3" lift on 33"s

[dopod]

I've been considering this myself for a while now, and this discussion is leaning me towards doing it. I have a 3" Rusty's lift and 31's. I have already trimmed and now have plenty of clearance for the 31's and I am willing to trim more and relocate the flares to fit 33x10.5's. But, what I want to know is .... is the larger tire size (33 vs 31) worth it if I have to give up some flex/ wheel travel? I'm thinking that I will loose at least 1" up-travel in the front, since I can now rub my 31's on the front inner fender liner with the sway bar disconnected. Trimming the fenders/ flares won't stop this from happening,... the top of the fender lining will limit the up-travel, or I can put in longer bump-stops. I'm thinking that this is worth an extra 1" of ground clearance gained by the 33's. What's everyone else's thoughts on this? Thanks.

I think it's worth it. I would take out the fender lining, cut reliefs in the pinch seam and bend it flat. Then trim the outer fender. Flex it out and bumpstop it so it won't eat your fender, then get longer shocks to gain some downtravel to make up for the uptravel you lost.

 

[tribalmentality]

This is mine with a 3" lift Bushwackers and 33x12.50 MTRs. Some minor rub at full stuff but nothin major.

 

[AlarminXJ]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[GRIMUS99XJ]

3 inch on 33x12.5 r15 not a problem just alot of trimming

and that darn grapevine that would not break

 

[AlarminXJ]

I forgot to mention, I am keeping this streetable with flares (hopefully factor flare, just hollowed out and/or raised), and I also have a safari snorkel, which mounts on the left fender and has the ductwork running through the fender (This will somewhat limit how much trimming I can do. Some of the pics in the replies show trimming past where the snorkel mounts to the fender and no flares left at all.) Does this still sound do-able?

 

[MIXEDBREED]

I just put a RC 3" and 32" pro comps on. I trimed the front fenders 2" and rear trimed 1/4" on top then got more on the way down about an inch. just be careful with the pich weld as you go down. I drilled new holes for the trimed stock front flares and used the stock holes for the rear stock flares. 3 holes each and some zip ties...works and looks good!

 

[TunaSoda]

I've got a RE 3.5" super ride, and 33 x 12.5". Embrace your inner cutting maving. I still getting a touch of rubbing on full lock or compression.

The factory flares lasted about 30 seconds after the picture was taken. I drove the Jeep down the little hill in the pic, and had all kinds of rubbing.

What backspacing are those rims? 4"?

 

[TNT]

Here's my how to write-up on how I fit a 33" tire with 3" of lift from years ago. I raised the front flares and reworked the rear.

It turned out real nice and I was able to keep the fender linners too.

TNT's early flare work

Check out the link and the rest of the site. There is great tech on MadXJ.

 

[w_howey]

What backspacing are those rims? 4"?

Yes. 4" BS on some unknown steelies.

 

[Jack-U]

A lot of the Fender rubbing, or cutting, depends on how far OUT the tire is, i.e., how much of an Offset/BS is your wheel? I only have a 3" lift and 31's, but I'm still using stock rims (5.25" Back Space) and the only rub would be if I had the wheel turned during compression.