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2010 G550, 2010 Bentley Continental GTC Speed & 2019 S560; 2026 G63 on the way
Originally Posted by Limey Hooligan
Thanks for the update on how your mods are doing. That's a little disappointing that you have some rust already...
Nice upgrade on the front brakes! How much of a braking improvement is it? I imagine the braided lines help some as well. So is this a one-off custom build, or does Brembo offer this size brakes that you can buy and adapt for the G?
Receiving some of my parts (shocks, springs, spacers) this week to get ready for my build here pretty soon. I'll probably start a new thread, though I don't think I'm doing anything you haven't done already.
So far there is definitely a noticeable improvement in braking. Before, with just the rear Brembos, the brakes were still a bit spongy since the majority of braking is handled by the front brakes. I wish I had measured stopping distance with the OEM brakes to have a solid quantitative comparison. With regards to your question about a one-off custom build, what happened was that Brembo used to only offer 380mm and 412mm front brakes for 2010 G550s, which are both too big for the factory 18 inch rims. Eric at Supreme Power called his Brembo people and I believe Brembo used brakes from a AMG S-Class as a starting point and ultimately engineered 365mm front brakes for my G. If you go to racetechnologies.com and input 2010 G550, you'll see the 365mm is now available for all to purchase.
2010 G550, 2010 Bentley Continental GTC Speed & 2019 S560; 2026 G63 on the way
Lights?
Originally Posted by invictusmaneo
I am running 35x12.5r20s with about 4.5" of lift or so. It was a lot more to go to this level (with King external reservoir shocks, the military trailing arm brackets, king steering stabilizer (which does not exactly bolt on btw), and more, the list goes on) from a 40-50mm lift. It will be going back in January for more tweaks to tie up some things for offroad. That being said, even at this level I had to add Viking Offroad 1.25" bolt on wheel spacers to prevent rubbing on the trailing arm.
Who makes the extra two lights on the front of the brush guard?
In looking at the tire clearance now with the 50mm spacers, I believe I could have gone up in size to a 35 x 12.5 x 18. Will probably do that next time.
The Thor springs give it more of a lift than expected, I think I'm pushing 4 inches higher overall. The front especially is a lot higher.
Yes, maybe not thinner but about the same width... from what we saw today I do think I could easily do 35 x 12.5 x 18.
Hey, if you know of anyone who wants to buy some (very) lightly used BFG KO2s, I can do them a nice deal and trade up....
for what it is worth, the pictures above of my silver truck are on 35x12.5x20 KO2s. WIthout wheel spacers, but with a comparable lift to yours, it cleared everywhere except the rear inside, where it rubbed on the trailing arm. With wheel spacers (I am running 1.5" or 40mm) there are no clearance problems, even at full lock with a fair amount of articulation/flexing. You should be more than fine.
2006 CLS55 AMG, 2008 G55 AMG, 2010 Audi R8 V10, 2010 Ford Raptor, 2005 Porsche 911, 1966 Chevy II
I'm running the THOR springs, FOX bypass shocks and 30mm H&R spacers. These are Nitto Trail Grappler in a 35x12.50R22. Had to mod the exhaust on the driver side as there was very minimal rubbing. I did that prior to the spacers so probably could have avoided it but now I know I'll never have to worry about it. Drives 100% better than stock!!
How are you guys with the 35 inch tires mounting the spare, on the rear door still? Is the rear door mount taking the extra 20-30 lbs of weight OK?
I've heard horror stories of offroad vibrations affecting the spare tire mounts using heavier tires, leading to failure.
2006 CLS55 AMG, 2008 G55 AMG, 2010 Audi R8 V10, 2010 Ford Raptor, 2005 Porsche 911, 1966 Chevy II
Originally Posted by Limey Hooligan
How are you guys with the 35 inch tires mounting the spare, on the rear door still? Is the rear door mount taking the extra 20-30 lbs of weight OK?
I've heard horror stories of offroad vibrations affecting the spare tire mounts using heavier tires, leading to failure.
I think I'm taking mine off. If I'm around town I'll call AAA. If I'm going any distance I'll mount a spare in the cargo area.
5280CLS55 can you post side view photos of your G wagon with the 35 inch tires? Im trying to decide 35" vs 33" tires. I have similar lift set-up as yours.
2006 CLS55 AMG, 2008 G55 AMG, 2010 Audi R8 V10, 2010 Ford Raptor, 2005 Porsche 911, 1966 Chevy II
Originally Posted by Ruben G
5280CLS55 can you post side view photos of your G wagon with the 35 inch tires? Im trying to decide 35" vs 33" tires. I have similar lift set-up as yours.
