GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Dumb questions #1 Would these tires fit the stock steelies...Baja Claw Radial Tire 33'' x 12.5''R - 16''LT http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs...26108

The tires would probably fit on the stock steelies, but wouldn't fit in the wheel wells.

I wouldn't, you are trying to put a tire that is 12.5 inches wide on a rim width half that size! The best width for that size tire is 10" but will work down to an 8" without bowing the tread too much. Are you going to put a 12" lift on your Vibe?

1.5" lift.. and man, you guys reply fast!

Mickey Thompson Baja Radial MTX Tire 32" x 9.5"R - 16" (235/85R16)This would prob work better...http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs...26108

do i understand this correctly??? is someone going to lift a vibe??? thats great

you do realize that if you lift the vibe your looking at a lot of transmission work to beef it up so it don't burn it out or snap an axle.

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »you do realize that if you lift the vibe your looking at a lot of transmission work to beef it up so it don't burn it out or snap an axle.+100000000000000000000000000000I couldn't have said it any better. 50% of all the business my f-i-l gets at his tranny shop is from lifted vehicles. Mainly trucks & s.u.v.s. Interesting to see how it turns out.

not to mention brake upgrade... and I mean everything... LOL

Thus.. why I'm waiting till summer when hopefully I'll have enough money... Also.. the tires aren't that much bigger so I don't have to go with much bigger brakes.. As for Axles.. Not quite sure what I'm gonna do... Note.. This Isn't gonna be like (removed) 8"lift and 36" tires.. I'm just looking to make my life easier. I often need to go off road to get to spots to Mountain Bike.. Often, I bottom out going over rocks and junk.. Also... I've gotten stuck once and had to have my friend pull me out with his Blazer.. If anyone knows of any Road tires that have a more aggressive tread for dirt and mud that would be awesome!

Also.. The brake and tranny problems come from the bigger tires people add, not just lifts.. I'm debating just lifting the vibe but I think that the added space in the wheel wells will look really ugly..

honestly, if you want an offroad vehicle, you should save your money and get an older truck or something to take off-roading..it'll make more sense and you can keep the vibe as a street car/cruiser type thing, just my opinion

Depending on the amount of money I save up.. I might do that.. like an old Jeep or something.. It just adds a hassle to have to cars.. I'd rather have one car that could just do everything..

Quote, originally posted by B4snake »If anyone knows of any Road tires that have a more aggressive tread for dirt and mud that would be awesome! look at studable snow tireshttp://www.tirerack.com/tires/...ce=13http://w ... s/...ce=16

Quote, originally posted by B4snake »Also.. The brake and tranny problems come from the bigger tires people add, not just lifts.. I'm debating just lifting the vibe but I think that the added space in the wheel wells will look really ugly.. If you lift the vibe you change the axle angle and in turn create a weak point in the driveline at the cv jointyou could possibly figure out a way to do a body lift but that creates all new problems with making wiring harnesses longer.

Quote, originally posted by B4snake »I'm just looking to make my life easier. I often need to go off road to get to spots to Mountain Bike.. Often, I bottom out going over rocks and junk.. Also... I've gotten stuck once and had to have my friend pull me out with his Blazer.. If anyone knows of any Road tires that have a more aggressive tread for dirt and mud that would be awesome! As a competitive cyclist, both on and off-road, I have never had to drive my car to the trailhead. Instead, why don't you park the car and ride more?

I agree with the above suggestion to increase the riding mileage and decrease the driving. But I would have to admit to doing my fair share of driving on dirt paths that usually only see 4WDs - not for biking, but for kayaking where I do want to get the boat as close to the water as feasible.The tires mentioned second (235/85-16) sound more reasonable than the original ones, but are still a big jump up in size from OEM. They have an outer diameter of 31.7" vs. 24.9" OEM. So you'd get over 3" of extra ground clearance just from the bigger tires even without any lift. But that big an increase could cause problems in fit, handling, and will certainly make the speed/odometer way off. How about picking some aggressive snow tires with a size intermediate between those and the OEMs - that might be enough extra traction and clearance by itself without adding more complications than necessary.

Does anyone know of a Snow Tire that would maybe lift my car an inch or so?

Also, driving to the trail head makes my life a lot easier because I do a lot of maintenance on trails. So I often have to carry tools like shovels, chainsaws, wood.. and driving my car to the trail head give me less distance to carry everything..

dude hell yah, i want to see a lifted vibe!! is yours awd? you could probably clear some 31x 10.5s on there if you bumped it up a little bit, they wouldnt fit on your stock steelies though...you would need at least a 15x7 to fit them...lol 35's? are you insane? i would have to lift my little nissan 4 inches and have a 3 inch body lift to fit those, then i would have to beef up my steering and cut some fenders to clearance you are now badass in my book for even thinking to lift the vibe!

The biggest problem I was thinking I'd encounter would be with steering.. 35's would be awesome tho...

haha, yah i can imagine a vibe with 35's on it, that would be beehotchin! yah your steering would be under some serious stress, as would your body panels every time you turned or hit a tiny bump! like they said, you would be smelling burning tranny every time you started out and your speedo would be off by a LOT. you should try some 235/65's though, those would probably clear unless you hit something big...

Think I could fit these on..Rim width ~ 5.5-7Meas Rim Width ~ 6.5Sect Width ~ 8.7Tread Width ~ 6.9Overall Diam ~ 27215/70SR15

just remember, your vibe is going to have a higher center of gravity so you will have more body roll, pushing, and risk of rollover if you drive it like i do should get your needed clearance with those, about 2 inches...lucky for you the vibe is pretty much flat underneath so its pretty hard to get hung up anyways...i want to see pictures of it if/when you do it!!you will probably have clearance issues...and god forbid it freezes or you have to go through mud, you will have packing like no other...

