-inch tires on a daily driver. Next month we're going to address the axles, the steering, and maybe even add some new shocks to this FSJ (fullsize Jeep), but this month we're going to make the tires fit while we wait for axle parts to show up. We found a few spots on the body and chassis that we didn't feel comfortable with, but were able to improve the tire clearance without changing out the nice Deaver spring packs. We used some bigger rear blocks, Offroad Design zero-rate add-a-leafs in front, and some wheel spacers from JT's Parts and Accessories to make the 47s fit (along with some generous cutting, of course). Once we get different axles on this truck, we'll give it a shakedown run to make sure everything is kosher, and be able to successfully daily drive 47-inch tires every day after that. Like we mentioned earlier, this thing was a no-wheel-drive Jeep after we busted both the front and rear ends. Larie Tales, owner of Jeeps R Us, was kind enough to allow us to use his personal CJ-7 to tug the fullsize Cherokee in for some work.Like we mentioned earlier, this thing was a no-wheel-drive Jeep after we busted both the f We started by pulling off the 47-inch Growlers mounted on the 20x12 Dick Cepek DC-1 wheels. This gave us better access to everything. We tried to do this first with conventional jacks and jackstands, but that quickly proved to be a waste of time, as this thing was way too big. We pushed it over to a vehicle lift and were able to unload the suspension while still keeping the tires on the ground. If you're going to be running a tire this big, remember that you'll need some specialty jacks and jackstands tall enough to reach the frame of your truck.We started by pulling off the 47-inch Growlers mounted on the 20x12 Dick Cepek DC-1 wheels We wanted at least one more inch of lift to clear the tires a little better, but we didn't want to change out the fancy Deaver leaf packs, and elongating the shackle anymore was really going to throw the pinion angle further out of whack. Offroad Design (ORD) makes something called a zero-rate add-a-leaf. It's not really an add-a-leaf, but it's not really a block either. Each one ties into the springpack using a supplied centerpin, so you can even use these in the front end (never use a conventional block in the front of a truck!). You'll also notice two extra holes in the zero-rate add-a-leafs. The extra bolts and holes are used so you can move your axle either 0.75 or 1 inch frontwards or backwards, effectively and cheaply changing your wheelbase.We wanted at least one more inch of lift to clear the tires a little better, but we didn't We got the old centerpins out of the Deaver packs only to find that the supplied centerpins were not long enough to fit through the ORD units and the multi-leaf Deaver packs. Luckily Jeeps R Us had some longer centerpins sitting around. The ORD centerpins will fit most leaf springs, but you might have some issues with a 12- or 13-leaf pack.We got the old centerpins out of the Deaver packs only to find that the supplied centerpin We moved to the rear of the truck, which was clearly being held up by the shocks as we hoisted the truck into the air. Once we unbolted the shocks and let the axle droop to the point it would be sitting with the new blocks, we realized the shocks were about five inches too short for this truck. I guess we'll be adding shocks to make this truck work too.We moved to the rear of the truck, which was clearly being held up by the shocks as we hoi The rear of this FSJ already had some 4-inch tall blocks under the rear Deaver springpacks, but we needed some more lift. We found a pair of 5.5-inch blocks....The rear of this FSJ already had some 4-inch tall blocks under the rear Deaver springpacks .....in the back of the shop and added them to the truck instead. That brought the front and rear end to roughly equal heights......in the back of the shop and added them to the truck instead. That brought the front a The rear tires were not rubbing, but they had about two millimeters of clearance before they were going to contact the bolts of the leaf spring clamps. One good bounce would be enough to flex the tire's carcass into the side of the leaf spring.....The rear tires were not rubbing, but they had about two millimeters of clearance before th .....The most immediate, most inexpensive, and ultimately best solution was to add some JT's Parts and Accessories wheel spacers to the rear end. We got 1.5-inch thick spacers with 9/16 studs to bolt up to our 8-lug rear end. The extra space was more than enough to keep our tires safe from hitting the leaf springs......The most immediate, most inexpensive, and ultimately best solution was to add some JT Remarkably, the 47-inch Growlers cleared everything at full turn in the front of the truck. Even flexed out, the front tires really didn't rub badly. Unfortunately the rear was where the big rubbing was going on. We added the JT's wheel spacers and some bigger blocks to the rear end, but we were afraid the rear fender would still grab the tire when really flexed out. Out came the Sawsall as we cut and hacked our way to some better tire clearance. We could have tried to completely remove the fender flares, but we decided that cutting along the bottom of the fenders would be a better way to clearance everything.Remarkably, the 47-inch Growlers cleared everything at full turn in the front of the truck The 47-inch tire shod FSJ noticeably sat a little taller now (check out the stock FSJ in back of it!), and the extra tire clearance should make driving this truck around a little more fun and a little less noisy. Now we just have to wait until it will move again under its own power!The 47-inch tire shod FSJ noticeably sat a little taller now (check out the stock FSJ in b Sources Offroad Design 484 County Road 113 Carbondale CO 81623 970-945-7777 http://www.offroaddesign.com/ Pit Bull Tires 1815 Locust Street St. Louis MO 63103 800-645-2006 www.pitbulltires.com Jeeps R Us 3231 Laguna Canyon Road Laguna Beach CA 92651 949-497-9183 http://www.jeepsrus.com/ JT's Parts And Accessories 5980 Goodwin Rd Cashmere WA 98815 509-888-2953 www.justdifferentials.com Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels 4600 Prosper Drive Stow OH 44224 330-928-9092 www.dickcepek.com By Jerrod Jones Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
