This one kinda scares me, I'll be honest. There's a big part of me that wants to keep the body of my truck totally stock. There's no putting parts back together (at least, not as well as factory) after you've cut them apart. That said, I do have an extra body that I could swipe the fenders and rear doors and paint/trim those. Anyway...

I found out you can buy 37/12.50r16.5 tires for around $100 each from military auctions. They come off the Humvees! What a steal for that size tire! And truthfully, I love the thought of 37s on ole Frankie. That said, obviously there will be trimming required. It also appears you can't find 16.5s in our bolt pattern, so that would require either A.)Buying a set of these and having BORA make up a set of 1.5" spacer adapters (something like these but hub centric). B.) and axle swap, or C.) Buying a set of 17s and having a machine shop turn them down half an inch. It would also require quite a lot of trimming even on my 3.5" lift. I figure probably 3" worth at the top of the fenders and maybe 3.5" on the sides as well as very possibly longer bump stops. I'm already going to be welding the rear diff and installing CDL very soon, and I'm thinking a limited slip in the front with 4.11 gears all around as well as, very likely, HD axles in the future.

Anyway, I'd love to hear thoughts, comments, concerns, and ideas.

Edit: I'm looking at gears and I see some that say "P38 Type Diff". Is there a difference between the RRC, D1, P38, and D2 type diffs? Which will fit which?

 

Why stop at 37"?

 

You are going to need to spend the money on HD axles and gearing before you buy the tires. If you put the tires on first you are doing it backwards and wont make it very far.

Yes, the ring and pinion in a P38 diff is stronger, but the carrier is weaker. But if you are going to upgrade the R&P, why not just reuse your current housing and save the headache? Also, the P38 diff is shorter so you will need longer driveshafts. You'll need HD driveshafts anyways if you are going to run 37s.

 

Subscribed..I'm looking to do some work like this in the future. I'm not the one to answer at the moment, but I'm assuming HD axles and upgraded differentials would defintiely be a must. HD drive shafts seem right too. I'm sure others here could give you some great information though.

 

I like #C but i dont think it works that way.

you could call someone like us steel wheel and ask what it would cost for a 16.5 hoop installed on a rover bolt pattern.

 

Ive had them custom made before. They were around $140/wheel

 

If you're going to run those truly AWFUL tires(they are terrible for almost every type of terrain except pavement), you might as well just use different full axles that are non-Rover that you can get 16.5" wheels for. Get a beefy FJ80 axle or the like with e-lockers and bam, you're golden.

 

dont for get the 470 or 512 gear need to move them

 

And the $300 worth of fender flares you will need after you cut.

 

Cost mostly.

Definitely doing gears first. Would axles definitely be required first just for street driving or just for off roading? She is mostly a daily driver, but this is working her way up to a full time off roader.

I do plan on keeping the same housing, I was just wondering if the ring and pinion were cross compatible.