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Lift\Tire Confusion

mikegronholz

mikegronholz

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Fort Worth
First of ... howdy all. I am picking up my "new to me" XJ Saturday and need your expertise.

My main purpose for the XJ is huting and wheeling. I do not want to use cutters or the "large adjustment tools".

I am wanting to add 3-4" of lift (RE or TF most likely). With this, i have searched and found tire sizes ranging from 31-33" with various forms of cutting. I will be sticking with 16" wheels (factory with spacers) so my choices are 265\70, 265\75 and 285's. Do you guys, the pros, consider both of the 265's 31's ? The 265\70's are 30.7" and the 265\75's are about 31.8". In an ideal world, I would really like to fit 265\75 Toyo M/Ts (31.8"x10.8").

So the question is, can I fit that tire with a 3.5" RE or 4" TF lift on factory wheels with a spacer without cutting metal ?
 
What year XJ? I think the older models have a bit more fender flare clearance and are less likely to have driveline vibes with lifts.

I have an '88. Just installed a RE 3.5" kit (full pack) I put 33x10.5's on the stock 15" rims. No rubbing for street driving though I expect when I disconnect and hit the trails there will be rubbing.

Tire width is a factor, with the 10.5's on stock rims, look like they will tuck well and rubbing will be mostly on fender lining, not metal. Your spacers will help with control arm and sway bar link clearance, but will increase your likelyhood of metal rubbing on the fenders.

I have no signs of driveline vibes at 3.5" so I figure I still have coil spacer and shackle options to pick up an extra inch or two if I find I start rubbing too much.
 
The RE kit will get a little more than 3.5", and if you add some bump stop so the tires don't stuff into the fenders as far, yes you can run a 32" tire with no trimming.
Do some reading on bump stops and adjusting steering stops. :read:
 
The XJ details are:

2001 Sport 4dr
8.25 Rear
30 Front
Auto
4.0L
3.55's
 
sgtmack said:
The RE kit will get a little more than 3.5", and if you add some bump stop so the tires don't stuff into the fenders as far, yes you can run a 32" tire with no trimming.
Do some reading on bump stops and adjusting steering stops. :read:
Click to expand...

I'm on it :D
 
mikegronholz said:
The XJ details are:

2001 Sport 4dr
8.25 Rear
30 Front
Auto
4.0L
3.55's
Click to expand...

The very least you will have to shim it. May even have to SYE it. 8.25 are real prone to vibrations. No exceptions that I have heard of. My son burned one up after shimming it the wrong way. Ended up with 12 degrees of angle at 5" lift with the shim in backwards. You do not want to shim it so the pinion points at the Transfer case tail shaft. You want it shimmed to be as flat as the tail shaft. It was pretty built too. Chromo shafts and 4.56 and locker. Go to Tom Woods Specs page. This is very important when lifting 8.25" rear axles. Below is the picture of the angles you want with out a slip yoke eliminator. If you put in a SYE you want the pinion pointing about 2 degrees below the tail shaft. If you need more explainations PM me.

adimage.php




2joint_angle.gif
 
Last edited:
31s with 3.55 gears is driveable but you can tell the difference compared to stock. 32s might be a step too far for the gearing. 31s are nice on 4.10 gears and 32s probably would be too (32s on 4.10 gears is the same as stock as far as the speedo is concerned).

the 265/75/16s would fit well with that lift and with wheel spacers though, just bumpstop correctly if you aren't going to trim.
 
So would you guys consider the 265\75's to be 32" tires ? I realize they are close, but it seems like different people have differing ideas.

As for lift, I'd SYE ...
 
Excatly my point ... the tire converts to 31.6-31.7" tall ... so, is that a 31" or a 32". Jeeps are new to me. In the Dodge Diesel arena, a 315\70\17 is 34.5" tall ... we commonly call it a 34" tire.

i am just trying to determine the "jeep XJ Lingo" :D So, would a 31.6" tall tire be considered a 31" or a 32" tire for an XJ ?
 
mikegronholz said:
Excatly my point ... the tire converts to 31.6-31.7" tall ... so, is that a 31" or a 32". Jeeps are new to me. In the Dodge Diesel arena, a 315\70\17 is 34.5" tall ... we commonly call it a 34" tire.

i am just trying to determine the "jeep XJ Lingo" :D So, would a 31.6" tall tire be considered a 31" or a 32" tire for an XJ ?
Click to expand...

I'm no pro, but I've seen most guys round it up.
 
I take the BFG mud terrain as a good standard. Typically their 31s are 30.8" actual, 33s - 32.8" actual etc...

I've driven with vehicles running 265/75/16s and 32x11.50 15s and they're very close in height. Between 31s and 33s funnily enough. I think that's good enough reason to call the 265s a 32" tyre.

Simple answer, yeah I guess we generally round to the nearest 0.5" with a tendency to round upwards.
 
English XJ said:
31s with 3.55 gears is driveable but you can tell the difference compared to stock. 32s might be a step too far for the gearing. 31s are nice on 4.10 gears and 32s probably would be too (32s on 4.10 gears is the same as stock as far as the speedo is concerned).

the 265/75/16s would fit well with that lift and with wheel spacers though, just bumpstop correctly if you aren't going to trim.
Click to expand...

32" tire is fine with 3.55s. I have a set of both, and actually prefer the way the tranny shifts with the 32s. It's not speed demon off the line, but it's plenty fast. I think it feels better than with the 31s, honestly!! Probably has to do with the auto shift points.


Oh, and this is America, ask tire questions about standard sizes, and we'll know what you're talking about. 265 blah blah, no Fing clue.
 
mjma said:
32" tire is fine with 3.55s. I have a set of both, and actually prefer the way the tranny shifts with the 32s. It's not speed demon off the line, but it's plenty fast. I think it feels better than with the 31s, honestly!! Probably has to do with the auto shift points.


Oh, and this is America, ask tire questions about standard sizes, and we'll know what you're talking about. 265 blah blah, no Fing clue.
Click to expand...

What lift do you have and did you need to trim anything ?
 
mikegronholz said:
So would you guys consider the 265\75's to be 32" tires ? I realize they are close, but it seems like different people have differing ideas.

As for lift, I'd SYE ...
Click to expand...

One reason is different years take different ideas. Early XJs are a lot earier to lift and trim on. They have the rear dana's and Hi-pinion front dana's.

Here is a picture of drivelline angles with CV or SYE drivelines. You'll see it is different then the upper picture.......
cv_angle.gif
 
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