I know this has been discussed before, but I figured I would post my recent experience in getting a Mass inspection sticker. I have a 99' TJ with a coil lift and 33's on it. Up until now this has never been an issue. Today attempting to get an inspection sticker I was turned away from the first station (who've previously inspected this TJ), the owner did not want to deal with it saying the tires were sticking out too far (I have the factory fender flares still).
The second station inspected everything ok, only to tell me I was being rejected since my tires were too large. Since the sticker on the frame of the door says 225/75 and I have 33', I can't go over 2.6 inches in lift from the tires. He did say if I could bring back documentation saying Jeep used a bigger tire on those models it could pass.
I will update later when I bring it back to get rid of the REJECT sticker now stuck on the windshield.
You need to give your inspector a lesson in geometry.
The amount of lift due to an increase in tire size is the amount the radius of a tire changes, not it's diameter.
A p225/75R15 tire is 28.29 inches in diameter with has a radius of 14.145"
A 33" tire obviously has a diameter of 33 inches which has a radius of 16.500"
So the amount of lift due to your 33" tires is 16.500 - 14.145 = 2.355"
The 2.355" of lift is less than the 2.6" your inspector indicated.
Thanks Kurt - wasn't even thinking about the Radius size. That helps when I go back! They had already slapped the reject sticker on it before even talking to me.
It's so dumb. On my old TJ, back about 10 years ago, I had a 4" lift and 32's and one place told me ""no modified suspensions" and now my JLUR sits about as high on 33's from the dealer...I am pretty sure the TJ offered something close to a 31" from the factory, but maybe I am just being wishful.
It's funny how only half the tire is below the center, also I am not sure in your statement about the 2.6" as the regulations clearly say something about rounding up to the nearest inch.
Good luck!!!
Turn up the radio and Bump it! that will buff right out.
