hey guys, I just picked up a 87 DL hatchback 4wd. It needs tires real bad. I don't wanna mess with a lift kit right now. Do any of you know how much bigger tires I could go without it rubbing or shaving the fenders or anything. I wanna see if I can go a little wider of a tire for better traction in the mud and snow and as tall as I can squeeze under there for a little more ground clearance.... any experience or ideas?

 

Any brand of all terrain tires you recommend also?

 

P.S. I am not gonna do any extreme mudding or 4 wheeling.

 

Thanks,

Wes

Are you using stock 13" rims?

 

I recently went with the largest diameter I could find locally and consistently.

 

185/70 r13

 

All three of the tire dealers I typically deal with and trust recommended the Kumho Solus for my Loyale (probably because 13" is not very popular), so that's what I purchased. Purely for highway use though.

 

 

Here is my Loyale wearing those Kumho tires:

 

 

If you are runing 14" rims you may be able to find a reasonably available tire size that squeezes a little more meat under the fenders.

EA81 or EA82?

 

GD

Thanks Dogbone....ya its got 13"...I think I might switch up to 14" to have more options. I like those tires... do they do well off road?

 

GeneralDisorder: Its EA81 motor.

To get 14" tires you will need 14" wheels - easier said than done on the 4x140mm stock lug pattern I'm afraid. Best option is to convert to 6 lug and then you can run a variety of Toyota and chevy truck rims, etc.

 

GD

I have 185 80 13s on mine but they are snow tires so light wheeling only for me, but they are fun in the mud too. OD is 25" and some change. Another option if you wanna take your chances with Walmart tires is the douglas xtra trac. I don't know what sizes they have though but they do have a decent lug pattern for a cheap flimsy tire.

Ya I noticed that the 14" wheels are kinda hard to come by. So, I think I gonna stick with the 13"....after looking at all the 13" options it seems the 185/80R13 are the best. Thanks for the all suggestions guys.

If your planning on lifting at all, even 2", seriously consider a 6 lug upgrade like GD suggested, or even if your not lifting... The options for tires are huge in the 15" size and if you run a 195/65/R15(or something similar), you'd be roughly a 1/4" taller and 1/2" wider than a 185/80/R13. 15" tires and wheels are everywhere and cheap, I bought a set of bridgestone all terrains with %60-70 left on 6 lug toyota wheels for $40 on Craiglist not too long ago.

 

Search "195" in the CL auto parts section in your area, I just did and saw a set of 195/60/R15 for $50

Sounds great, but that sounds like a huge hassle switching it...do they make adapters that bolt on or will have change hubs and everything?

A 6 lug conversion is easy. It might sound scary to start drilling on wheels and hubs, but lots of guys are running 6 lugs and had zero problems. The toyota/chev/dodge/nissan 6x5.5" wheels work because 5.5" comes out to 139.7mm and the subaru pattern is 140mm, so if you pull two studs out of your drums/hubs, than the other two will mount up a 6 lug wheel. .3mm difference isn't a concern. From there you can convert the wheel to 140mm, by marking the wheel from the back through the empty stud holes(that you pulled to mount the 6 lug wheel) and then re-installing the stock stud or convert your Subaru drums/hubs to 6x5.5" by marking the hubs throught the stud holes in the wheel, then you drill holes and install 4 more studs in every drum/hub. Drilling the wheels is cheaper and easier

 

Theres lots of threads and writeups on how to do this, try searching the offroad forum

Holy ************....that sounds easy as hell. I thought I was gonna have to switch out the hubs ans mix and match and screw around. Thanks for the help!