Lowered '93 Hardbody, what size wheels work

Forum for Nissan wheel fitment, tire selection, suspension setup and brake discussions.
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Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:13 am
Car: 2000 Maxima & 1993 Hardbody Kingcab

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I have a '93 RWD Hardbody Kingcab. I plan on using Bell Tech 3" lowering leaf springs & adjusting the torsion bars to level the truck. Without doing any body work or flaring the fenders, I was wondering if anyone has a idea of what wheel combos work? I was hoping to get 16 X 8 rims & R16/225/55 series tires. This truck is a daily driver, so I would like a lower profile tire for better handling, but I don't know if I could handle the harshness of lower than a 55 series tire, with this truck's torsion bar/leaf spring suspension. I am currently using KYB Monomax shocks & I wonder if with the 3" drop, will I have to buy new shocks for lowered vehicles?


pendulum
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2014 3:03 pm
Car: '90 Hardbody

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For the front, you'll need shorter shocks. I'm going w/ KYB Gas-A-Just from a 4WD hardbody. The rears are probably ok.

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AZhitman
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Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 2:04 am
Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
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The 225/55/16 are a decent fit on the truck, but keep in mind they're between .7" and 1" larger overall diameter than the factory sizes... so, you'll pick up 1/2" more ride height, but they'll fill out the wheels (and the wheel wells) nicely, and should ride really well.

Also keep in mind that on an 8" wheel, you can go with a 245/50/16, and still keep the same sidewall height, just have more width (which means more load rating, longer life, and might even ride a little nicer). I think the prices are pretty comparable.

Example: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... mpare1=yes

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Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:13 am
Car: 2000 Maxima & 1993 Hardbody Kingcab

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A friend had close to the same setup as I was planning to use.... the front end was way too harsh. He suggested I get the Bell Tech Dropped Spindles & mentioned that he believes with the drop spindles, that I should be able to use my current stock size KYB Monomax shocks. As for the wheel setup, after I get around to installing the front drop spindles, new wheel bearings, Energy Suspension Control Arm Bushings, Moog Ball Joints, a new radiator & electric fan(removing the stock belt driven fan & fan clutch assembly) & a Bell Tech Rear Anti-Swaybar.... another friend's friend is the manager of a Discount Tire shop & he will check out the clearance that I have with my setup & tell me what my options are for rims & tires. Originally, I was planning to buy the rims & tires online to save money. Thanks for your help guys! I just need to get back to working on my truck, but before I can do that I need to clean out my garage.....uggg!

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AZhitman
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Posts: 71061
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 2:04 am
Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
Contact:

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Yep - Sounds like you're a LOOOONG way from tire-buying day. :)

Keep us posted, sounds like an awesome project (and I'm sure our D21 guys who have done similar work can help walk you through it as well).

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Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:13 am
Car: 2000 Maxima & 1993 Hardbody Kingcab

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HA! Yeah, it's not easy to be a man. The garage clean up project got sidelined by a infraction notice by my HOA, telling me that I had 60 days to get the roof line trim of my 2 story house painted or be fined...... the timing couldn't come at a worse time, the month before I had to replace my home A/C unit & I just given the bulk of my savings to my wife for her family trip to Europe..... leaving me with not enough money to hire painters to do the job. I had enough to buy a 24' ladder & 2 gallons of primer & 2 gallons of exterior semi gloss paint + a dozen cheap paint brushes, to do the job myself. I was planning to repaint the trim in the fall, when it is cooler(I live in Las Vegas). Well, I just finished the painting & now I need to make space in the 2 car garage for my '00 Maxima & my D21(the truck is being parked on the street for now). The garage project includes building wall mounted shelves & a 3' x 8' storage chest, disguised as a table, that I will put in my backyard, to hold my stock Maxima wheels & the stock truck wheels. So yeah, you are so right, when you say it's a LOOOOONG way from tire buying day! The sad thing is I have all the parts except the front 4x4 shocks, tires & rims. I was planning to keep parking the truck on the street until the fall & clean out the garage then, but my truck started getting randomly vandalized on the street. So now I don't want to fix up the truck anymore than it is until I can park it in the garage.


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