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2 sets of tires

NCCherokee

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Anderson, SC
Ok, i know a lot of people have 2 sets of tires, one for the trail and one for the street. Their street tires might even be a little smaller for better road mileage. I want to do this same thing, because my gas mileage on the interstate with 31s and 3.55 gears is 14-15. I used to get 20 stock. I know that i'll never get back to stock mileage, but i want to run a set of stock tires for daily driving, and my MTs for the trail.

here's my reasoning: i'm a broke ass college kid that's applying to medical school. Medical school means lots of long distance travel for interviews. I also have a girlfriend that goes to FSU, 6 hours away from here (Clemson). Also, trail tires are expensive, and dont last long driven on the street.

My question is this: about how much can i expect my mileage to go up with the smaller, lighter, skinnier tires?

I have about 4.5" of lift, 3.55 gears, 4.0L, and auto tranny. I also have front winch bumper/winch and rear tire carrier. That takes care of the driveline/weight issues. Would it be reasonable to expect 18mpg with stock tires?
 
BFG AT KO's are a good trail tire around here and they get decent wear as well. Many put 50K plus on them. Get the road hazard in case you rip one up.
 
I also have a stock set and a set of off-roading wheels. Considering you have the extra weight, I would guess that you may get up to 18mpg on the highway.

I'm getting 17 to 19mpg with stock tires, 4.5" lift, and a rear locker..

Elias
 
rocklandxjer said:
have you changed your speedometer gear? that will throw off your odometer a bit, and change your milage read out


no i havent, but i do know that its reading less mileage than i'm actually going, but i dont think it is that huge. I'm only on 31s.
 
I took a different approach to the issue....This may or may not be right for you

I have XJ 3.5 inches of lift 31x10.50 and 3.55 gears..13-15 MPG most days and 50 mile round trip to work.

I bought a 97 ford escort for 31 MPG... It has these effects

1) If I tear up the jeep on the trail all that I have to do is get it home... I do not have to worry about getting to work on Monday.:repair:

2) Saves tons of gas... Gas bill went down $100 per month. This pays for insurance on the escort and the repairs.... and some jeep mods.

3) DD and lots of miles is really hard on equipment that is submerged in the mud and grit of Michigan.

4) Driving an escort wagon is no Fun.... But I do take the jeep to work 2-3 days per month just for fun.
 
I tried running a road tire for about a week. But my road tire was 31 and my offroad was 33. I got 16mpg with the 31's. But with gas prices the way they are, I just went out a bought a car that gets 34 mpg and put my 33's back on.
 
Yeah, get a beater car. The cost of the new wheels and tires will be probably half of what you can get a decent car for, if you look hard enough.
 
Power5 said:
Yeah, get a beater car. The cost of the new wheels and tires will be probably half of what you can get a decent car for, if you look hard enough.
Not necessarly, If you look in the trader arround here you can find stock jeep tires cheap. Like say 4 for $100! I dont knwo to many cars arround here that are $200 and are reliable. Just my .02 pm me if i can help you. I have some stuff laying arround.
 
i have run BFG's on the street and Swampers off road for several years. just match your street tires to match your gearing and you should be good to go. downside is changing them back and forth, but hey you are young, no sweat. buying another car as a cheap way out sounds kind of risky. good gas mileage cars are up in price because of gas prices, plus you'll have extra insurance, maintenance etc. i got my extra rims at one of the local tire stores, someone bought new rims and the old ones were for scrap, or you could check for a wrecked jeep and get the rims and or tires. when you get out of college you can buy the big tow rig, trailer and pull your jeep all over creation, and then you'll really spend a lot of money on gas and diesel fuel!!
 
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