Tyres

After a small trim to the front bumper I installed some secondhand 30x9.5 all train tyres on the original rims . This was a major improvement over what was there size-wise and also for traction ( it had some very bald road tyres when I got it ) . At full lock they rubbed the spring as usual but I could live with that . After a few outings I decided some more width was required , a) to stop it rolling and b) to push the tyres out from the body work to help stop the body work from getting dented as it lay on its side . Luckly for me my zuk has 6 stud wheels and a set of steel wheels of a Nissan Patrol were picked up very cheaply . They had the same offset as the suzuki rims but since they were 7 inch the tyre moved out some what . Alas not enough . 

A while later I decided to fit 31x10.5's , as this was the biggest tyre size allowed in a class of competition I was thinking of entering . A secondhand 31x10.5 tyre was brought and mounted on my spare rim and trial fitted . Hmmm , tight fit . Not wanting to lift the zuk more that I had to and after seeing a few other zuks done , I decided to trim the guards back to help the fit . The zuk was on the trailer while I did this , not sure why , but it worked out really well as it ment it was at a good working height . 

The top of guards are curved and normally the tyre fits inside the lip where the flare is attached . With wider tyres and offset wheels this does not happen , so the guards have been cut back to the top of the inner guard . 

The plastic flare was removed , binned , then the seam was split by grinding the spot welds out . The outter skin was then cut back the required amount to leave a rather large hole . I then cut the inner guard into 1 1/2 strips and bent then outwards and re-welded then to the outer panel . This left small splits in the inner guard which I just bogged over , I was in a rush ok . I would recommend the inner panel be cut back to where its flat and a new piece of metal welded in there for a nice job .  A bit of bog on the outside to smooth things over and it was on to the other corners . In hind sight it was alot of work to go from the 30's to the 31's and on the improvement to hassle rating it rated low . 

The picture on the left shows a 30 inch tyre after the guard was cut , this has no lift . this gave ample clearance at the rear but still not enough at the front , so I had to lower the bump stops 1/2 inch . This has reduced the wheel travel a wee bit but I will sort that out at a later stage . Also I had the rim centers cut out and I re-welded them in with a 3 inch backspacing . With the rubber flares on the tyres are flush with the flares , not bad . The end result , with 31x10.5 tyres on it . Just have to sort out the front bumper now , it never ends !!!