I'd actually recommend the 325 instead of the 35". That's what I ultimately ended up doing
2006 CLS55 AMG, 2008 G55 AMG, 2010 Audi R8 V10, 2010 Ford Raptor, 2005 Porsche 911, 1966 Chevy II
Originally Posted by Ruben G
So do you have 325/50R22 tires installed then? That's 12.8 inches wide. Any rubbing issues with 30 mm wheel spacers?
I have the 31mm spacers too. Initially I had VERY minimal rubbing. I did some minor trimming on the inside of fenders (no one would ever notice) and now the only time it rubs is at full lock during articulation. Around town is no problemo. IMO they look much cooler too. Wider and lower profile looks more well suited to the rig around town where I'm at 98% of the time anyway.
Agree - it's strange that the 305's I ran look wider than the current 35 /12.5....likely I'll upgrade to 35/ 13.5's down the road as I agree the wider 325-13.5 width fits the truck better....
This is an aggressive set up with mild rubbing on the inner fender liner. Trimmed front fender flare. At full stuff rear tire flexes into fenders. If the wheel set up is not as aggressive the tire would be able to stuff into the fender without touching. Will be adding a longer bump stop. At full stuff in the front at full lock no issue. Just before full lock at stuff, tire squishes the front fender lip. Will also need front bump stops in the front. To limit he up travel, we have a set up that will add an additional 2.5” of down travel.
If I ran a less aggressive wheel set up, 35’s would not touch the plastic inner fender liner as much towards the cab. It will still need a bump stop.
If you’re not running a wheel spacer, the tire will rub on the radius arm at lock with a normal width 35”.
This is an aggressive set up with mild rubbing on the inner fender liner. Trimmed front fender flare. At full stuff rear tire flexes into fenders. If the wheel set up is not as aggressive the tire would be able to stuff into the fender without touching. Will be adding a longer bump stop. At full stuff in the front at full lock no issue. Just before full lock at stuff, tire squishes the front fender lip. Will also need front bump stops in the front. To limit he up travel, we have a set up that will add an additional 2.5” of down travel.
If I ran a less aggressive wheel set up, 35’s would not touch the plastic inner fender liner as much towards the cab. It will still need a bump stop.
If you’re not running a wheel spacer, the tire will rub on the radius arm at lock with a normal width 35”.
Hi Gear Shop,
Love your truck (people keep tagging me on photos of it on IG) -- are the TE37 5x150, 0 offset?
2010 G550, 2010 Bentley Continental GTC Speed & 2019 S560; 2026 G63 on the way
It's been a while since I posted on this thread so I figured I'd post an update. I ended up increasing the tire size to 305s and changing the 30mm spacers to 50mm. In addition, I put on reinforced front and rear panhard rods. The tires feel great although they do rub a bit at full turn. I also added a Gobi Stealth Rack and some Rigid Industries lights. Love the rack and love the lights, but the wind deflector that came with the rack won't fit due to the antenna so I'd like to move it. Anyone have any suggestions for where to put the antenna?
Last edited by GFiveFifty; Jul 3, 2020 at 11:17 PM.
Looks great! How tall are the tires/what kind of lift are you running?
Also, how was the process of mounting those lights up front? I'd like to add a pair of 8 inch lamps to mine. The brush guard strangely doesn't have mount points for them. How hard was it to wire up?
2010 G550, 2010 Bentley Continental GTC Speed & 2019 S560; 2026 G63 on the way
Originally Posted by JD101b
Looks great! How tall are the tires/what kind of lift are you running?
Also, how was the process of mounting those lights up front? I'd like to add a pair of 8 inch lamps to mine. The brush guard strangely doesn't have mount points for them. How hard was it to wire up?
I switched out my ORC coil springs for THOR Motorworks springs (https://vikingoffroad.com/g-wagen-coil-springs/) about 6 months ago. Around the same time I also went from 275 K02s to 305 K02s.
With regards to the lights, there is a place in LA called Dirty Parts who installed them for me. They mounted the brush guard lights with horizontal bar light clamps and I've had no issues with them.
Last edited by GFiveFifty; Jul 5, 2020 at 12:42 AM.
I switched out my ORC coil springs for THOR Motorworks springs (https://vikingoffroad.com/g-wagen-coil-springs/) about 6 months ago. Around the same time I also went from 285 K02s to 305 K02s.
With regards to the lights, there is a place in LA called Dirty Parts who installed them for me. They mounted the brush guard lights with horizontal bar light clamps and I've had no issues with them.
Thanks for that. So the only change you made to the suspension was the springs? Any rubbing? Did you have to use spacers?
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