Different tire width F/R opinions

As soon as I get the 4wd AW-4 and D-300 in my MJ in the next week or so I will be setting money aside for a few weeks/months to get some decent offroad tires. I plan to run street tires on it on the street due to it seeing a fair bit of DD use and having a welded rear end and then will just mount the offroaders on a second set of rims and use them only for offroad.

I will most likely end up running 35's or 36's. I will have to stick with 16" or bigger rims due to the front brakes being too large to run a 15" rim. I have a 14 bolt rear and 10 bolt front (which is not locked). I was thinking of running a wide set of boggers in the rear (35X16) and then a set of pizza cutters up front...either 35X10.50 boggers or even Q-78's. I would like to get a set of 36's even if just to get a slight bit more clearance under the 14 bolt but there aren't nearly as many width's to choose from. Or maybe a set of 36X13 TSL's in the rear and some Q-78's up front.

I was thinking the narrower tires up front would probably put less stress on the steering and the 10 bolt axle overall than a wider set would and I have no worries on the 14 bolt with onyl a 35" tire regardless of how wide it is.

uke:
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(ps. why no popcorn smiley?)

Sounds like the perfect beginning to a nomination.

Not all tires are made equal. You need to make sure that the ACTUAL height of the tires are the same.
IF you are buying tires, why not buy the same ones anyways.

Why did this get moved to OEM tech? I didn't realize a significantly larger than stock tire was an OEM discussion...?

Plus to whoever moved it... I posted it in the SEC forum to get opinions from people closer to home...in the general area I will take this thing and from people I already know and have wheeled with (even if it has been awhile). But thanks...I think. It may sound like I am being a jerk but I am curious and really asking why it was moved.

I've seen plenty of rigs with narrower tires up front...I am just asking for opinions on performance. I think I explained MY reasonings for it pretty well and yes I do understand the importance of tire height being the same so something doesn't go BOOM. I will be looking at that very carefully when the time comes. If you notice the tires I mentioned being a 35" tall bogger even though different widths are both 35" tall...and the Q-78 vs 36" TSL are less than 1/2" difference which will be different again once mounted on rims...I'm doubtful to say the least that all 4 of anyone's tires on here measure exactly the same height at any given time due to wear, air pressure, etc.

So let me rephrase so it is understood what I am actually asking: Has anyone using narrower tires up front vs the rear noticed a difference in offroad performance...better, worse, no difference? I'm not interested in opinions on how it looks.

Great...now I 've p'd off some folks on . Yay me LOL

043500 said:

Why did this get moved to OEM tech? I didn't realize a significantly larger than stock tire was an OEM discussion...?

Plus to whoever moved it... I posted it in the SEC forum to get opinions from people closer to home...in the general area I will take this thing and from people I already know and have wheeled with (even if it has been awhile). But thanks...I think. It may sound like I am being a jerk but I am curious and really asking why it was moved.

I've seen plenty of rigs with narrower tires up front...I am just asking for opinions on performance. I think I explained MY reasonings for it pretty well and yes I do understand the importance of tire height being the same so something doesn't go BOOM. I will be looking at that very carefully when the time comes. If you notice the tires I mentioned being a 35" tall bogger even though different widths are both 35" tall...and the Q-78 vs 36" TSL are less than 1/2" difference which will be different again once mounted on rims...I'm doubtful to say the least that all 4 of anyone's tires on here measure exactly the same height at any given time due to wear, air pressure, etc.

So let me rephrase so it is understood what I am actually asking: Has anyone using narrower tires up front vs the rear noticed a difference in offroad performance...better, worse, no difference? I'm not interested in opinions on how it looks.

Great...now I 've p'd off some folks on . Yay me LOL

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I'm sure they meant nothing by it. You posted a Tech question in a chapter forum, which says it is for chapter business only. The question is why do you want to run two different widths of tires, it makes no sense to me.

I thought my reasons were clear.

I'm thinking mainly because the 14B is a much stronger axle than my front 10B that running a narrower tire on the front end may help keep it alive longer.

And again I am asking if anyone who has done it or is doing so now notices a big difference in performance good or bad. I've always run the same size tire F/R but have seen a few who have run different widths so I am curious. I've seen it a lot on mud rigs but I'm not planning on that BUT some of the others I've seen were not in the mud.

YellowXJ ran Q-78's on the front and 35X14 boggers in the rear. It seemed to do well but I never drove it myself when he had it set up like that. I haven't had a chance to speak to him yet about it either.

ah, ocala florida.

I just don't see the point is all. Mine is my DD. I don't want to screw with swapping tires to go wheeling. I'd rather drive it to the trail, disconnect, air down, wheel and then do everything I just said in reverse.......

XJLI said:

ah, ocala florida.

