Concourse 4x4 conversion

[chin_k]

JabberBox, sorry that you feel this way, but I completely understand the thankless job that a few people here are doing, and it can be very frustrating. I am pretty sure Manitou is dipping into his pocket, however. It is not cheap to keep this site going, and frankly, the advertise is pretty minimum, and it is not enough to keep it going. I don't think he is relaxing in a private island from the billions of dollars we donated to his tip jar over the years.

I am also into astronomy, and I spent a lot of time and effort to ensure my telescopes are the way I wanted. Because some of them are not popular scopes, I have to try a few different configurations and waste a lot of my money to find one that suits my expectation, just like how you did your 4X4 conversion. I did find some helpful info here and there to help me along, and thankful to their effort, but there is no easy way for me to really let them know how much I appreciate it.

I think this thread had went to tangent right now...

[68camaro]

I am also into astronomy, and I spent a lot of time and effort to ensure my telescopes are the way I wanted. Because some of them are not popular scopes, I have to try a few different configurations and waste a lot of my money to find one that suits my expectation, just like how you did your 4X4 conversion. I did find some helpful info here and there to help me along, and thankful to their effort, but there is no easy way for me to really let them know how much I appreciate it.

Very cool, we are on east coast and light pollution is so bad we are lucky to see the moon. We have vacationed several times out west and make sure to go star gazing in dark spots. In July we were blessed to do stargazing at the south rim of grand canyon and outside Cedar City Utah where we drove into desert to see the sky.

It's utterly amazing how much you can see without light pollution, seeing the milky way in all its glory with naked eye is HUGE and rare treat for us....

Sorry to hijack thread Jabberbox,

[JabberBox]

LOL, no worry, it isnt being used for anything else productive

[JabberBox]

Back on topic, when I upgraded my tires I went with 235/85/16 and because I also did not want spacers I accepted some minimal rubbing. However, I may look to go more narrow at tire change to prevent rubbing and based on video below I may have more tread contact with ground when airing down on narrower tire (even though wide tires look so cool.......)

I am not sure what tires you used but for people looking to do conversion maybe narrow tire will save some frustration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wAJAOxh8LE&t=7s

Thats odd, the 235/85-16 is only a 9.3" wide tire. I ran that size when i had 16" inch wheels and had lots of room to air down. What wheels are you running, steel wheels or alcoa's? I had some 245/75-16 tire on it before those and they were 9.6" wide and i couldnt do much airing down so thats when i switched to the narrower tire. Now i have the Dodge Ram dually wheels on it and im able to run a 9.6" inch wide 245-75-17 with plenty of clearance to air down. I could fit a 10" inch wide tire on it, but i would be back to not having room to air them down. What brand of tire are you running on it?

[JabberBox]

4X4 SWAP IS FINISHED

CHINOOK.PNG

[68camaro]

Back on topic, when I upgraded my tires I went with 235/85/16 and because I also did not want spacers I accepted some minimal rubbing. However, I may look to go more narrow at tire change to prevent rubbing and based on video below I may have more tread contact with ground when airing down on narrower tire (even though wide tires look so cool.......)

I am not sure what tires you used but for people looking to do conversion maybe narrow tire will save some frustration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wAJAOxh8LE&t=7s

Thats odd, the 235/85-16 is only a 9.3" wide tire. I ran that size when i had 16" inch wheels and had lots of room to air down. What wheels are you running, steel wheels or alcoa's? I had some 245/75-16 tire on it before those and they were 9.6" wide and i couldnt do much airing down so thats when i switched to the narrower tire. Now i have the Dodge Ram dually wheels on it and im able to run a 9.6" inch wide 245-75-17 with plenty of clearance to air down. I could fit a 10" inch wide tire on it, but i would be back to not having room to air them down. What brand of tire are you running on it?

I run Goodyear Wrangler DuraTracs which I am very happy with. I do not know what rims I have but they are the stock 2001 Concourse one's that came with it. The DuraTracs are approved for 6 - 7"5 rims width.

My one issue is I had to take front and two inside valve extensions and TPMI monitors off because they kept coming lose, and it was PITA even tightening the valves. I think the tires are a tad too wide. With my front tires even at 55lbs air I think I am pushing this because it is difficult if not impossible to get air chuck on without valve extensions and forget trying to tighten valve on tire (could be way mounted though).

But I do snow, light mud and slippery roads/off roads and the DuraTrac's handle it great. They do come in 245/75/17 so I may look at those at next change.

[68camaro]

4X4 SWAP IS FINISHED CHINOOK.PNG

Congratulations....but are we really ever finished:)

Did you do a shake down test yet to see if everything meets your expectations?

[JabberBox]

No shake down, as you can see it sits way to high. I cant get in it so im going to the hardware store to get a ladder and a parachute.

This is what i have for clearance between the two rear dually 245/75-17 tires. They are 9.6" wide each. I wanted to try a full set of the new BFG KT commercial terrain tires, but they are hard to get your hands on around here.

[Scott]

Holy cow those tires have never rolled!

Still have that new tire smell

With KO2s and 4x4 I don't think airing down will really be a concern for you... or will it? Looks beefy.

[JabberBox]

Holy cow those tires have never rolled!

Still have that new tire smell

With KO2s and 4x4 I don't think airing down will really be a concern for you... or will it? Looks beefy.

I find the KO2 to be a middle ground compromise in the interest of lower noise levels than other all terrains, perform ok in rain, but not so great in mud and or wet snow and sand. The reason being is that they dont throw off mud, wet snow, or damp sand, instead the treads clog up to the point the tires become like drag race slicks. Thats why i mentioned the new commercial BFG KT Terrain tires. But if you look at them they are more of a mud type tread, so noise levels will be higher and with the bigger lugs it will affect steering characteristics to a degree.

I just put those KO2's on the back when i swapped the 17" wheels onto the rear axle last week. I could not locate anyone around here that has the BFG KT terrains in stock to even look at them first hand.