33" vs. 35" tires

Is there a big difference between 33's and 35's on the trail (rockcrawling in the southwest and california)? 35's are tempting simply because they're bigger and many people now run them (don't want to have the 'cute' jeep). I don't want to get the larger tire just because it's cool. 33's are attractive because there'd be less stress on the drivetrain and a lower CG, 33's are also cheaper. Any imput from people who have run both is greatly appriciated.

Aaron

Id say ant time you can run a larger tire do it! That being said, 33's "Fit the XJ".After that the "costs" become your only issue,that and a 2DR XJ would be best.

The answer is simple, 2" of more clearance, less rocks to hang up on. You have more rubbing issues to deal with and of couse. The axle strength and crawl ratio you need to consider.

BTW, there are a lot of guys with 33's who hang right in there with the 35" boys. Just remember, a really good rig is reliable, no matter what size tire you have, a busted axle or worse R&P. Will make you somebody's trailer really quick.

In some ways it also comes down to the tire choice itself. A 33" TSL measures 33.7" and a 35" BFG measures about 34" so they are virtually the same. In that case the TSL would also be heavier than the BFG even tough it is only a "33".

A 35" tires will give you 1" extra ground clearance assuming it is actually 2" bigger than a 33".

I think the determining factors should be your current gearing, the type of tire you want i.e. swamper. BFG, Goodyear etc and of course if you'll fit them.

If you have the gears, the room, and the strength you might as well go with the 35's.

if it was me, I would run 35s... there much cooler


as long as you use the skinny pedal, youll be fine

I have been through the same debate in my mind over the past few months, except deciding between 35s and 37s.

Eventually I have decided on 35s. One of the main reasons I did, is that I want to be able to go for anything and not be worried about axle strength, with 37s on my D44 and Toy 8" I would be nervous on anything requiring a little throttle. Some other factors include cost, both of the tires and decreased gas mileage since this is a daily driver, also gear ratio, I can find used 4.88s fairly cheap which would be good for 35s, but 5.29/5.38s would cost a fair bit more which is what I would want with 37s.

Sure that extra inch of clearance under the diff would be nice, but I think the difference is easily made up for in driver skill, so I'll just work on that. Plus my shaved D44 and shaved 8" give lots of clearance.

Basically it's all about money, if you have the money to get your axles prepared for 35s, for gears, for more expensive tires, extra gas, etc... then go for the 35s! heck, get 37s!

another thing, I have yet to meet or wheel with him, but from what I understand Jes has 33s and keeps up with all the Sierra Chapter boys on 35s just fine.

make sure you have skid plates, diff gaurds, lockers and rocker protection and just drag your way through junk.

Thanks for the imput, has anyone had 33's and then uped it to 35's? Jeep is under construction (4dr), but here's the parts list RE 5.5 w/CRSU long-arms, spacer in the front to makeup for winch. Skids all around. D30 in front with 297 joints, ls or lunch box locker; d35 with super 35 kit with detroit in back. 4.10 gears, np231 w/4:1 gears. skids all around & I already have 33" mall terrains for the road. Will probably end up with rear TJ flares in the front, if not all around. Crawl Ratio is ok either way, and the axles have pretty good ground clearance as is. Any more suggestions?

35's aired down really amount to 33's for the most part....depends on how much clerance you NEED.


Hunter

awr94903 said:

Any more suggestions?

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yes, definitely! Don't get the Super 35 kit!!! This has been covered well here and on PBB, the kit doesn't address several other problems with d35s and costs just as much (maybe more) then building an XJ D44.

Also, while you are regearing, especially if you're considering 35s, go lower than 4.10. 4.56 or 4.88 are great.

Driver/spotter skills makes up for most of it, and if I were you I'd go with the 33's and put the beefy warn axles and 297 u-joints just for strength. If ya wana run 35's get an SJ with front and rear dana 44s thats a nice ride, and will just beat trails into submission.

awr94903 said:

...np231 w/4:1 gears...

Any more suggestions?

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yes, don't get TeraLow conversion. i have talked to Jeep engineer who worked on the Rubicon and they used TeraLow'ed np231s in pre-production Rubicons for testing and blew up so many of them while waiting for NV to finally finish the NV241OR case. a lot of people run TeraLow kit without major problems, but if you search you will find out that it's not as bullet-proof as you would like it to be.
i swapped in NV241OR and have less than $2000 in the conversion, it's definitely more than installing TeraLow, but i've got a t-case with 4:1, SYE, 32 spline output shafts and heavy duty chain. by the time you get np231 to this level you'll be very close in price, but NP231 still has smaller planetaries and weaker case.

Switching to 35's from 33's took alot more re-work than I thought it would. Getting the height, trimming and changing all the front end components was a major pain.

A 35" tire aired down might be the same height as a aired up 33, but the contact patch is much bigger resulting in much more traction.

Do not run a Dana35 with 35" tires, super-scooper isn't gonna help, get a D44 if you're running 35" tires. The D30 will survive with alloy axles and 297s or 760s.

Steering will be an issue with more height and heavier tires, build custom. You'll also probably need drop brackets.

And before you spend $2k on an NP231, consider getting the Atlas 4.0! It's only a little more than the TeraLow kit and gives you a truely bulletproof, gear driven, front/rear selectable t-case. That's why all the competitors run them.

You will need 4.56 minimum on the road, but you have to remember that with a 4:0 t-case you dont want too low of an axle gear or you'll never be able to stop it in 4Lo.

I understand what many of you are saying about the teralo and the super 35 kit. I would not pay $2000 to put lower gears and a sye on a np231, nor would I pay $900 to beef up a d35. I bought these slightly used for half of the price above. For $1000 I don't think I could have done anything better for a t-case (also has HD SYE). I also already have the gears for a d35, a free housing and a super 35 kit for $450, so I don't think I could built a d44 for that much unless it was welded or something like that. I also plan of trussing it pretty good. I'm pretty set on the 4.10's because I'll be running some pretty light 33's on the street with the AX-15 (with most of it being highway driving), and with the 4:1 t-case, I'll still have a good crawl ratio.

awr94903 said:

I'm pretty set on the 4.10's because I'll be running some pretty light 33's on the street with the AX-15 (with most of it being highway driving), and with the 4:1 t-case, I'll still have a good crawl ratio.

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you'll want 4.56 gears with 33s. i have 4.10s right now with 33s and AX-15 and it's a little to high for my liking. my old YJ had 33s with 4.56 and it was perfect.