Sway Bars and Strut Brace FTW!

haha, it wont do as much as you think

You Sir, need a Subaru.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuGb2VXF ... ry/offroad

Sweet Pic Man.. The only thing is.. I have a vibe, and vibes are amazing and I don't want to give it up.. But what I'm trying to go for is like that green Subaru in that picture..

what is that brown one? that thing looks awesome!!!

IIRC the brown and green... Are both Justy's i'm not 100% on that, but if they are they were 3cyl motors!!!

Quote, originally posted by B4snake »Also, driving to the trail head makes my life a lot easier because I do a lot of maintenance on trails. So I often have to carry tools like shovels, chainsaws, wood.. and driving my car to the trail head give me less distance to carry everything.. Ok, I must retract my previous comment about not riding enough. Thank you for taking care of the trails. We need more people to do this.

for sure, thats honorable, i helped down in dallas a few times...people dont care that they make horrible ruts by riding on moist/muddy days. It just makes it less fun for the rest...oh and sublime, i am now looking for a justy that i can make look exactly like that one, that thing is AWESOME!!

Now I guess since you guys talked me out of the lift.. I just gotta find the right set of shoes to get my vibe around.. And taking care of trails isn't as hard/tedious as people think.. I find it enjoyable to take a ride on a new stretch of trail that you just made after a hard days work.. Those Justys are really sweet.. I want to do something like that with the vibe tho..

BAJA VIBE!!!too bad its not rwd, that would be a fun car!!

Quote, originally posted by B4snake »Now I guess since you guys talked me out of the lift.. I just gotta find the right set of shoes to get my vibe around.. And taking care of trails isn't as hard/tedious as people think.. I find it enjoyable to take a ride on a new stretch of trail that you just made after a hard days work.. Those Justys are really sweet.. I want to do something like that with the vibe tho.. I totaly understand your position, but, they simply weren't made for it... It's like all the FI guys... lets put a SC on a car that already LOVES doing one wheel burnouts.... It's counter productive.. You really need a Vibe AND a Subaru Baja... or even a BRAT...!!!!

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »You really need a Vibe AND a Subaru Baja... or even a BRAT...!!!! Both of which they don't make anymore....

Quote, originally posted by B4snake »Both of which they don't make anymore.... So, even BETTER, that means they are CHEAPER...lol.... I'm not trying to steer you away from the Vibe man, it's a great car, but, it is what it is and that doesn't happen to be anywhere near an offroad vehical... (unless you are talking to wyatt89..lol)IMO, keithvibes tire choices might be the better idea, except winter tires are REALLY soft and don't handle to well.... I personaly have the winterforce tires on my Vibe and they do me really well in the snow.. but, i donno about running them year round, although I see it all the time here....

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »it's a great car, but, it is what it is and that doesn't happen to be anywhere near an offroad vehical... (unless you are talking to wyatt89..lol) hey, its not that good, i broke an exhaust hanger going off road, piece of crap >_>

Too bad they don't make the Baja anymore. My wife hates them, but I think they are sexy.

I've gone threw 3 front bumpers.. I keep cracking them from hitting rocks and stuff.. and to get those replaced and repainted costs like.. $1000 each...

Make up a brushguard and add some lights... add a skidplate.. Heck, put it on a airbag suspension, then you can have the best of all worlds... except for the "use" of your trunk..

http://www.discounttire.com/dt...GERAVh ... ...Qty=4eh eh?

Quote, originally posted by B4snake »http://www.discounttire.com/dt...GERAVh ... ...Qty=4eh eh?I approve..!! lolers

lol, thats going to be so awesome looking i cant wait!

I figured I'd give this thread a bump. Most have tried talking you out of doing this but I I'd like to see it done. As long as you don't go to the extreme it won't require other drivetrain/running gear mods. The main reasons why so many lifted vehicles have tranny issues is because They increased the wheel/tire size substantially. The extra stress of the gearing change not to mention the added weight will wreak havoc on drivelines. I worked tech supprot at Gale Banks Engineering for a few years so I have a pretty good idea. I got to the point where the first question I asked was if they had oversized wheels/tires on it. When the time comes for new tires on my Vibe I'll be looking at finding some negative offset wheels to go along with them. It would be nice to find some factory 7" alloys that will move the track width out 1.5"-2" per side. I'll probably just run one size over tires but with an agressive tread pattern. Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »If you lift the vibe you change the axle angle and in turn create a weak point in the driveline at the cv jointNo more so than lowering it would.

It's great that you are very inventive on how you expand your use of your Vibe. But if I was an avid mountain biker such as yourself, I would find another vehicle to get to where you need/want to. Maybe a good used small truck like an S-10 or a Colorado/Canyon? I think it would be counter-productive to try to modify a car designed for the road to to take off-road. There are vehicles that fit your bill. Just save the money that you would use to modify your Vibe and look for a good used off-road vehicle.Now a RWD Vibe...THAT would be a FUN vehicle!

Quote, originally posted by slow4dr »No more so than lowering it would. I would have to dissagree here, just on the fact that when you lower, you straighten out the halfshaft, rather than make angles more extreme..

The CV is designed to work in a certain range, the manufacturer didn't intend for it to be bottomed or topped out(inside the CV). Having said that moving the suspension up OR down an inch or two isn't going to create reliability issues. FYI: I rotated the tires on my car on Saturday and I realized I have Eibach springs so I'll probably be looking for someone local to swap stockers with.