Maxing tire size AND hauling with Max Tow

[Alans17]

Hey y’all. I’ve got a stock max tow and I’m thinking of raising it a bit to clear larger tires. right now, my max tow is 2” higher than the front. I don’t want any rubbing with whatever I choose.

But I also want to optimize towing and hauling if I decide I want to overland in this thing. I’ve seen a picture of a Rubi with the backend yanked down while pulling a camper. I don’t own one but I could see myself renting one. Plus if I ever kit it out with a tent and other gear, that could weigh the bed down.

I have a couple of options.

1. Add a Teraflex 1.5” leveler, slap on some 33s, and call it a day. Pro: Cheap, easy, maintains ride and towing. Con: I’ll never have more than 33s.

2. Add Rubi suspension plus a 1.5” Teraflex leveler to the front and and leave the max tow in the back with a .75” spacer. This would give me ~2.5” in the front and .75” in the back so I think I could clear 35s. Pros: bigger tires. Cons: Do I lose towing or hauling capability? What does this do to ride quality? Will I still have rubbing on 35s without fenders mods?

3. Go full Rubi with a 1.5” front leveler. Pros: Easy and proven. Cons: It loses max tow capability. May drag the bed down when full.

Thoughts? Am I missing anything? Are hauling/towing and 35s a recipe for failure?

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[Blade1668]

Well I've hauled 800 lbs of concrete in my Max-Tow it might have sagged the back end a inch of that helps you out for info.

 

[Alans17]

That’s precisely why I’m afraid to give up those springs in the back. I don’t want to give that up.

 

[danielspivey]

Hey y’all. I’ve got a stock max tow and I’m thinking of raising it a bit to clear larger tires. right now, my max tow is 2” higher than the front. I don’t want any rubbing with whatever I choose.

But I also want to optimize towing and hauling if I decide I want to overland in this thing. I’ve seen a picture of a Rubi with the backend yanked down while pulling a camper. I don’t own one but I could see myself renting one. Plus if I ever kit it out with a tent and other gear, that could weigh the bed down.

I have a couple of options.

1. Add a Teraflex 1.5” leveler, slap on some 33s, and call it a day. Pro: Cheap, easy, maintains ride and towing. Con: I’ll never have more than 33s.

2. Add Rubi suspension plus a 1.5” Teraflex leveler to the front and and leave the max tow in the back with a .75” spacer. This would give me ~2.5” in the front and .75” in the back so I think I could clear 35s. Pros: bigger tires. Cons: Do I lose towing or hauling capability? What does this do to ride quality? Will I still have rubbing on 35s without fenders mods?

3. Go full Rubi with a 1.5” front leveler. Pros: Easy and proven. Cons: It loses max tow capability. May drag the bed down when full.

Thoughts? Am I missing anything? Are hauling/towing and 35s a recipe for failure?

im running 34s with a two inch spacer lift and front rubi springs. Max tow and still tows great. I have A travel trailer that is 6850 with gear does fine.

anyone towing a trailer that has enough tongue weight that really makes the rear and squat in the front end rise, should have a weight distribution hitch. It’s the only way to do it safe so you have even weight on the front steering wheels, otherwise you can lose traction and steer and abilities, which is extremely important when towing a heavy load.

You need to have the following things:
1) Weight distribution hitch
2) sway control ( best is usually built in wdh)
3) brake controller

 

[Mac]

I have similar requirements for my JT with max tow plus I drive mine into the city every day. I went with 285/75/17s on stock wheels, they are 34” tall and a hair under 11.5 inches wide. They fit on the stock rims and don’t extend beyond the fenders. They do not rub anywhere with no suspension changes but for looks I am adding the Daystar 1.5” front spacer and .75” rear spacer, I chose the Daystar over the Teraflex as it is a single piece and replaced the factory spring isolator where the Teraflex is two pieces and reuses the factory isolator making it three pieces.

 

[kelkolb]

You really just need to look for higher rate springs for the rear. I think the 2.5" Clayton springs are meant to maintain payload and then some.

I'm running the Mopar lift on my max tow and had 1200 lbs of top soil in the bed with no problem. it just leveled the truck out from empty.

I wouldn't overcomplicate it. They're just springs. Get a lift with higher rate springs and regear for whatever tire size you choose and you'll be fine. If towing a travel trailer you'll probably want a weight distribution hitch also. Personally, I'm going to 37's and 4.88's when my 35's are done and I plan to tow a travel trailer that's no more than 4k lbs dry. Shouldn't be any more than 6k when I'm fully loaded up with the family, water, gear etc.

 

[Liftr]

I like option #2, with some 34 inch tires.
Maybe put just a Daystar 3/4” spacer in the front for leveling.

 

[DAVECS1]

Mopar lift kit on Max tow rig.

3 hour trip and it did great, even went off road with it back there

 

[whiteglad]

I chose 255-80-17 tires on stock wheels, no other changes.

 

[Mac]

Installed the Daystar 1.5” front and 3/4” rear spacers with Rubicon take off shocks. 34” tires, pleased with the results both visually and driving.

 

[Alans17]

I like the look, but how are the hauling/towing characteristics?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Hey y’all. I’ve got a stock max tow and I’m thinking of raising it a bit to clear larger tires. right now, my max tow is 2” higher than the front. I don’t want any rubbing with whatever I choose.

But I also want to optimize towing and hauling if I decide I want to overland in this thing. I’ve seen a picture of a Rubi with the backend yanked down while pulling a camper. I don’t own one but I could see myself renting one. Plus if I ever kit it out with a tent and other gear, that could weigh the bed down.

I have a couple of options.

1. Add a Teraflex 1.5” leveler, slap on some 33s, and call it a day. Pro: Cheap, easy, maintains ride and towing. Con: I’ll never have more than 33s.

2. Add Rubi suspension plus a 1.5” Teraflex leveler to the front and and leave the max tow in the back with a .75” spacer. This would give me ~2.5” in the front and .75” in the back so I think I could clear 35s. Pros: bigger tires. Cons: Do I lose towing or hauling capability? What does this do to ride quality? Will I still have rubbing on 35s without fenders mods?

3. Go full Rubi with a 1.5” front leveler. Pros: Easy and proven. Cons: It loses max tow capability. May drag the bed down when full.

Thoughts? Am I missing anything? Are hauling/towing and 35s a recipe for failure?

Bottom line? Check out some youtube videos that explain plainly that lifts and bigger tires start to drop towing ability and make it worse the bigger you go.
You can't change tires by that much and not have an impact. There's a great vid by a truck shop guy that explains better.

Everyone else will say "no problem" - but because you CAN do something doesn't make it good or ideal.
They aren't doing the sort of testing these trucks underwent when certified. It's all "seat of the pants" "yeah, it's fine".
Wish I had saved those links to the videos. And this was a guy who sold truck accessories, lifts and tires...........

There's a lot you can do - should you?

 

[Alans17]

Yeah, that’s why I wouldn’t want to go larger than 35, no matter what. But I’m wondering 33 or 34 is the smarter choice and then just armoring up.

 

[whiteglad]

The above concerns are why I did not consider going bigger than the stock width, slightly taller (33.1" spec) Falkens in 255-80-17 with no other changes such as a lift. I prefer E rated over SL tires for rocky trails and the 255s are only a couple pounds heavier than the Falkens in stock 245 size.

 

[mountainpass]

I have a Max Tow and after perusing this site it appears I can run Kenda 35's(they are 10.5" wide) without a lift. As soon as my sliders come in and I install them getting those are the plan. I may choose to do the teraflex front and maybe daystar rear.

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