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Guess the wider tires in the rear may help in all that swampy stuff.....:dunno:

I guess my questions and reasons aren't clear...?? I thought I was pretty clear on the 'no mud' part.

As far as swapping tires to go wheeling...that's a matter of opinion... but having a welded rear end I'd eat up a set of softer tread tires (TSL's or boggers) pretty quickly on the street and they cost a lot more than street tires.
Plus from my own experience street tires last longer when a rig like this is used on the street having a welded rear.

I really don't know how I can be more clear:

1) Does anyone who has in the past or is now running narrower tires up front noticed a difference in OFFROAD performance vs running the same width tires F/R?

2) Part of my line of thinking is that running a narrower tire on the 10 bolt axle might help keep me from breaking it vs a wider tire...and with the 14 bolt axle in the rear I can easily run a wider (therefore heavier/harder on the axle) tire and it will hold up.

Again not trying to show my butt...but these seem to be fairly simple questions etc...am I truly not being clear on it? It has nothing to do with being in Florida. I've wheeled Tellico multiple times (CRAWL in '05 and '06 as well as other times)before all the BS happened with it, and plan to go to other areas in the future in the southeast and hopefully even further from home. And contrary to popular belief not all our wheeling in Florida is in the swamps...there's a bit more than that. You just have to know where to go.

Put em on a try it or just get a set of tires that are all the same size and don't drive like an idiot. If a D30 can handle 35's if built right, why can't a 10 bolt?

FlexdXJ said:

Put em on a try it or just get a set of tires that are all the same size and don't drive like an idiot. If a D30 can handle 35's if built right, why can't a 10 bolt?

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I may just be overly cautious. I've seen a D-30 hold up to 38's...but it was tip toeing. I've wheeled with someone with a 30 and 36's and he beat the crap out of it and other than u-joints occasionally... broke nothing for years.

Then there's guys on here that say they've broken 35 spline D-60's with 38's and stock 4.0L engines...so who knows.

Any time I've had anything over a 33" tire I've always had a front axle bigger than a D-30...but this is my first 10 bolt and they are supposedly as strong as a D-44 but not having had one until now...

Maybe go ask on pirate?

043500 said:

I'm thinking mainly because the 14B is a much stronger axle than my front 10B that running a narrower tire on the front end may help keep it alive longer.

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I have an 87 Silverado on 35s with stock front and rear 10-bolts with something like 225,000 miles on them. The guy I bought the truck from ran 35s on it since it was new. The front axle is like new and the only problem I have in the rear is the spider gears disintegrate every few years.

As long as you don't have a locker in the front, as light as our XJs are, your front 10-bolt should be fine with 35s.

And don't ask the guys on Pirate anything this simple. You'll wish you never did. If you really want to ask a question about 10-bolt durability, talk to the guys at ColoradoK5.

I'd not ask much of anything on Pirate. I do searches over there once in a great while but if I can't find it that way I pretty much stay off there.

My friend/neighbor down the street has a d30 on 39.5x15 TSLs under his xj. Braced like a mofo, chromo shafts, d44 hubs and a trutrac. I wouldn't say the smartest route to take but the only problems hes had with moderate wheeling (rocks) and mud racing was the warn hubs popping back out and the spider gears before the trutrac.

PS: Hes got a built 9in rear. Also he broke the d35 in his Dads Tj on 35's taking off from a red light.

nothing wrong with 2 different width tires. it especially helps in the mud bogs (which is most of what ocala is anyways)

so i say.... sure go for it.


but why the 3/4ton axles? that 14bolt is gonna be a boat anchor in the back of that jeep.

256offroad said:

nothing wrong with 2 different width tires. it especially helps in the mud bogs (which is most of what ocala is anyways)

so i say.... sure go for it.


but why the 3/4ton axles? that 14bolt is gonna be a boat anchor in the back of that jeep.

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These axles were already in the truck when I aquired it. Using what I have to save some money. Later on I will either shave the 14B for more clearance or put a D-60 up front in order to run larger tires. I may run as big as a 37 on it as it sits but I'd have to do more work on the suspension and cut a fair bit out of the fenders as well as worry about the front axle more.
I actually did try to trade someone for a D-60 rear to keep some decent strength but gain some ground clearance over the 14 bolt but no one jumped. Now that I've put gears in it etc I will keep it. It is a boat anchor indeed...but it's a damn strong one.

And once again...I will not be taking this thing in the mud unless it happens to be in the way of where we're going.

Eric Filar ran 33x12.5 rear and 33x10.5 front BFG's on his Jeepspeed car, and won the Baja 1000 that way.

You need to make sure your tires are the same size, not *listed* as the same size. Some "35" inch tires are 33.4, some are 36.1..