Hey guys, Im new here, and to offroading.  Like the site!  My basic info, I got my wife a new car and she gave me her '01 2.0L 4door 4x4 vitara to do with what i please!  I take the thing thru the woods every weekend to fish and camp in NC.  Since its more fun bottoming my vit out on the     humvee trails (hill/mud holes) around the lakes here, than getting skunked at the pond i figured i should try to fix up the zuk.  Ive been reading the threads on this forum and cant wait to get started.. of course like every other workin' man with a family im  on a budget and like the most for my buck(cant afford to much trial and error)!   
Sice the vit needs new tires.. i figure thats where i'll start my questions.  Id like to know how big a tire i can fit on my stock 16" rims w/o a lift? I dont mind rub as long as it doesnt destroy anything important.  Also its still gonna be taking me to work so i figured some A/Ts would be the best all around tread.  Any suggestions to a particular brand tire and tread would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
-james

You should be able to fit a 225/75R16 on there.  That's basically a 29x9ishR16.  We have Kumho MT's that we got off of eBay on our XL7 and they fit great and work wonderfully.  The only rubbing is on a bit of the inner fenderwell towards the front of the wheel well.  The plastic part that hangs down behind the front bumper.  It only rubs when you're turning hard and after almost 10 months it hasn't done anything but kept that area clean of grime and goo.

Here's my little tire soap box rant but consider some nice radial MT's.  Modern radial mud tires are very road friendly and while they won't last as long as an AT or other "lesser" tire they are good for at least 40k if you take care of them.  Tire rotations, proper psi, no abuse, etc and they will last and last.  Also, if wet roads or icey roads concern you the tires can be siped.  That's my wife's DD here in Northern Michigan and frankly they're wonderful tires in the snow and on the ice.  Deep lugs to dig through the drifts and with the sipes the tires have plenty of biting edges to grab traction and pull the vehicle along.
I won't buy anything less than a MT on my 4x4's anymore.

Especially since you mentioned hills and mud you'd quickly find the AT's spinning furiously getting no traction at all.  There are compromise tires somewhere between an AT and a MT but frankly, from my experiences, just get MT's, sipe them, and then go about your day.

i agree 100% on the MT's  and alot of the times they are the same price or cheeper the the AT's....AT's are way over rated and are nothing more then a normall tire with more lug... i looked at alot of tires before picking mine and for any MT in the 28-30 inch range you would be suprised how cheep they are...
   being from michigan also you get everything to deal with out here, mud, ice, snow not as many rocks but plenty of wooded trails... im sure you can put a price on a good tire but dont forget to add the price of a tall jack to a cheeper style one when your stuck in the woods all alone and need outta a hole

here is mine on 235 75 15 they are also 29's... basically the same size as 225 75 16 tires




and to get rid of any rubbing issues you could try some spacers the wheel lug pattern on these are very common 5 x 5.5 same as F150's newer dodge rams plus many others, i know a set of 4 1/3 inch wheel spacers is only 30 bucks at my local autoparts store that would be enough to keep them from rubbing on stock rims i would think... havent had an issue with mine at all... but its a tracker not as "classy" lol

The spacers wouldn't fix this rubbing, just push it farther towards the outsides of the truck.

The rubbing is due to the height of the tire, not the width.  The plastic runs pretty much 90 degrees perpendicular to the front tread of the tire when they are pointed straight forwards and the tires are just tall enough to tag it a little.
To me, and most others on the various forums I've read, not even worth bothering with.

A 235/70R16 may also fit but the slightly added width may also make them rub the frame rails in the rear of the front fenderwells slightly when the tires are turned all the way.  Again nothing damaging but just an additional area that particular size rubs.

I'm told 225/70R16's don't rub at all but they're a bit smaller (more like a 28") and hard to find in anywhere near a decent tread pattern.


www.TireRack.com , even if you don't buy from them, can give you a decent idea on some of the tires out there in different sizes.

Thanks guys, Nice rides! Im sold 225/75s M/Ts looks like what im headed for..does that exta 10mm matter much?  Im not to worried about the snow and ice here in NC, but we definitely have the mud, deep ruts, and steep hill.   I cruised the internet a little and found M/Ts from $90 to $140 in pretty much every brand name w similar tread patterns.. is there any manufactures i should steer clear of?     

heres what im working with!

sorry sent the same pic twice

Thanks guys, Nice rides! Im sold 225/75s M/Ts looks like what im headed for..does that exta 10mm matter much?  Im not to worried about the snow and ice here in NC, but we definitely have the mud, deep ruts, and steep hill.   I cruised the internet a little and found M/Ts from $90 to $140 in pretty much every brand name w similar tread patterns.. is there any manufactures i should steer clear of?     

