31's with NO lift

I have never read anything that said this was possible, but I think I have pulled it off.
31x10.50 MT/R's on a '95 XJ with the original suspension.
I am wondering if there is something I have not noticed yet, and will I be in trouble?

Here's the story.
I picked up this '95 XJ with 107,000 a while ago at an attractive price. It had not run in a while and had a few problems. It had minor cosmetic problems, some of the tires didn't hold air, the alternator was frozen, the A/C doesn't work, the radio doesn't work right, and it had the lovely issue with the engine mount bolts sheared off in the block on the passenger side.

I replaced the alternator and then had a real joy with the engine mount bolts. Especially after I broke off an easy-out in one of them.

When I got it to almost running condition, I wondered if the 31x10.50 MT/R's I had in the garage would fit. I had been planning to run it a while with stock size tires and determine if the vehicle was solid enough to invest the money for a decent lift.
After removing the flares, I tossed on the MT/R's still mounted to the 4 inch back spacing wheels that had been on my TJ. As soon as I started to flex the suspension, the rear tires said "hello" to the fenders.
I went ahead with the trimming and folding of the rear wheel opening as I had been reading about here and on other sites. The tires still hit the opening, but not by much. By remounting the rear tires to the factory wheels with 5 1/4 inch back spacing, the tires were able to clear the sheet metal and tuck up into the wheel house.

The front tires didn't hit anything, even at full lock, with the 4" BS wheels. With the 5 1/4", they hit the control arms pretty hard.
This resulted in 5 1/4" BS on the rears and 4" BS on the fronts. Everything seemed to clear until I removed the front sway bar and started the articulation test again. Now I have trimmed the front fenders, and it all seems to work.

It looks like I will be able to relocate the rear flares to work. The fronts look like relocation won't be enough, but with some other cutting on the flares they may work. Otherwise, it will be some TJ flares in the front.

Along the way I have also added a factory gas tank skid and factory tow hooks front and rear (on factory brackets).
I still have to address additional skid plates and rock rails.

Is there anything more I am overlooking? Has anybody else done this?

Bruce

I've got an 88 with stock and 31's on it right now (needed new tyres quick a while ago, had nearly new 31's on the project 87, so I "appropriated" them.)

The work farily well on the street, but the rears rub against the wheel pants when I hit a bump while laden, and they do rub against the sway bar up front at full lock.

Apart from that (i.e.: as long as I remember those little facts) I haven't had any trouble - nothing broken, anything like that.

Yes, I do plan on a lift as soon as I can Frankenstein together a 4-5" kit. I'll probably stay on 31's even then.

5-90

This is good to hear. I'm going to get a 3" lift and 31's in about a month, but I was unsure on which I'd put on first. Looks like I'll probably run 31's bone stock for a week or two before I get my lift.

RyleyF,
Just remember that backspacing is important and fender trimming is required.
The front wheels rubbing on control arms is no big deal. You just don't turn the wheel all the way.
The rear wheels are another story. The rear wheels must tuck into the opening, and the opening needs to be adjusted to clear. Otherwise, with normal suspension motion on the highway you will be damaging tires, sheet metal, or both. Before I mounted to the right backspacing and trimmed, mine touched just backing out of the driveway.
You can read about the trimming on various posts here or some web sites that are referenced in the posts. Two tools that make it a reasonable job are a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder with a metal cutoff wheel, and a dead blow hammer. The place to get the hammer is Harbor Freight, if you have one nearby (or can wait for the mail order). Mine was under $5 on sale, with a normal price of about $12. At Home Depot, a smaller one was $29.95. Yes, I'm sure there is a difference in quality, but I won't be using this daily for a period of years.
Enjoy.
Bruce

I have been runnin 31s on stock suspension for over a year now and no trimmin of the fenders. I have them on the stock rims (and therefore backspacin). To allow for off-road articulation I adjusted my bump stops in the front and rear. This allows me to wheel and I still run factory flares and fenders and rims as stated above. Bumpstops, bumpstops, bumpstops...


-Kevin
cyberbackpacker

If you had mounted the 31s on the stock rims you would not have needed to trim any sheetmetal. Ed Stevens' personal web site has an extensive write-up on flexing the suspension to confirm that 31s on stock rims fit, and tuck up inside the sheet metal. Yes, they run slightly on the lower control arms -- and they will to that even with a 3" lift or a 5" lift, so that's not pertinent to the discussion. That's easily resolved by not turning the wheel to full steering lock, or by shimming the steering stops on the knuckles.

Caveat:
On the new body style, it is more likely that large tires will kiss the lower trailing corner of the flares.