Something to consider for those using stock 6" wide rims that do any good amount of wheeling in tight spots. With the stock BS and a narrow tire (9.5 or 10.5) you leave yourself open to a lot more body damage. I will get some pictures posted of the damage on both sides of my truck, but I have learned the hard way wider tires or rims with 3.75"-4" BS do a lot of good to help you keep your truck off of obstacles.

The thing is unless you get wheel spacers you will have to get new rims with a different backspacing (BS) to make the tires stick out a little bit further from the fenders. And at that point if you are investing in new rims you might as well get an 8" wide rim and run some wider tires anyway. You would have to buy a 7" wide rim, and then limit your future options (going wider) so you could be able to run a 9.5" wide tire (also increased risk of popping beads). You could get away with a 10.5" tire on a 8", but it would be interesting airing down to lower PSI ranges/possibly popping beads.

So really unless you just have $$$$ growing on a tree in your back yard if you run skinny tires on stock rims you run a large risk of body damage on any serious wheeling in tight spaces. Pictures of damage to fallow. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />

this is very true. it took me several trashed fenders, and doors to realize this.

Personally i like the look and performance of skinnies, so IF I had to do it all over again, I'd run skinnies with fender guards tied into some rocker protection.

I wheeled 10.5 wide tires on 8" wide rims aired down to 11psi and never popped a bead. I'm now running 12.5 tires on 8" wide rims but I haven't aired them down yet, I probably start with 20psi and see if a bead pops

I like the look of the skinnies too. They have a more utilitarian look to me.

Your problem Eli is an obsession with TSL's <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> It's pretty easy to find a set of used 33/12.5 muds and a cheap set of used rims. You know that. But then I guess cheap is a relative term.

Did you get much body damage last time we wheeled?

I have run 11.5 wide tires on 8in and stock 6in rims. Never had a problem with beads. I would think the wider tire on a skinny rim would not pop the bead as easily as a skinny tire on a skinny rim.

My 11.5's are run on my stocker 7" rim. I have gone down as low as 12psi and pinched em good and not pooped a bead. I am getting 34ltbs here in the next week and will see how they perform on the stock rim for a bit. Will be getting steelies shortly after to put them on.

i run my 12.5 on my 8" rims all the time down to 8 to 10 psi and have not blown a bead yet.

Well if you don't eat them, they probably won't come out the other end.

tires should be wider than rims. a 12.5 tire sits fine on a 8" wheel. bead will not fail. and having a tire stick out isnt going to prevent you from body damage. the more you wheel and the better you get helps prevent it, but if you wheel you get body damage.

x2. If you wheel you will get damage....its inevitable. How you wheel is your choice and that is the biggest factor IMO. You can choose to take the trench with roots sticking out of it that will damage or not...you can choose to take the extra 15 minutes or thereabouts to pull cable to get yourself safely around "body damage obstacles". my winch has saved me lots of dents, and I am not ashamed to admit that I want to use it when I might incur damage. I mean...they arent there to "look pretty" on the front of your rig are they?