Gearing...

I'll be lifting my XJ in a few weeks, and I'm trying to decide on a tire size (and lift, for that matter... either RE 3.5in Superflex or 4.5in sf). I can't decide if I should run 31s or 32s. I wont be able to afford a regear for a while, and I do a lot of highway driving. I know that 31s aren't too bad with 3.55s, but I don't know how 32s will be... What do you guys think?

What tranny?

i lifted a couple months ago... re 3.5" Seperflex. i just got my tires on this week... 32" BFG A/T. i have no rubbing in the front and with 5" of bump stop in the rear no rubbing. i was really worried about gearing but so far its really not that bad. i hardly notice the diff in acc. gas dropped about 2 miles but thats all been city. i have noticed a lot more bump steer on the highway but thats too be expected with a stock stabilizer.

ive removed the flares cause i was planning on trimming but i probably didnt need too. so as long as you use proper bump stop or ok with trimming i say go 32s all the way! regear when youve got axels worth regearing

o mattbred ive got an AW4

I've got 32's and 4.10 gears because I do alot of driving with my job, I had a set of 33's on it and was not happy with the loss of torque. If I had to do again I would have gone 4.56 because you can go with 32's but once you get wheelin' with them you soon want to go bigger and you can go 33's, 34's and some even go 35's with 4.56's.

I say 4.56 and don't look back, you'll thank yourself in the end. 4.56 are so much more versatile when it comes to tires sizes, and trust me once you start lifting and wrenching you'll want more and more,

welcome to the XJ addicts!

thanks for the advice. ive got the AW4 tranny, btw... I just want to be sure that if I were to go with 32's I wouldn't be risking blowing anything up on the highway.. I usually run about 75-80, and i just dont want to tear apart my tranny

I have a 96 with the auto trans and 32's with 3:55's and havent had a problem... I would like to regear but just havent gotten around to it, partly because it does fine with that ratio as my daily driver. Basically, you should be able to run the stock gears with no bigger than the 32's (if it doesnt fit into your budget right away, but if you can afford to do it now you probably should...I would).

your post says gears but your questions says tires.
go with the 31"s for now. then when you can afford gears, go 4.56. then save up and go 33"s.
running on 31"s and 3.55's is fine and you can take your time to save up to buy the gears and 33"s in no time.