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34x10.5 or 33x13.50 LTB's on an 8" rim?????

3322 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  RubiconRic
ok so I have made up my mind that sometime this winter I am buying swamper LTB's. they are going on my 15x8 pro comp wheels.
now my question is can I safely put a 13.5" or a 10.5" wide tire on an 8" rim.
the 10.5's I know will fit just fine just have to be careful with airing down because it'll be easier to blow a bead on the trail at low PSI.
but I am really leaning towards the 13.5's. will they be ok on an 8" rim? I think interco's website says 8.5 is recommeded. is a 1/2 inch really that big of a deal?
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ok so I misread.
the 10.5's have a rec wheel width of 8.5" which seems odd to me for such a narrow tire but whatever, I guess that means my 8" will be fine.

but again its the 13.5's I am leaning more towards and the rec. wheel width is a 10" wheel.

any thoughts on this? good, bad, or indifferent
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the 10.5 will be fine and a 8" rim, I ran these same tires. I currently run 13.5 on a 8" rim and my tires have to be ran at a lower street psi to achieve proper contact on the street.

34x10.5x15 on an 8" rim:


37x13.5x15 on an 8" rim:
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MPETE said:
ok so I have made up my mind that sometime this winter I am buying swamper LTB's. they are going on my 15x8 pro comp wheels.
now my question is can I safely put a 13.5" or a 10.5" wide tire on an 8" rim.
the 10.5's I know will fit just fine just have to be careful with airing down because it'll be easier to blow a bead on the trail at low PSI.
but I am really leaning towards the 13.5's. will they be ok on an 8" rim? I think interco's website says 8.5 is recommeded. is a 1/2 inch really that big of a deal?

FWIW: I run the 34x10.5 on an 8 in rim and have yet to pop a bead running 6-8 lbs on the trail.
Paul ran them for a while on his TJ, 10.50x16. They barely even buldge at 13psi on the rocks with weight on one tire.

The 13.50 would be fine too, it would just have a more rounded contact patch. If you're only driving to the trail its insignificant.
The best practice would be to run the tires using the width of rim reccomended by the tire manufacturer. When you go outside of the reccomendations, you run the risk of compromising safety or treadwear longevity or traction or handling.
yes what ever choice I make these tires are trail only tires so street manners will only matter for the "to and from" the trail traveling.
but I think I have made up my mind that I am going with the 34's. they are closer to the 8" rim width I will be using. comments on another board have informed me that running the 13.5's on an 8" rim and the rounded tread that it will create will decrease the flex and therefore traction capabilities of the tire unless I have them siped.
I am not against having a tire siped to increase its capabilities, however I am buying wheeling-only tires for the best wheeling tire available right out of the box. I am sick of having to compromise between the best wheeling tires I can get while still maintaining decent street manners.
screw that. I have JK moabs on my rig now with JK street tires and I just did a road trip last night and got over 17 mpg out of my jeep which had previously never even hit the 15 mpg mark with 33" MT's and steel wheels. good mpg makes me happy. no wobbles out of my tires while driving the jeep to work during the week makes me happy. knowing that the BRAND NEW tires I bought for my jeep to accomplish these things cost me less than $400 for the set makes me happy.
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Yes I would say a major feature of the LTB is the big lugs on the side/corner... so if you went with the wider tire on a narrower rim the resulting bulge would probably nullify that perk because the lugs would be less likely to be in contact with the ground.
Offtopic, but still cool: Vid of LTBs

He was the only one even close to getting through that hole.
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