[DuckTruck]

Here are the communications I had with Rick via email:

"give me a shout when you have some free time...I will always make time to talk HUMMERS...now more of a sickness than a hobby, I'm a HUMMER owner for life!!!

Rick

rick,

what size tires are you running...especially in width?

the iroks i am looking at are 13.50 wide.....do you think i will have
any problems with that width on my stock wheels with rubbing?

thanks again,

jdj

Jonathan,

I'm running 39.5 x 13.5 Iroks on stock wheels...as I mentioned, in the front, they rub on the swaybar at full turn...

The rear lower control arm pocket at the frame has about a 1/2" to 3/4" stiffening flange below & in front of the bolt hole...I've ground away the extra material to extend only 1/8" to 1/4" out from the face of the control arm pocket...The extra clearance made me feel more comfortable that I would not rip out the sidewall at low pressure...You don't want to grind it flush, because that may weaken the pocket itself.

The other option that I am toying with is to add 1/4" to 1/2" wheel spacers, giving you a little more room...problem with that, is any more than 1/4" spacers & you'll need longer wheel studs...

One other thing that I failed to mention during our phone conversation...I'm using Fab-Tech tie rods because stock ones are so weak...and x-tra suppout brackets on the Idler & Pitman arms to give them a little more life...

I'll see if I can send you a bunch of pictures in a couple of days or so...

Talk to you soon...I hope that info helps!

Rick
Thanks man.....great info.

JDJ

Rick,

Wanted to follow up and ask you another question......

I am almost 100% confident that I will be installing Cognito Motorsports leveling kit (2 - 3") when purchasing new tires. I also 100% certain that I will be running 39.5 x 13.50 x 17 IROKs on my stock wheels.

The question comes when trying to decide between radial and bias-ply. I do a great bit of highway driving, but have run bias-ply tires before (the 37" boggers I told you about).......it would normally be a hands-down decision, go radial. But I am worried about killing my (already lack of) power. Thus, the weight difference between the bias (84 lbs.) vs. the radial (99lbs.) really concerns me.

What do you think about this? Also, how do your bias-ply 40's do at highway speeds, etc.?

Thanks again buddy,

JDJ

Thank you.

I'm just concerned that when stepping up to 39.5's that my highway cruising will suffer even more than when stepping up to 37"s (ie the constant "transmission kick down" that we all so dread!).

Any input on this issue? How does your truck respond?

JDJ

Jonathan,

I had 37's on the truck from the time it was 2 months old...I didn't notice much difference in vehicle performance from stock, as far as mileage/transmission shift points/power. When I added the 39.5's the road noise increased substantially & the trans stayed in low for slightly longer (slightly slower acceleration)...as far as steep hill climbs, I manually shift the transmission, especially when towing up steep grades, so I wouldn't know about the kick-down pro's & cons...There is a way to re-program your shift points if you need to...

I'm in the process of modifying my 2007 to be just like the 2005...including the 39.5 Iroks!!!

I love the bigger tires...with the snow here in Michigan, the 2" body lift & the bigger tires make for a better drive in the country for me.

I got my 07 buried in a snow drift about two weeks ago...The 05 with the lift & tires had no problem with being stuc...I mean "Temporarily detained".

Best of luck with your modifications...Happy new year, hope to see your rig completed some day!

Rick"

There ya go,

DUCK