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31's vs 32's

F

FL. 2001 XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Florida
just installed rubicon express 3.5 in lift.
I am going to buy new tires. just wondering if in any one had any advise on
on witch tires I should buy 31's or 32's. will 32's tuck with 1 in spacer in front and shackle in the rear. How bad will this effect my gas mile, will i need different gears, will I have to do any trimming, ect. this is a daily driver and very clean. 2001 xj and only 70k.
 
If you do some trimming you won't rub the 31s at all. Or you can get the 32s and have very little rubbing. Or get 33s and just bump stop a little more.

Bigger then 31s and a re gear should be on your next list of upgrades but you can run with stock gears.
 
ExTankerGuy said:
Trim it and go with 33s!
Click to expand...

you could do that, just plan on axle builds/regearing in the near future, and driving a limp jeep untill then...

33's on stock auto gearing 3.55 = suck
33's on stock manual gearing 3.07= REALLY SUCK

4.56 w/ 31's untill you buy new meat is way more plesant than 3.55 w/ 33's untill you can afford to regear...
 
With 30" and 3.55 gears, running around Florida's South was not a problem even with 400# + of gear sitting in the back. I regularly got upto 19 MPG on the highway. Taking off from stops were not bad but could have been better.

When I go out of Florida and using the cruise to go over those hill on the highway was a different story. The AW4 would go on a gear hunting expedition that wore me out quickly. Manually shifting into 3 would solve that but then the fuel guage on a down ward march never to return until the nexe gas stop. Yes, running the 4.0L at 3,500 RPM was not a fuel saving undertaking. Now, I have 4.10 and still on 30". The RPM is a little higher than I would have liked but it is nothing a 31 or 32" tire would not fix.

If I stayed only in South Florida it is likely I would not have re-geared but the XJ did not like that combination with load when climbing hills.

The 30X9.5 on stock wheels with a 1.25" spacer tuck in just fine.
 
2.25" lift, trimmed, bump stopped, and 32s = no rubbing. 32s and 3.55 = livable in town and somewhat of a dog on long hills. it's not really that bad and i'm getting 15-16mpg with mixed driving.
 
i have the same lift and i went with 33s and just trimmed and bumpstopped so it doesnt rub. running 33s with stock gears isnt bad at all. a little slugish but its not a race car. once you get it into 4 low you cant even tell the power difference
 
RE 3.5 NO spacers NO shackles 33" KM2's 10" wide wheels
818c5cf8.jpg
 
I originally ran 31's on that same lift. No rubbing. I think those are the right size tire if you don't want to trim at all and it's a DD.

I went to 33's and couldn't even turn the wheel before trimming the fenders. I had to cut a good 2-3" off the fenders front and rear to clear the 33's. At full flex, they will just barely kiss the fenderwells.

I'm in the process of adding 2" shackles and longer front coil springs now.

As far as gearing, I still have the stock 3.55 gears and yeah it is a little sluggish, but then again it was a little sluggish on stock tires too! It's a Jeep!

As far as gas mileage, on the highway on 33" all terrains it was getting 19 mpg. When I put my 33" TSL's on, it gets about 12, if that (city driving, haven't driven on the highway with the tsl's).
 
thanks for all replies.
I might just stick with 31's, actual they are 245/75r16 bfg's little bit smaller than 31's. They are on stock wheels. If I went with 265/75r16 would I have to buy a different off set wheel?
 
I just bumped up from 245/75/16s to 265/75/16s this past weekend with the same lift. I had to trim about 1" off the rear of the front wheel well. No rub at this point trying as hard as possible to flex it out. I think the 5" backspacing on the rims help keep them in the well and away from the metal.
 
whats the real shakedown in ground clearance/ability to navigate harder trails difference between a 31" and a 33" tire?

Trying to convince myself that the weight of a 33 will offset the benefit, or to go with a 33x10.50, or go with a 32 for middle of the road, or get something like a 31" ssr which is as large as a bfg 32" mud.....

I've got the same lift, and im not worried about tucking-ill trim what needs to be, and ive got 4.56's to go in and am not worried to run them on 31's or 33's but i havent seen anyone address the real advantage in going with a (in this case) slightly larger tire for real world trail ability

thoughts?
 
I ran 32"'s for a year on stock gearing and it was decidedly under powered on the freeway. No real problems off road and I had no rubbing problems untrimed on a 4.5" lift. I have a 4.10 axle now and it seems perfectly matched to the 4.10's. i am going 35's with 4.88's though
 
You could go with the new "MT/G" Treadwright tire in a 31". It's as tall as most 32s (still 10.50 wide) and it's the Goodyear MT/R pattern. That's what I'm running right now and I love them. Several of my friends have been running them longer than I have and they have not had one single issue out of them. I also have 4.10s. They're under a roughly 4-4.5" lift...I'll get you a pic soon. It's been raining like crazy so I haven't had a chance to snap one.

From my experience...if you have the proper skid protection, these tires will take you anywhere 33s will.
 
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