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should i get 38's?

G

greenjeep93

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Boynton Beach, FL
hey guys,
i just got a 95 cherokee, and have been doing a lot of work on it preparing it for mudding. and for a while i have been trying to decide on what tires to get for it after i put a 4.5" lift on it. i just recently came upon a set of 38" super swampers for a great price and am not sure whether to get them.... i was wondering if 38's would fit on it, and also if they did. would i have to do anything to the cherokee? like change the differential gear ratios etc. etc.

any info would help guys

thanks,
marco
 
Yeah, way too much work to make 38"s realistic on an XJ. You'd be about $5 grand and 100 man-hours into it by the time you were done.
 
bmyohn said:
on stock axles the simple answer is no.
Click to expand...

thats what i was thinking, but i have a friend who has 38" super swampers and a stock axle, we dont rock climb. we just go mudding not much more than that, i dont know if that makes a difference. if so, about how much would it cost in total upgrades to put the tires in?
 
Install your lift, trim the body, extend the bumpstops and let us know how that turns out. If you just drive on the street and only mud, it might last a little while. Don't try and climb any curbs or anything though.
 
greenjeep93 said:
thats what i was thinking, but i have a friend who has 38" super swampers and a stock axle, we dont rock climb. we just go mudding not much more than that, i dont know if that makes a difference. if so, about how much would it cost in total upgrades to put the tires in?
Click to expand...


Your friend has 38"s on his XJ? If so, just copy what he did. Bottom line, 38"s on an XJ require a number of things that are expensive and time consuming, including the following:

* Axle swap front and rear, including proper ring and pinion ratio. A Ford 9" rear/Dana 44 front is the minimum axle combo you might be able to run, and that's with babying the throttle. Dana 60's front and rear is more realistic

* 5-6" of lift minimum, probably more. Taller lift kits get more expensive because handling generally sucks on short-arms with that much lift, so a long-arm upgrade would be best. LA kits are pricey ($1200 and up) and/or a bit advanced for someone to fab themselves if they're new to Jeeping.

* Steering and track-bar upgrades. Again, probably somewhere around $500-ish to do properly.

* Trimming the absolute piss out of your wheelwells, including breaking the pinch-seam on the rear wheelwells to open them up more. Very time consuming and the rears are not easy to do properly. You need to be pretty good with sheet metal to re-weld them and maintain the unibody's integrity.

It's a big job to make 38"s work on an XJ.
 
greenjeep93 said:
thats what i was thinking, but i have a friend who has 38" super swampers and a stock axle, we dont rock climb. we just go mudding not much more than that, i dont know if that makes a difference. if so, about how much would it cost in total upgrades to put the tires in?
Click to expand...

Mud is harder on axles than climbing stuff! You are looking at a lot of time getting those things to fit on 4.5 inches! Then of course you'll need a new set of axles. Dana 60's or better gears for those, locker(s). Don't do it if you have to ask a simple question like this.
 
that should work, again pushing the stock axles, but alot of people run 35's on them. Wish I was closer to you...Im running D60's front and rear and 35's and looking for 38's!
 
greenjeep93 said:
Alright thanks guys, well 38's seem out of the question... What about 35's on a 4.5" lift?
What would I need to do there?
Click to expand...

Lots of guys do that. Major wheelwell trimming, rear axle upgrade with R&P to match (4.56 or 4.88) steering & track-bar upgrade
 
i have heard of lots of success with a chromo'd d30 and a stock 29 spline 8.25 running 35's...

people tend to be a bit cautious and seem to have no issues.

there's a guy on expeditionportal (probably on here, too) that runs 37's on a expo/rough road/ water crossing/sand dune/heavy rut type of rig. (seems to be no heavy mud/rocks in his pics) and he seems pretty happy.
 
just popping in to say I love how people try and justify putting crazy huge tires on axles that won't handle them (or various other underbuilding sins - steering, control arms, silly amounts of lift, etc) by saying "it's a mud truck" :anon:

Cracks me up every time.
 
kastein said:
just popping in to say I love how people try and justify putting crazy huge tires on axles that won't handle them (or various other underbuilding sins - steering, control arms, silly amounts of lift, etc) by saying "it's a mud truck" :anon:

Cracks me up every time.
Click to expand...


But Ken, Its a Mud truck. It won't blow up stock axles with 38's! :D
 
kastein said:
just popping in to say I love how people try and justify putting crazy huge tires on axles that won't handle them (or various other underbuilding sins - steering, control arms, silly amounts of lift, etc) by saying "it's a mud truck" :anon:

Cracks me up every time.
Click to expand...
QFT



if you cant answer the question yourself i doubt youd have the mechanical enginuity or know how to do it yourself. im not a "search" flamer but there is a plethora of knowledge in the stickies alone.



stick to 31s.
 
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