On the brands...not really.  Some designs work better than most but generally they'll all work for what you can expect a 4cyl on 29" tires to do.  Post them up here if you have questions about individual tires or comparing some.  Personally I really like the Kumho MT's we have on the XL7 but I've heard good about many other brands.  For what you're doing I'd skip the expensive end like the BFG's, Goodyears, Cooper STT's, etc.  Just more tire than you (or I) need.
The only "mud" tire I can think of to absolutely steer clear of is the Interco (Super Swamper) Thornbird...all looks and no ability.

Nice looking Vit.  Same silver as our XL7.

Remember that the 10mm width difference on the 235 vs the 225 is just mathematics and actual figures may vary.  It's my impression that the 235/70R16's are a bit wider than stated and that causes the rubbing issues.  Seems to be a common problem with folks running them that I haven't heard much of from the folks running regular 225/75R16's which are basically the same height but supposedly a little narrower.
There's always random stuff too.  We had a Grand Vit before this XL7 and had some retreaded 225/75R16's that were supposedly the same height as new...not.  They were more like 29.5" tall and that caused them to rub all over the place when stock.  Meanwhile our half inch shorter normal 225/75R16's fit our XL7 perfect.

I've ran a few different kind of tires and I have to say that living in the snow belts (being in Canada where we have snow for almost half the year)

the best all around tire is:

Ta da

Truxus MTs

unfortunatley they are a premium, and you can get slightly better snow performance from BFG A/T (KO) you don't get the large voids that the Truxus do

IMO the Truxus is the best offroad tire for dealing with ICY conditions

however if I lived in the southern belt, god damn I'd stick with cheap re-treads from Hi-TECH or just stick with whatever works
IE, Kuhmo, BFG, Goodyear, Dunlop, Bridgestone Firestone, Cooper STTs mud terrains
whatever is cheapest

it's all about application

I'm running Goodyear MT/Rs and they have not worn very well... even with a light truck and running 32 PSI they are too soft with their silica compound
In the Mud, gravel, and trail riding in deep snow, they rock!
In ICY winter roads, they are probably one of the better MT (sipeless) choices
but for the ice, I'd rather take a good siped tire with decent rubber softness

Alright, since the treads are all about the same for what i'll be doing with my 4 banger (which by the way i would like to swap-out but ill ask about that in another thread)!  I guess price is the biggest factor. I looked up the retreaded hi-techs like r3cc0s mentioned and found Mud - 225-75R-16 for $65.  heres a link to check them out:
http://high-tec-retreading.com//DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=240&tabindex=1
Looks like they would be good enough to get me started and for 1/2 the price i was expecting to pay(maybe leave me some extra $$ for spacers)!  Hopefully they dont end up like the rubber death traps you see scattered along the highway from Semi's!  Again thanks for all the help..  -James
   

from the reviews & cost savings

... well if I lived in the states, I'd be a fool for at least not trying them out

Don't buy the retreads,

Had a set.  They sucked...bad.  HT's service was horrible just to rub salt in the wound.

They were on our GV when it was wrecked and I never bothered trying to get them back from the insurance company.
In fact they might not even make the 225/75R16's anymore.  They told me a year ago they weren't going to anymore.


I'd love to get some TrXus MT's on the XL7 but unfortunately they don't make them smaller than a 31".  I loved the 33's I had on my Ranger.  Absolutely rocked in the winter and wore great.

I've heard the MT/R's don't do well as far as tread wear is concerned.  My buddy hated them on his Rubicon.

Hmmmm.. can-x  the retreads then! didnt really like the idea anyways...
what would it take for me to run 235/75/16? I have no problem cutting back the plastic bumpers, and cutting out/bending back the fenders to make room. but as for the frame rail rub in the front, would wheel spacers keep them from doing any damage?
Im starting to think lifting first then getting tires might be a good idea!

Remember you've got a 4-cyl and if you start getting too tall with the tires you're really going to notice the lack of engine power.  Bigger tires require deeper gearing and can break more stuff.  Consider that before you go too far down that road.

Spacers might help with the frame rub but the issue then is you have to make sure the tires aren't being pushed out far enough that they rub the fenders.
Personally I dislike wheel spacers.  Seen to many reports of them coming off.

Ok..  my 4 banger cant pull much more without new gearing and breaking stuff.. makes sense.. so 29's muds (no retreads) should give me an inch more of clearance and alot more traction than stock tires..  sounds good for a start.. i'd like to get more clearance so ill have to read more into the spring/shock.spacer threads.  thanks man for the help!