35s vs 37s?

12thMan · Nov 26, 2016

With all the wheel/tire size talk on board lately Iee could use your input.

Bronco build for son is underway:
75 Ranger
Coyote-F150 Tranny
Full Width
Widen & Slight Stretch Frame
Disc on all 4

Looking at BFGs AT or MT
17s slots

Live in Louisiana so more mud & Fl beaches than rocks.

With deals on wheels & tires, how streetable are the 37s?
Had planned 35s but should we consider 37s?

Appreciate your input

bronconut73 · Nov 26, 2016

With what your doing 37's should be fine. Consider full width axles. Creates more stability which is nice when you get up on 37's.

If you were going less extreme.....say no widening, no stretch, etc....then maybe 35's would make more sense, but with the build your talking about 35's would look too little IMHO.

12thMan · Nov 26, 2016

Thanks Bronconut
Yes, we are going full Width axles.
Appreciate your perspective!

As long as 37s can be mild mannered on the street I'm starting to lean that way.

Any other thoughts?

bronconut73 · Nov 26, 2016

When we were younger 37's may have been at the ragged end of what was safely streetable but that is just not the case anymore.
I know guys with (78/79) Bronco running 49" Irok radials and make them streetable so there really is no limit.

Within the regular dimensions of an eb wheel base it takes a good bit to fit 37's and still flex. Rotating knuckles, re-perching your leaf spring pads, etc....

But the sky's the limit With what your building.
Wide wheels with those 37's on wide axles like your proposing could be really stable. With your stretching/widening and stuff you'll be able to fit 37's with less lift than a regular eb.

Your son will prolly want a bigger tire...

A good option could be Mickey Thompson's 36x15x15.50's (Mud Terrain); they have fat metric sizes as well. No taller but A lot wider than the typical 37x12.50's. Looks mean. Keeps him wide and stable. And that wide tire will help him float in the Louisiana mud and Florida beach sand.

Best mud tire I have ever ran that worked so good on the street and in the rain.
I have ran the 36's and the 38's. Big, Fat, mud tires that don't howl on the street and never let me down in the rain.

nvrstuk · Nov 26, 2016

I don't know how old your son is but I've worked with HS kids, young drivers, and taught them for decades...inexperience combined with a tall rig, short, narrow, put it on a higher center of gravity and you increase the very real liklihood that it will be out of control due to a combination of factors. I don't care how far you stretch the frame or even go full width axles, it's NOTHING compared to a young driver in a late model car with suspension, handling, anti-lock brakes, traction control, you name it...you can't begin to make a Bronco handle like any late model car.

bronconut73 · Nov 27, 2016

nvrstuk said:
I don't know how old your son is but I've worked with HS kids, young drivers, and taught them for decades...inexperience combined with a tall rig, short, narrow, put it on a higher center of gravity and you increase the very real liklihood that it will be out of control due to a combination of factors. I don't care how far you stretch the frame or even go full width axles, it's NOTHING compared to a young driver in a late model car with suspension, handling, anti-lock brakes, traction control, you name it...you can't begin to make a Bronco handle like any late model car.

All true but you can make them handle a lot better now, than you could when we were kids, the suspension part availability, like anti-roll bars and such were fairly rare 30 plus years ago.

It's just that now a lot of the great suspension stuff we can easily get our hands on has changed the game a little. You can't change physics but sometimes you can cheat it a little. It's a great time to build an extreme eb. And at this point in history the suspension technology we have will allow us to go a little further than we used to down the "extreme" path that the OP eluded too.

But NVRstuck makes a good point....he usually does....the variable is the kid. Some kids/guys can handle a "non-stock", "bad-ass" machine like this on the street and some need something a little more tame....I know I did....my '68 Firebird 'bout got me thrown in jail more than once....

Scrapper_MV · Nov 27, 2016

I can't find a tire shop that can balance 37" tires in my area. So I did the internal balance thing with air soft beads and it doesn't work at all. At 40mph the tires start bouncing. I'm considering going back to 35s. Something for you to consider.

Scoop · Nov 27, 2016

I run 37 MTRs and use air soft beads. I can drive 70 hands off no problem. My 37's are very steerable.

@Scrapper - did you use enough of the beads? You need enough beads to offset the imbalance of the tires. Sounds like you have a tire way out of balance (with not enough beads) or another issue like a bent wheel.

Broncobowsher · Nov 27, 2016

My only issue with 37s (and it applies to 35s as well) on a street machine s the brakes. It is a lot of leverage and mass. In the past the factory disk brake option was the best you could hope for on a half ton front axle. But when playing on trails you can find the limits of a Dana44 and step up to a Dana60 with bigger brakes. Being a street rig the Dana44 will probably be just fine. But street driving is where better brakes are needed. Willwood has some very nice big brake options now that fit the Dana44. Not cheap, but I consider it a part of stepping up to a 37" tire and being safe on the street.

bronconut73 · Nov 27, 2016

Scoop said:
I run 37 MTRs and use air soft beads. I can drive 70 hands off no problem. My 37's are very steerable.

