How is it going I am new to Pathfinders. I have always like the Pathfinder platform, I started out in Jeeps as a young man I built several Grand Cherokees, and Cherokee and run moab did lots of trails just grew tired of some of the unpredictability and unreliability of Chrysler products so I move on to a Japanese brand and moved to Subaru's. My boy and I even rebuilt a Subaru Forester into a overland vehicle with a full kitchen lift bigger tires running water solar charging etc. It was a fun project. However it just was so light duty in the off road aspect so I feel this will bridge the gap and its a new project for my boy and me. I picked up a 2002 QX4 it has 111000 miles and runs great......all is not well however the car came with bald tires so I negotiated the price down and went right to the tire shop since i had to drive home 200 miles through a blizzard.........
I was convinced by the tire shop a "Pathfinder expert" recommended a setup for me. I purchased some take off wheels they had 17x9 minus 12mm offset, I did some searching and it seemed the aggressive offset would help this tire size clear the strut spring perch. well I left the tire shop, and realized shortly into the trip that this is too much tire, I wasn't too worried however because i do plan on a mild lift the Ironman Spring lift, I plan on building this into an overland vehicle again kitchen and all, so I want the heavy rear springs to carry the weight in the back., so I pulled off the road removed the mudflaps and trimmed the bumper slightly, no more rubbing on turns except some mild inner fender rubbing, so I figure sweet i'm set.
I got home and was looking over the clearances and no its not ok.....the -12mm offset has the wheels so pushed out i'm not tucking into the fender flares, so I have like 1.5" of suspension travel before i smack the finder flares......I know i'm going to lift but 3" of travel isn't going to cut it for me. I know the qx4 has different flares and I am running wider rims than most but i'm also running less aggressive fitment than most running this size tire most are running like a -19mm or 3.75" 8" back spacing. so I am asking for some help is there a possibility to tuck these tires into the fender wheels, they are a tame all terrain as I said im not going to do anything super hardcore so road manners are important. But I still wanted bigger tires and good suspension travel. I am so frustrated i'm on the verge of simply going back to the stock 17x8 +20mm offset and putting something sub 31 on, I am supposing like a 245/70r17 would fit possibly a 255/70r17.....