If you ask this in Facebook groups or forums, the standard answer is going to be a 245/65/17. Looking a bit further you will find that this tire will actually fit with NO lift kit. The truth is, they do fit, as long as you retain your stock wheels. The variable in the equation is not the diameter of the wheel, but the offset. Offset refers to the distance from the mounting surface of the wheel to the inner edge of the wheel. A low offset wheel will have more of the wheel poking out of the fender, where a high offset wheel will have more of the wheel tucked under the fender. Most OEM wheels are set up for high offset. Installing a lower offset wheel can often look more aggressive, giving the car a wider appearance. The potential downside is that it limits your tire size. When you steer your wheels back and forth, the tires normally rotate on the center of the tread contact patch. The technical term for this is scrub radius. Low offset wheels cause that pivot point to move inward relative to the outer edge of the wheel, which results in the tire swinging out wider when you steer the wheels back and forth. So a 245/65/17 tire could potentially be the size limit with a low offset wheel, regardless of lift.
In our own testing, we have easily installed a 245/70/17 tire on a stock wheel with our 1.5 and 2.5 inch lift kits. That’s as big as you can go without doing any modifications to the front fender wells. Installing a 245/70/17 tire with a low offset wheel is technically possible as well. We have done this on our company owned 2.5 inch lifted 2025 Bronco Sport Sasquatch. However, it was NOT a straightforward fit. We had to trim approximately an inch off of the pinch weld in the back of the front fenders, and pull the felt back the same amount in the front of the front fenders. It was not a huge amount of work and there is no visual evidence that anything was modified. We have been running this setup for 6 months now and there are no issues at all.
Here is the breakdown for you:
Height/wheel/fender mod
Stock/Stock/no cut: 245/65/17 or 245/60/18
Stock/low offset/no cut: 235/65/17 or 235/60/18
1.5 or 2.5 inch lift/stock/no cut: 245/70/17 or 245/65/18
1.5 or 2.5 inch lift/low offset/ no cut: 245/65/17 or 245/60/18
1.5 or 2.5 inch lift/low offset/cut pinch weld: 245/70/17 or 245/65/18
HRG does not recommend tire sizes beyond what is on this chart. Actual tire sizes can vary due to tread design and from brand to brand. Always check fitment before installation! HRG is not responsible for improperly fitted tires.
