OK, time for another newbie question. Sorry to ask, but help a guy understand the whole tire/rim/backspacing thing.

 I've been looking at tires and wheels the last couple days and it just gets more confusing. How do you tell how wide of a rim you need for a tire? I'm most likely going with the rocky road 4.5" or the Calmin 3" lift. So I've been looking for 31" tires. The places that have packages seem to be offering them 10.5" wide tires on various 8" wide rims. Is that some sort of standard 10.5" to 8"? I've also seen 9" wide rims and 9.5" wide tires? I just don't get it. Is there some sort chart that shows what tires can be used with certain size rims?
Another confusing thing to me is the whole wheel backspaceing issue. Tracker8wr  had mentioned before to look for 3" wide backspacing so the tires don't rub.  Is that the best backspacing for Trackers? I've also seen 3.75" and 4" backspacing? Is more backspacing always better? I've also noticed that a lot of the online stores don't list the backspacing just the rim size and width. I assume that's usually something you have to call and ask for? Do most rims come in different backspacing?

Again, sorry for all the questions, but it's like trying to learn a new type of math. I hate math, lol.

Sincerely yours,
  Confused Tracker Driver

PS. - I'm also looking for tire brand/model recommendations.  

Auto,
Check this out http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbibles/index.html?menu.html&tyre_bible.html
there's enough info and  calculators on that page that you should have a degree in Tyre technology when you get back here  

Mud  

 ;DWOW great site  why havnt i seen this before?  thanks!!

How do you tell how wide of a rim you need for a tire?

I am fairly new and I was wondering about that, then I noticed that if you can find a site that list the tire specs  (manufacturers or some retailers), they tell you.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp?make=BFGoodrich&model=All-Terrain+T%2FA+KO

Look for the Rim Width Range and Meas. Rim Width

Just a little advice based on my expierience, for a 10.5" tire run a 7" rim.  I had 31 x 10.5 mounted on 8" rims and they constantly lost a bead when wheeling.  If your building a mall crawler then do as you please, but for real wheeling wider is not always better.

Unfortunately, I have to disagree with you Jason on the 7" rims for the 31 X 10.50's.

Running Goodyear Wrangler MT/R 31 X 10.50's, I am using 8" rims, as recommended by the manufacturer, and have never lost a bead.

I'm using 2-3/4" backspaced wheels.  In this case, LESS is BETTER.  Well, "just like factory" is better, I guess.  The factory 5.5" rims have about 2-3/4" of backspacing, so what that means is that all the extra rim width goes to the OUTSIDE - no more of the rim sticks INTO the wheel well.

I got my wheels from Spidertrax - but that's because there was no shipping for me - I live close enough to drive up there, and get them.  For most people if you look around, you can find the wheels you need locally.  Shipping would probably double the cost!  Steel wheels are big, and heavy!

Here's the link to their wheels, though, so you get an idea of size and cost:

http://www.spidertrax.com/drivetrain_whl.htm

  I was reading that link and it talks about the inset/outset? Is that the same as the backspacing?

 



 So if the factory backspacing is around 2-3/4", as long as I stay close to that I should be OK on the rubbing issue?

Bobzuki
Hey thats cool, I glad your setup works for you.  I just have had fits with my old setup, and I would even run realatively high preasure on the trail.(15lbs)  I have spent hours cleaning dirt and mud out of my tires and from under the beads, both inside and outside beads.  I also found that with that setup my rims took quite a beating from the rocks and ruts.  I am fairly aggresive on the trail, and I am sure that has something to do with it.
I still would recomend a 7" rim for a 10.5 on the trails.