Chiming in to say thanks to all who recommended the General Grabbers. Installed 27/8.5/14 AT/X on my '88 4wd LE with stock sus front and rear.
Spare had to be aired down to 10psi. Had to reinforce my decaying spare carrier with a little scrap al angle and then shove it in there, max out the carrier hook and cram it back in. Hopefully that'll be less of a chore after a couple rotations. I puncture tires and shred sidewalss on the reg (fs and narrow old logging roads w. an abudance of angluar rocks) so I like a nice, smooth changeout when I can't plug.
Rear clearance appears to be a non issue.
It looked like bad news at first with the front clearance but, to my surprise, my chassis height was actually set quite low. Adjusted both torsion bars to get the front height at oem spec, adding in a half inch for the upsized tires and another half inch for some add'l clearance for 1" total over spec there or appx. 11" at the front. The torsion bar adjusting nut is till about a half inch shy of what the service manual says it should be at (it could go up more) but it also calls that out as a more of a strating point/rough guide. Aside from a bit of rear front mudflap catch at certain turning angles there's no rub now.
Debating cutting off the front lower trim mount for a bit of extra breathing room and piece of mind there. The trim and metal down there doesn't appear to be serving much of a purpose at this point in the body's life.
Going to throw new shocks up front (appears to have the OEMs on it still). Will drive around and see how all that feels and maybe raise or lower the torsion bar adjusment again before I get an alignment since I moved the torsion bar adjusting nuts a solid inch.
Feels like everything I've wanted so far. Which is to say a bit of lift over stock and some firmer sidewalls on actual LT tires. Those Goodyear wranglers seem like an ok option since they are oem size but for the exorbitant cost, bad reviews and lack of a triple peak snow rating I think it's a much better deal to go with these grabbers, gain a half inch of ground clearance and tune up your sus.
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