@Scrapper - did you use enough of the beads? You need enough beads to offset the imbalance of the tires. Sounds like you have a tire way out of balance (with not enough beads) or another issue like a bent wheel.

Friend of mine struggled with his tire beads until one day I noticed he still had his old wheel weights on his wheels. Took the weights off and it helped tremendously. We concluded that it was lack of beads issue. We may have been able to add more beads to over come the wheel weights, but obviously taking off the old wheel weights made plenty of difference.

So @scrapper try adding more beads. Can't hurt. Small investment.

RADO · Nov 27, 2016

Broncobowsher said:
My only issue with 37s (and it applies to 35s as well) on a street machine s the brakes. It is a lot of leverage and mass. In the past the factory disk brake option was the best you could hope for on a half ton front axle. But when playing on trails you can find the limits of a Dana44 and step up to a Dana60 with bigger brakes. Being a street rig the Dana44 will probably be just fine. But street driving is where better brakes are needed. Willwood has some very nice big brake options now that fit the Dana44. Not cheap, but I consider it a part of stepping up to a 37" tire and being safe on the street.

Totally agree, I previously ran 37s with vacuum boosted Dana 44 f-150 brakes and it was lacking for sure. I would consider pairing 37s with upgraded brakes & hydroboost a good idea.

Otherwise, I loved my 37s! Nittos Trail Grapplers ran smooth up to 80 and were great on the rocks. I used light weight alloy wheels and never had any issues with the dana 44.

nvrstuk · Nov 27, 2016

Hydroboost with 37"s, T-bird calipers, 4 wheel discs, adjustable proportioning valve dialed in correctly is what finally stops my 37"s better than anything stopped my almost stock L70x15's decades ago.

Go MTR's. I've tried a lot of different tire brands/sizes and wheels. The 37 MTR's balance out perfectly...I mean at speeds that I shouldn't be driving at while passing trucks there isn't the slightest vibration...zip. My 35" BFG's balanced out perfectly also...

Digger556 · Nov 27, 2016

I daily drive with 37" BFG KO2's. Great tire. Much better wet traction than the previous AT KOs.

With proper suspension and alignment you'll be fine. My truck is butter smooth at 85mph. It's almost scary because you have no feel for how fast you're going, especially with the increased height.

Hydroboost is nearly required for tires that size. It is no exaggeration when people tell you how much better Hydro is over vacuum.

Whoaa · Nov 28, 2016

I'm running 37" BFG mud tires, if I would have known *then* what I know now I would have choose 35" rubber.

There are several reasons, off the top of my head... in no particular order: 37" tires rub on the inner fender sheet metal ( 5 1/2" lift + body lift) when using operable suspension, they're very heavy -that little bit of extra-heavy between 35's and 37's is noticeable on all parts like diff'd, gearing, brakes, engine horsepower, making it have good street drivability, and more...

From my experience you can't go wrong with 17" wheels. Nearly all clearance issues go away when using 17" wheels, plus of course you have a huge selection of tires to choose from.

12thMan · Nov 28, 2016

Thanks to everyone for the valuable insight. Truly appreciated.
Taking it all into consideration and I'll let you know what I decide.

Scrapper_MV · Nov 28, 2016

Scoop said:
I run 37 MTRs and use air soft beads. I can drive 70 hands off no problem. My 37's are very steerable.

@Scrapper - did you use enough of the beads? You need enough beads to offset the imbalance of the tires. Sounds like you have a tire way out of balance (with not enough beads) or another issue like a bent wheel.

I might not have put enough in there. But my two price double bead lock wheels are a lot of work to mount tires on, so I've been avoiding putting more beads in.

Scrapper_MV · Nov 28, 2016

Broncobowsher said:
My only issue with 37s (and it applies to 35s as well) on a street machine s the brakes. It is a lot of leverage and mass. In the past the factory disk brake option was the best you could hope for on a half ton front axle. But when playing on trails you can find the limits of a Dana44 and step up to a Dana60 with bigger brakes. Being a street rig the Dana44 will probably be just fine. But street driving is where better brakes are needed. Willwood has some very nice big brake options now that fit the Dana44. Not cheap, but I consider it a part of stepping up to a 37" tire and being safe on the street.

I'm running a hydroboost and willwood 6 piston front and Explorer discs in the rear. I can stop on a dime. Previously I had the vacuum boost with the same discs and it was mediocre. Hydroboost made all the difference for me.

Scoop · Nov 28, 2016

Scrapper_MV said:
I might not have put enough in there. But my two price double bead lock wheels are a lot of work to mount tires on, so I've been avoiding putting more beads in.

I bet the bead locks are the issue. You'll probably need enough beads to offset the imbalance of the tires AND the 2 piece bead locks. I say that but my Walker Evans bead locks work fine. I added a couple ounces over recommendation in each. You can use some of the other balancing beads which are small enough to feed through the valve stems. Tedious I'm sure, but might work for you.

sprdv1 · Nov 28, 2016

12thMan said:
Thanks to everyone for the valuable insight. Truly appreciated.
Taking it all into consideration and I'll let you know what I decide.

Good luck, tough decision there... Money could play a factor too

35s vs 37s?

12thMan

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bronconut73

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