Widest Tires on a stock XJ

I have a 1996 XJ running at stock height and I would like to keep it that way but want to get some wide tires for it. The vehicle is highly modified including a NOS tank going in the next week or so and I want to get that power to the road. If anyone knows what the widest tire I can put on the Xj without rubbing I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

The width of the tire you can accomodate mostly depends on the backspacing of the wheels. I think stock XJ rims are around 5 inches the less backspacing the wider you can go, just remeber when you put on the wider tires that the most generous local laws say no more than one inch of tire beyond the fender flares. On stock axles width with 3.75 inch backspacing with some Bushwacker Pocket Flares ( around 300 bucks) you should be able to run 12.50 no problem. Also with the NOS system, you might want to consider regearing.
BILL

With stock rims I ran 275 60 R 15 perfect fit under the flares, but there was a little rubbing at full steer. With the proper back spacing you can fit 255 in front and probably 315 in the rear and have no ruibbing and be fully under the flares, but you have to make sure you are getting tires that are exactly the same overall diameter front and rear or you will have severe transfercase problems (assuming your XJ is 4wd).

XJguy

I run 30/9.5/15 on stock jeep 5 star wheels. I get a little rubbing of the LCA's when the whell is turned all the way. Tell us how the NO tank comes out.

Thanks for the information. I will let you guys know how the NOS installation goes. I have mounted the Solenoids but I am still working out how the layout of the bottle, switches, etc. is going to go

What size bottle do you have? Are you ising a custom intake? If so, you could use all the room that used to be taken up by the airbox to mount the bottle. You would have no need to keep a blanket or a bottle heater because that side of the engine says warm. Perhaps you may even need a heat shield for it. At the very least you should run your hardlines around that area to warm up the N2O as it passes through the system.
Do you have a wet system or dry?

I have a 10 lb. bottle from NOS and I already have the blanket and bottle warmer so the bottle is probably going in the trunk. The filter is one out of a GMC Yukon so there is a lot of room there but I feel more comfortable not having the tank sitting in the front bumper where and accident could be disasterous. That's a good idea with the lines though. I also need to come up with a good place to mount the purge lines.

XJguy said:

With stock rims I ran 275 60 R 15 perfect fit under the flares, but there was a little rubbing at full steer. With the proper back spacing you can fit 255 in front and probably 315 in the rear and have no ruibbing and be fully under the flares, but you have to make sure you are getting tires that are exactly the same overall diameter front and rear or you will have severe transfercase problems (assuming your XJ is 4wd).

XJguy

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That's the kind of info I've been looking for. One of my family's Jeeps is going to be the "tarmac/ gravel" Jeep. My brother's XJ is going to fill the normal "offroad" role. I just want a proper tire for how the XJ is going to be used.

I don't want to roll on dubs either. I just want a whole lot of tire without a whole lot of extra sidewall. Imagine a gravel road, for instance. Extra ground clearance is not needed. In fact, too much is a bad thing there. Wide tired can put plenty of rubber to the road while keeping the CG low and keeping the gearing low.

My WRX can't wear 255's, so maybe the XJ can.