Who has RE 3.5 with 32" tires?

Hey guys, as many of you know, I have my Rubicon Express 3.5 superflex 6030 on the way. (thanks Dirk @ DPGoffroad.com) I am going to keep my stock jeep 5star alloy wheels. I know 31" will fit, but am wondering if anyone out there is running a 32" on a stock 7" rim? I have heard it can be done, but what about with this lift? I plan on going with Goodyear MTR's for the rubber in whatever size I go with.

I know trimming will be needed, but is it possible to keep the stock flares?

Thanks in advance!

Pictures of any of the above would be super sweet!

Thanks,
Jason

Question is how far are you willing to trim or limit your travel and what is the year of your vehicle. When I was @ Moab I ran 33's with the fronts having really nicely trimmed fenders (and TJ flares) and only UC coil and 1.75" spacer and in the rear 3.5" RE leaf pack.

Anyways in the rear you will most likely have no problem as the RE leaf packs seem to sit tall and you most likely will put a spacer up front to even things out.

I have an RE 3.5" front with custom 6 leaf rears that give me about 4.5" in the back. I just went from 31X10.50s to 32X11.50s on 8" 767s with a lot of back spacing (not sure exactly how much) so it should be close to what you're running. I trimmed the front fenders as much as possible without relocating the flares and beat the front fender support pinch seam in and I'm juuuuuuust scraping by. In the back I'm lightly scraping the rear of the flare with no trimming when the front is at full tuck. I just bought a set of MJ flares that will allow me to trim another inch of fender away (F&R) for a little safety factor.

Ok, first off don't run 32"+ tires on stock rims. Get some Black Rock Crawlers or something with about 4.5" backspacing. For 31s or 32s I would run 4.5"bs, while with tires that are 33 or 35x12.50 I would run 3.75" bs. For the wheel issue the lift isn't the problem the tire is. You will rub alot on your control arms, you need that extra 1" less backspacing to get the tire in the center of the fender so they won't rub inside or outside.

Second, YES 32s can be ran on 3.5" lift if you trim. You can always keep your fenders, but you will need to redrill the holes to mount them back on.

RE 3.5 with 1 inch spacer and shackle
RE adj superflex upper arms
RE hd trackbar and bracket
33x12.5 mt's
15x8 wheels with 3.75bs :

Wow,
I was just going to post the exact same question. I have a 99 XJ and I just ordered 15 x 8.5 rims with 3.75" backspacing and 32 x 11.5 15 BFG. I have the RE 3.5" super flex kit with rear leaf packs, RE greasable lift shackel, adjustable trac bar, and upper control arms. In additon I have front Protofab winch bumper and Off road technologies rear bumber with spare tire carrier. I ended up with 4" lift in front and 3.75" in rear after one year of setteling. With the Protofab bumper there is no way I can rub on the front flare because there is nothing to rub. It appears that the only rubbing I should get will be on the inside rear of the front wheel flares which is easily modified. The rears I do not know because it all depends on how the far the tire sticks out. I figure it is no big deal because if it does not work out I will just buy bushwacker flares like I wanted to anyway. With out the heavy front and rear bumpers I had about 4.5" of lift in the begining but after settling and weight It has compressed keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that the rear 3.5" leaf pack and shackel I should have gained 4.75in lift but with settling and added weight Iam down to 3.75". I will post on how the tires fit when I install them.

Joe

This was my RE3.5" kit and 32x10.5's w/ stock wheels.Light rubbing(polishing) on the top of the spring bucket and LCA's.It will rub on the front bumper return!New bumper took care of that!

i too have re 3.5 thinking about going up to a 31x10.5x15 mtr. not only is the rubbing a issue w/ stock wheels but how about the gears and gas milage?
how many of you guys run 31"s with stock gears and a auto tranny?

I put that exact lift on both my daughters' XJs. The one was running BFG AT 32" on stock rims. That tire is too wide for the stock rim. It wore out in a hurry. So I went back to 31x10.50s on that Jeep. That is working really well. The heighth wasn't the problem and the 32s cleared pretty well. I only took the front trim piece off that wrapped around to the bumper. Didn't have to trim anywhere else. Very good stuff. If you go to a smaller backspacing then you will have to trim some for clearance. Stock rims=minimal trimming on 31"s.

4.10s are good for 31s or even 32s. I would run 4.56s with 32s or 33s though.

With the RE 3.5" lift with 15x7 in rims with 31x10.5 x 15 tires I am getting about 10 to 13 MPG. But I have alot of added weight and no front air dam causing drag along with roof rack with lights. Just taking off the roof rack I have an inrease in gas mileage.

With the above combo I have absolutley no rubbing and never have even at full suspensuion compression with two inc bump stops supplied with 6030 kit.

