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Increasing Ground Clearance w/Tire Size

RAVC1

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Michigan
All,

Please understand I'm only trying to increase my ground clearance. I do not want a lift kit at this time. This may mean I need to increase the length of my bump stops.

I'm going to install 32x11.50R15 or 33x12.50R15 soon along with the Bushwacker pocket flares.

Q1) Do either of these tire sizes require gear changes from the stock ratios for the ring & pinion?

Q2) I have not taken measurements of my wheel well to estimate the wheel offset I am likely to need to prevent from rubbing when I make sharp turns. Does anyone already know this?

Q3) I would prefer a steel wheel as they are more flexible so they give a better ride. The Rock Crawler steel wheels 4WheelDrive Hardware sells look okay but I think the offset is too small.

Q4) I would prefer to find a set of wheels that possess the offset I need. However, this may not be possible. Wheel spacers I've seen are limited to just over 1". Is anyone using a thicker spacer than this? I would also think I can have a local machine shop fabricate these for me and they would be much less expensive.

Sound advise & experience is welcome.

Thanks,

Rick
 
Hi Rick,

Be prepared for some folks to flame this thread. All of your questions are answered somewhere on this site, you must do several searches and read lots of threads.

If you are not putting at least a budget lift, 31" will rub like crazy at stock hieght. 32 & 33 will require that you pretty much have to cut almost all of your fender out. I have never seen a stock Jeep with 32 or 33 inch tires.

32 & 33 inch tires can be ran on stock gears, but performance and gas mileage will suffer.

As for wheels, it really depends on what tire you decide on. Most folks are runnning 15" rims, with 16" becoming more popular. Backspacing also depends on your tire choice and future lift plans. I think the most common is 3.75 or 4 inches of backspacing.

You can get a great deal on Soft 8's at http://www.quadratec.com/categories/jeep_wheels/

I highly recommend you do ALOT of research BEFORE buying anything. Seek out other members here that are local to you and get thier advice and help.

Good luck!
 
Since you mention you want ground clearance, i'm assuming you are wanting to wheel it. If you put either of those sizes on a stock height rig, You will have NO flex unless you hack the living sh!t out of your XJ.
Careful how far you stick those wheels out. Legal and extra stress on your shafts and joints etc.
Gear changes would be nice.
Rusty's fenders look great as seen on Xtreme4X4 on the JeepSpeed project. The BW's look sh!tty imo.

You may want to give us some background on your rig, whats been done, what are your goals etc. IMO from what i've read without knowing exactly what you are planning to do in the end, i think you are going about this the wrong way. Don't take offence, as none is intended.
HTH -B
 
Yeah, what rprater said.

But I will add that this:


RAVC1 said:
Q3) I would prefer a steel wheel as they are more flexible so they give a better ride...

...sounds pretty insane to me.

Robert
 
first offi must remind you that you are driving a cherokee not a YJ or TJ... we have unibodies thus the trimming issue to fit larger tires can only be achieved to a certin extent... sure on the front you can just take off the fender, but in the rear unless you are willing to do alot of extra fab work, it can only be trimmed up to the pinch seam.Question is it a 2 door or 4door xj?? if its a 4door another clearence issue will be found at the front of the rear wheel well were cutting is also limited due to the DOOR being in the way... but on to your questions and my answers...

Q1) I ran compleatly stock with 31's on 3.55 gears for around a year i wish i had just spent the money and switched out the gears to start to help with the gas milage...

Q2)not sure on the offset you would need but its gonna be rediculous w/o a lift... again on the stock jeep and trimmed to the gills i had 4.5 BS and still rubbed the 31's slightly at full stuff when loaded down with gear..might as well just buy some full widths if you seriously wanna run stock suspension and 32/33's cus they are NOT going to fit!

Q3 and Q4) Rock Crawlers are available in various BS.. but again nothing will give you enough clearence away from the rear wheel well.. and wheel spacers wont either you would need 3.5 inchers or so in spacer as well as nicely backspaced wheels to get around the body(or as previously mentioned run full widths)

SO.........
SOLUTION 1)Buy a yj or tj

SOLUTION 2) throw a bastard back in the rear and some ford f150 springs(cheepest 4-5" lift you can find along with a Slip yoke from a yj, your front driveshaft in the rear and yj brake lines.. prob. cost around 150-200 total for everything..)

SOLUTION3)save your money and do things right the first time get LA's build the rear SYE ect... and then get the flex and clearence you need for 32/33's

SOLUTION 4)quit going places that you shouldnt in a stock XJ w/ 30/31's i went plenty of places stock ya i couldnt run with the big boys but the clearence you will achieve w/ 32/33's is pointless if there is ZERO flex!

so in short the answer to your question is NO, yes its slightly possible but NO you wont like it and YES you will regret it

BY THE WAY thats just my 2 cents (whatever its worth)
 
I agree, i used quite a few of his writeups and desert metals, and am getting away with 33x12.50 on my 88 limited, im gonna put the grand cherokee LCA's up front,( for extra turning radius, w/o rub) Im cutting the hell out of the front fenders and the rear past the pinch welds, banging them up and reinforcing with extra sheet metal inside, riveted than later welded. It can be done just takes some pondering and ingenuity.
I am ending up putting a 2inch bilstein lift on, but that is just for some more travel.
 
