Rims and tires?

my motegis are 18 x 8 w/ 35mm offset, they are tucking on the 4wd fenders with about a finger width from rubbing while straight, & I am
running 245/40-18 = 25.71"

to get the side wall to match the wheel width & not balloon, I usually add @ 40mm (@1.5") to the wheel width and that will give you the tire width you need, this is because the width of the wheel is measured from the tires bead surface on the inside of the wheel, so you have to take in account the thickness of the wheels bead lip, which is usually 5/8" or so.....
quick example, the centerlines I had which BJ now has on his truck were
7" wide which is = 177.8mm, so if you add the 40mm that comes out to 217.8, so you could either run a 215 or 225 tire, I opted for the 225 so I would have a wider contact patch on the ground. the 8" motegis=203.2 + 40 = 243.2, so I got the 245's.

wheel width inch to mm conversion
5.5"=139.7
6" =152.4
6.5"=165.1
7" =177.8
7.5"=190.5
8" =203.2
8.5"=215.9
9" =228.6
9.5"=241.3
10" =254

as far as the height goes, once you figure out what width wheel you want, and tire, use this calculator to see what the total diameter is so you can get close to o.e. and not affect the speedo....



hope that helps ya out a little boss!

Hey NYTRDR! Nice to see ya!

Well, I appreciate all the info, but I may go with this:


I really like this site already! lol! They give guarantees, and they have a large database that gives you a wide variety to choose from! If you click that link, I was thinking about those rims. I like them, but hey, a second opinion is always nice!

I'll have to check and see what they say about 17 and 18 inch rims as well..

Same back @ ya boss!

when I clicked the link, it said the session had expired on the sites screen, looks like a good site tho, just remember before you buy, shop around, you can find some serious bargans on wheels, I got both the centerlines & the motegi's for a song! keep us posted on what ones you
settle on!

Oh bummer! Well if you put in your vehicle descrip at the top. It weill then show you Your wheel and tire specifications and what offset and backspacing as well as lug pattern, etc! It then filters out everything that is not a direct bolt-on and shows you what fits with the desired size rim or tire you want!

If you can see this, this is the rim I think I may have my sights set on:


Well, the thing is, there may be better deals, but I might have to strain myself to find whether or not it will fit! Lol..

that wheel is sharp, but it is 5 lug, best thing to do would be go by a rim shop, and see if they have some wheels & tires that you could try on for a good fit before you spend all that money on something that might possibly not.

There picture is not accurate in terms of lug amount. There list does show that they have these in 20 and 18's for 6 lug pattern that will directly fit my truck without rubbing, etc.

Now, they only guarantee it won't rub when at stock height, but if I bag it with a 20 or 18, I know I will need to cut the wheel wells out, but what else should I expect?

Flip BJ's? Drop spindles? Pie cut the control arms? Etc, etc... I dunno if you would know anything specific about that NYTRDR, but hey you still kick ass, man!

thanks for the props hex, your pretty sharp yourself!

on the wheels, with 18's you should be alright even with a decent static drop as long as they aren't any wider than 8", more than that & they will probably rub. as far as the bj's & whatnot, that will depend on what your doing when you put the air ride on it.....but if you decide to go with the 20's, you inevitably have to do more clearancing in the wheel wells front & rear, and the frame notch may have to be a little taller for you to lay out.

just keep us posted, and if you need anything i'm sure everyone will be glad to help what we can!

I think I've decided to go with 18's instead!

The 20's would not be worth spending more money for spindles and all to make them fit!

Well, as far as bagging I just want to lay frame. I'm not going to be BD it at all.

I dunno what that will take to make work now, though...

18s look good and will just as well.

20s on a mazda are just overkill,especially if your truck is a daily driver.

Good choice on the 18s. Just get a set of drop spindles and go from there.

Sweet! Well, do I NEED the drop spindles or can I go without them? If I did need them, would the rim I want still fit with the 2wd sheetmetal? The rim I want is 8.5" wide!

EDIT: From nytrdr's post 8.5" wide wont fit! Arghh! 4wd sheetmetal then, I suppose...