Thoughts on increasing track width

[banned]

Like a lot of GM trucks, my '01 Jimmy has a narrower track width in the rear than in the front. I've heard two explanations for this:

 

#1 - GM engineers did this on purpose to improve handling and tracking. The theory here, as I've seen it explained, is that the narrower rear causes greater weight transfer to the outside front wheel on curves; from that, I might suppose the purpose is to correct a severe understeer problem you'd have if the rear track width were the same as the front. As far as tracking goes, this seems to defy conventional wisdom ... but I have to admit, my Jimmy rides and behaves surprisingly well, and has less problem with grooved and irregular pavement than just about any other vehicle I've been in lately, which maybe has something to do with this front-back track width thing.

 

#2 - GM simply used off-the-shelf parts to keep costs down, and there is no advantage to the rear track width being narrower than the front; maybe even some disadvantages.

 

OK, with that out of the way ... any opinions on changing the track width? I know CorrectTrack (for example) says it's the thing to do, make the rear as wide as the front.

 

Personally, I'm inclined to think that there's something to explanation #1, especially the part about weight transfer and correcting understeer. If so, I might like to increase the track width both front and back by the same amount. I'm thinking about wheels with a different backspace to increase track width between 2-4 inches. My Jimmy is stock height, no plans to change that. I don't see that there would be any interference problems in going with wheels with 1-2" less backspace. But I'm sure many of you know more about this than I do.

 

Appreciate any and all thoughts/advice.