I searched for cheapxj.com but the url is gone from the www. I did find a cheapxj at jeepin.com.

Do either of you have contact information for Ryan you can send me.

Don't get me wrong I'd take a Old Man Emu 2" lift in a minute. The problem is my wife is a petite 5'2" and my mom (nursing home resident) is 4'11". Now I ask you, "How the hell is my mother, who is suffering from progressive dementia, going to be able to deal with a suspension lift on my 1989 or 1997 XJ when I visit and take her to lunch or dinner?" This is why I said no lift at this time.

Moreover, there is a difference between ground clearance and suspension travel. I'm after more ground clearance not necessarily suspension travel.

BW or Rusty's flares do not really matter to me; the quality of the product does.

Thanks,

Rick
 
RAVC1 said:
"How the hell is my mother, who is suffering from progressive dementia, going to be able to deal with a suspension lift on my 1989 or 1997 XJ when I visit and take her to lunch or dinner?"

Bring a stepstool.

Robert
 
I am curious why you are looking for more ground clearance and not suspension travel? You can pretty safely stick 30" on a stock XJ and only have ocasional rubbing. if all you plan to do is go down dirt roads then that seems like a better idea than paying a ton of money for larger tires that will only become a huge issue for you.
 
if you gain a few inches in ground clearance because of the sidewall from a bigger tire, you are STILL raising the height of the jeep and its floorboard and seats... thus its still harder for you wife and mom to get into the XJ ( i know not as much as a lift+the tires... but still getting higher). this may be of more assistance. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=921481

another thing to consider is the current state of your suspension. you may wanna measure and make sure its not sagging already as this is definatly working against you.
 
You're not going to gain enough of anything you want without raising the vehicle height so my thought is you invest in skid plates and rock rails and call it good.

Option 2 is buy a car and build your Jeep however you really want it.

Any amount of research on this site is going to reveal that you can't have ground clearance without bigger tires and you can't run bigger tires without creating space for them via suspension lift or dramatic trimming.

It just is what it is.
 
I still like my stepstool idea. 3" and 33s should raise the doorsill, what, six inches? The 5-2 wife could handle that easily. And for the once a month mom-date, grab a rubber footed aluminum stepstool.

No point in sacrificing the rig for a once in a while need, especially if there's an easy workaround...

Robert
 
For all the guys that are saying otherwise, you can trim and make them fit...


P1010676.jpg



(no, you can't trim it like that and leave it.)
 
DirtyMJ said:
For all the guys that are saying otherwise, you can trim and make them fit...


P1010676.jpg



(no, you can't trim it like that and leave it.)
If I was his 4'11" mother, I wouldn't want to be caught dead in something like that. :rolleyes:
 
simple solution...you have 2 xj's. Lift one and leave one stock.

.....my 2 cents---I run 35's on 3 inches and it wheels great!
 
mine is lifted 6" and my wife is 5'2 with big shoes on.the wife can get in and out just fine its kind of fun to watch.:roflmao: but she can do it . the ride is only slightly stiffer than stock so the ride for your mom the ride proubly wont be notisable ,just let some air out of the tires if its to harsh.and a step stool will fit nicely in the back.
 
Okay Guys,

I get the point about carrying a stool, but I thougt of that too.

The reason I am separating ground clearance from suspension travel is that I have no interest in rock crawling where you need all the flex you can get. My offroad use will always be mild and most likely limited to using existing trails. At worst, I'll use non-navigated trails to access a river or a stream so I can get in some fly fishing (if the local laws permit driving to the water's edge.).

The increase in ground clearance is needed as we get run off the road sometimes here in Southeast MI during winter. It's just a safeguard against the obnoxious driver's out there. We have an infant now so it is more important to make sure we do not get stuck off the road with the kid to protect, keep warm, etc. Obviously, getting back on a paved or dirt road does not require the suspension travel needed in off-roading. However, some of the roadside I live on would require the extreme offroad flex. So it's not a straightforward issue.

I'm simply trying to assemble wheels, tires and pocket flares to see what this will provide for travel, ground clearance & turning radius. I've got two XJ's ('89 & '97) that need tires before the snow flies so I need to get this stuff understood soon.

A little, or no lift, and pocket flares should be okay with the 32's relative to suspension travel. I am not sure about turning radius limitations. However, I do not want to accomplish this by hacking the fenders too aggressively. Rusty's or the BW pocket flares will be fine. I think Rusty's even advertises you remove more sheet metal with their XJ flare set and they do not extend as far out (less tire coverage) as the BW pocket flares (which give 5"). I think a 32" tire may need thick backing plates to fill the BW flare properly.

I have contacted some of the people I was referred to by your responses.

Thanks; this turned out to be a productive discussion for me.

Rick
 
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