Thinking of switching back to 14 inch rims

I have had my van for about a month and I am wondering if the 15 inch rims (Samurai) really make much of a difference. They rub and that bugs me. I also dont like the thought of the torsion bar being maxed out to fit them. I am gonna try and get out to the desert and do some offroading this weekend but I feel like I have already made my mind up. Anybody have any thoughts or opinions? I don't anticipate doing any hardcore stuff with the van. Just stuff like the Bradshaw trail or 5 out of 10 difficulty type trails. Also, if I sell them, any input on what price for rims with Runway Enduro 726 with half their life left (5)? Thanks
Cirrus

Update:
had my van in for an oil change at a reputable shop. Owner told me I needed the wheel bearings redone. I asked if the larger rims and tweaked torsion bar would cause extra stress on those areas and his opinion was yes. FWIW.

Decent quality 14in tires are starting to be hard to come by, 15in skins offer a great deal more choice.
That said, it depends a great deal on what SIZE 15in tire you are running.
I have 205/70HR15's on my summer rims.
The only trimming I had to do was the bracket where the lower bumper finisher attaches below the door.

Perhaps you should consider choosing a better size tire.
The 205/70's are only .2 inch taller than stock.
The only real reason they rub at all is the Suzy rim moves the tire a little bit outboard.
The slight addition of track width does improve handling more than expected.
While I did tweak my bars, it was only to bring it back to factory ride height.

As to wheel bearings, it is possible that the mods of impacted the bearings, it is also possible that it is just time to deal with bearings.
BB

BB, thanks for the reply. Would you mind talking a little about your rims/setup? What they are, how you found them. Also, is it a waste that these sammy rims are on my rig given that I am only getting .2 lift and they still rub? I purchased it a month ago and thats how it came. The PO did give me the original rims so I have some options. I found the General Grabber AT2's and Master Craft Courser AT2 in the original size so that was going to be my setup. Normally I try to keep all my offroaders mostly stock so that was my idea for this one. I know this subject has been done to death but I would be interested in your opinion.
Thanks,
Cirrus

I have early sidekick rims but bought them used without much info. They are chromed steel with 6 perimeter holes instead of 5, other than that, they look like OEM.
They did come with 215/75's on them and those would have required MAJOR cutting.
I went with Pirelli Scorpion STR's in the 205/70HR15.
Nice stiff, directional tire, with good traction in wet and dry (does okay in the snow too) but not a serious off road tire.

If you have major rubbing I would want to check that ride height is correct. You should have about 8in under the front crossmember.
What size tires do you have on now?

As for buying tires:

1) date code - tires are designed to be delivered and installed at between 40-60% cured depending on design parameters.
As the tire ages, it dries out (cures) and is considered to be scrap at 5 yrs of age as it is 100% cured.
At this point the tire will not wear, have minimal traction (friction) and be subject to structural failure under load.

2) load index - Generally a function of sidewall construction, the higher the load index the more weight the tire can support safely.
A stiffer sidewall will deflect less (not look flat) and be less prone to damage.
I wouldn't put anything less than "95" on the van ( I think the Pirelli's are "97")

3) Speed rating. - This is the single most misunderstood rating of them all.
It has NOTHING to do with how fast you drive.
As a tire spins faster, centrifugal force makes it want to deform (taller and narrower), the fix is to beef up sidewall and tread face construction.
A tire with a higher speed rating will be better able to maintain it's designed contact patch under load.
In real life, the tire with a higher speed rating will be firmer and have better traction.
Of much greater importance though, it will corner and STOP better than a non-rated tire of the same rubber compound.
(because it can better maintain contact with the road, under load)

4) There is also a tread wear rating that I have found to be as dubious as EPA ratings. Generally the lower the number (400) will wear quicker than higher (600)
I have found little correlation between the numbers and lifespan but YMMV.

BB

One other thing to watch for in tire land.
No-name tires, in-store brands, whatever you want to call them.
Usually they are made by a big tire company to the price point the retailer wants.
When I was with Good Year, we had a lot of customers complaining that my tires were a lot more expansive than the "other" place.
When we were on training, they showed is how to tell the difference between the 2 seemingly identical tires.
Just pick them up.
The 'real' G/Y tire was 5lbs heavier, the difference was in the amount of steel used to construct the belts.
The cheap version will not last as long, maintain it's shape as well and be more prone to punctures.

I would not consider your Sammi rims to be a waste.
There is a lot more selection in the 15in range than 14in, a situation that is only getting worse by the day.

The big advantage to the Suzy rims is they are a lot easier to mount on a balancer.
When I had the snows mounted, they were "professionally balanced" (?) when I finally got near a balancer I found none of them were even close.
The design of the rim makes it difficult to get them mounted true, at least on the machine I had access to.
No such issue with the suzy rims however.

Bb, I have 205 70 r 15 on right now.
you can see from the pic how close it is in the front.
otherside is not quite as bad.
udate: I just checked, I have 8 inches at the front crossmember

Interesting.
Can you see where it is actually rubbing?
Is it just in corners or over bumps?

I do have a vague memory of using my grinder to massage a but if the frame, theres a flange that juts outs a bit that I trimmed and solved all problems.
IIRC, Sammi rims have less offset than the S/K rims so they should fit inside the wells better.
BB

Thanks for the reply. It rubs in right hand corners right on the fender edge where it's closest. I have not been off road yet but I'm heading out Saturday afternoon to Anza Borrego so I will get to test it to see how much it rubs then. It almost seems like the right tire is more forward than the left. Is there a way to move the wheels forward or backwards by adjusting the suspension?

I don't know of any way of moving the fore-aft location of the wheel, well not easily anyway.
I am, of course, assuming that everything in the front end is tight, yes?

Funny, mine always rubbed on the RF at first.
I kept swearing at that stupid little flange around the bolt that holds the lower finisher.
I was just about to get really creative when I realized that I had already trimmed it twice with no apparent change in the noise.
That's when I started looking further and found the contact point at the frame.
If it were really the fender is contacting the tire, there should be some visible damage to the tire.
The other thing to consider is the noise itself, tread-face contact produces a different sound than sidewall contacts, especially at low speed.

I see you have front mud traps, any chance it's contacting the tire.
I had running boards (which I gleefully removed), while there seemed to be lots of room back there, I was contacting on tight turns.

For what it's worth the pic doesn't look all that different from mine.
I would take another look, with a little luck, you may find the fix lies elsewhere.
BB

I used some website program to figure out 15" tires (hard rubber snows for the summer) that closely matched the original tire width and wheel height. Speedo stays accurate and nothing rubs on my Suzuki Sidekick 15" rims.

Edit: I checked my notes. 205/70 r15 on Suzuki Sidekick rims but it doesn't look like I have any offset or at least not much - tracker rims have no offset so now I'm not so sure what I bought. But I'll go with sidekick rims since that what I wrote down. Samurai rims have a 1" offset or something hence the rubbing.