.....Rear heater hoses in passenger rear wheel well. You will see these when you address the body flange. These need to be cut and rerouted so that they are not abraded by the rear passenger tire when the suspension is compressed. The factory lines are aluminum, and require a tubing cutter. There is plenty of space to re-route 5/8 heater hose where it will not be in the way.
Heat gunning. Take a heat gun and re-shape the factory wheel liners where necessary.
With the above mods you can run 275/65R18 (32.1) without issue. I can verify this first hand, after running them for years, at this point. There are guys who are running 275/70R18 (33.2). These will be my next set, but I am relaying anecdotal experience here, not my own experience. 265/70R18 and 265/60R18 should not give you any issues either. I would be cautious going above a 275 width on an 18 inch wheel on these trucks. I also would not consider anything less than an E rated tire. These things are heavy, especially once you start modding them.
Well....I'm back. Got my LR4 then proceeded to spend the next 8? 9? months on the road every damn week. Zero time to do anything to the truck except gather parts. I finally have a set of LR3 wheels, 1.25 spacers and a GAP tool. Looking at the strut spacers next, then tires.
Tell me more about rerouting the heater hoses in the rear wheel well. How did you go about this? Did you have to flare new ends on them or did you make the connection some other way?
I'll be grinding off frame horns/welding in patches and grinding the rear mounting flanges over Christmas break....taking 2 weeks off...and will handle the rest of the trimming suggested...only one that has me still figuring an approach are these heater lines. Targeting a set of 275/65/18 BFGs.
Last question for now...regarding the limit straps. I have seen where guys swear they are an absolute requirement and others suggest they are worthless. What is your experience with them?
Also have a line on a set of LR3 calipers. Saw where
@jwest replaced the stock LR4's with these and eliminated the need for spacers. I like that idea...seems cleaner. With stock LR3 18's, can I keep the existing rotors and just swap calipers or would I need to go further and replace more?
Thanks for all the insights around here.....I refer to this thread and others frequently despite not being able to actually turn a wrench for the past many months.