Danno I never did say thankyou for the advice you gave me a year ago on this site. You were the first post I recieved on this site. Love my RE lift.

Joe

well thanks Joe! Both my daughters love their RE lifts. I should have done that on mine to start with!

Some folks need gears bad. 10-13mpg. with 31s? My friend has 35s on his XJ with 4.88s and get a solid 15mpg 50/50 driving.

Yeah you should have alot of room with the RE 3.5" and 31s on stock rims. That 11.50 will treat you different with a stock rim.

Yeah,
I do need gears. I just did full tune up changed all the fluids etc. at 40,000 miles and still this great gas mileage. I am doing gears and selectable lockers at the same time. Just not quite there yet and I do not want to install gears until I find the size tires I want to stay with. Oh did i mention I drive six city blocks to work and back and hardly any highway miles. I only have 50,000 miles on my 99. All in time.

Joe

sweet info guys, Anymore pics? I keep laying in bed fighting with "31's are easy, they fit, ride nice, etc. and then the 32" are bigger, I can hang with the big dogs longer, It will look tuffer, who cares about mileage, etc..... it will suck trimming...."

keep the opinions coming with the pics! I have to stay with the stock 5-star jeep rims for now. I would spend the money on Eagle Alloy 589, but that is like a 3.3 backspace and just makes all the problems worse! (right???)

Thanks guys, you ROCK

Jason

ZachMan said:

Yeah you should have alot of room with the RE 3.5" and 31s on stock rims. That 11.50 will treat you different with a stock rim.

Click to expand...

Zach ...

What do you mean by 11.50's treating us differently on stock rims ?

I was just getting ready to slip these on for size on my 15x7" stockers. I've been debating if I should just stay with the 31x10.5's I've been running for years. I've got the room with the RE 4.5" now ... I just don't want to have to change too many things to get it to "work" <---RE said this is an interesting word.

Please elaborate.

Red97XJ said:

Anymore pics?
Jason

Click to expand...

3.5", 32" BFG, lots o trimming.

Click me!

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I Installed my 32"x 11.5" x 15" Tires last night. Measured backspacing before mounting and they are at 4.25". 15" x 8.5" rim. At full lock the front tires just touched the inside edge of the front flare. trimmed with a blade and bent metal corner up. No rubbing with normal street driving. I have plenty of clearance in the rear. I did not get a chance last night to disconnect sway bar and compress but from the look of things I would say I will have some rubbing if the front wheels are turned and compressed. They look great but I will have to foot the bill for some fender flares and I will probably go bushwacker. My lift height and descripition of equipment is above. Hope this helps anybody.

Joe

bchulett said:

Zach ...

What do you mean by 11.50's treating us differently on stock rims ?

I was just getting ready to slip these on for size on my 15x7" stockers. I've been debating if I should just stay with the 31x10.5's I've been running for years. I've got the room with the RE 4.5" now ... I just don't want to have to change too many things to get it to "work" <---RE said this is an interesting word.

Please elaborate.

Click to expand...

You need wheels with less backspacing. Even with 31s I would run 15x8s w/ 4.5" bs, but 32s definately. You will scrub pretty bad on your control arms.

Red97XJ said:

sweet info guys, Anymore pics? I keep laying in bed fighting with "31's are easy, they fit, ride nice, etc. and then the 32" are bigger, I can hang with the big dogs longer, It will look tuffer, who cares about mileage, etc..... it will suck trimming...."

keep the opinions coming with the pics! I have to stay with the stock 5-star jeep rims for now. I would spend the money on Eagle Alloy 589, but that is like a 3.3 backspace and just makes all the problems worse! (right???)

Thanks guys, you ROCK

Jason

Click to expand...

How long have you had your XJ?

Mines a 2000 and I am cutting my fenders with no second thoughts at all. You need to wheel a little harder like you are, once you knock your front flares off a few times you'll be wanting to cut. I was knocking fenders off completely stock with 29" KOs.

Whats great about trimming?

I'm about to be at 5" of lift and 35s by the end of summer. As long as you get the right bumpstops and trim I'll be better than fine. I'll have low COG and have maximum ground clearance. This IMO equals the best of both DD/offroad worlds. There are tons of people "afraid" to cut fender and they run 5"s of lift with 31s, LOL.

Plus when done right cutting your fenders looks great, I am just cutting to where there is one little lip over the front and rear wheelwells. Just tape over where you are gonna cut, mark where your cutting, then use a dye grinder or cutoff wheel and go to town. Don't use a sawzall unless you want major fugliness. :conceited

Zach

Here are the pictures of my 99 with RE 3.5" super flex with 32" tires.
a liilte tight up front need cut out flares.
http://www.pbase.com/image/28219625[/IMG]