31" Tires

[outofrshell]

My first question. What well go farther down a rocky trail? A 31" tire or a broken axle or suspension components. Next question. Do you really enjoy never getting to use OD on the highway? These question only apply to rigs that are relatively stock and are running tires that are 2 or 3 sizes bigger than stock. I have bee noticing more and more degrading of the 31" tire which in my OPION is really a better fit for smaller 4 X 4 with low HP and light axles, sure 33s look cool but when you think about it you are only gaining 1" of clearance but proportionately adding huge amounts of stress on all drive train components. And my last comment before I leave my soap box is that I been wheeling a lot in the last few years following rigs with 33s & 35s and have yet to turn around and go home with my tail between my legs because the big boys went off and left me. Thanks for letting me rant Dave

 

[Theoretician]

A lot of assumptions in there, but for a small 4x4 with low HP and light axles sure - stick with 31in tires, because it probably came with 29in tires stock. You already denigrate the extra inch of clearance versus increased stress on the drivetrain, but I would counter that (assuming 8in stock clearance) that 12% increase in clearance is accompanied by a 6.8% increase in analogous stresses. That sounds like a bargain to me.

To get the same +2 or +3 sizes from stock on my truck, I have to go with 34 or 35in tires.

 

[1stDeuce]

I used to say (from my soapbox) that a Jeep doesn't need tires bigger than 31" for normal offroad use. And I ran 31x10.50's on my Jeep for a while when I got it going. It got around fine, but with 4:10 gearing, it was turning fairly high RPM's at 70mph. When the 31's wore out, I replaced them with 285/75R16's. (Don't like wide tires) I didn't notice much difference in braking or accelerating, and it was happier on the highway. It also got around better offroad, but that was probably mostly due to them being mud tires instead of all terrains.

When I moved west, I really noticed the lack of power (my 4.0L has always been a pooch compared to others.) so when the 285's wore out, I replaced them with 255/85's. I don't know that it made much difference in power, but the Jeep certainly drives better, and the ~33x10.50 sized tire is a better fit for what I do with my Jeep. If I only ever wheeled my Jeep, I could certainly see many situations where a bigger tire might be of benefit, but for what I do, it's about as capable as it needs to be, and still entirely streetable.

So I no longer declare that 31's are the biggest tire that you need on a Jeep.

Re-reading your post, it sounds like you're really saying that you're tired of wheeling with people who put big tires on their rigs, and then break stuff. I can tell you it has little to do with tire size, and lots to do with the driver's style and ability. I've seen people break axles with stock size tires, and I've seen people wheel 35's on tiny stock axles for years with no problems. Your suggestion that it's all about the tire size is horribly misguided, IMO.

My favorite soapbox rant is now to complain about people buying expensive wheeling rigs without actually learning any driver skills... And of course they break stuff, roll over, damage the truck and trail, etc. I still believe that it's better to start with a stock rig, and learn to drive it WELL. Then make some mods that will further improve the vehicle's ability, while the driver continues to develop SKILL. Trying to cover a lack of skill with vehicle mods is, to me, the wrong way to go.

And I will say that I still enjoy taking my fairly stock looking Jeep to places that are frequented by much larger, more "built" rigs.

 

[outofrshell]

No really what I'm saying is that I get a little tired of people saying that you can't do this or that on 31s and that your rig is not as capable because it rolls on 31s. But you are entirely right a 4 X 4 is only as good as the driver. Actually the people I wheel with are relatively sane and we don't break a lot of things but others I have seen can't even get out of the drive way without carnage. And as I said this is just a rant so no one needs to be offended. This was brought on by a member who hinted that I no business even thinking about Rose Garden Hill (Moab trail) because he even had trouble with 33s or 35s on his Tacoma but then he is also the one who I saw a picture of with a right front wheel broke off. And I was told that this was not recommended for 31s

 

[PPCLI_Jim]

Go Troopers!!!!!

 

[Josie'slandcruiser]

Hi all,

Great to see Troopers on the trail pics! I bought one new and had it for 21 years!

Nothing wrong with 31X10.5 inch tires; it is really all about driver skill, not "how built" your rig is.

Regards,

Alan

 

[1stDeuce]

Unless it washed out a LOT, I don't recall Rose Garden being that much of a challenge... ??? EJS has tire height limits on most of the trails that people love to quote, but they're really a suggestion intended to keep people from struggling too much, since it's so much harder to require a level of experience. Ie, even an inexperienced driver can do a semi-technical trail without much drama in a slightly built rig. Put that same guy in a bone stock YJ and it's going to be a mess to move the parade along...

The limit for the Hole in the Rocks trip a few years ago was 33's and one locker minimum. I talked to Frenchie, who was leading it , and he said we'd be fine in a LWB Comanche with open diff's and 235/85's. (And then we weren't able to go )

When people insist that you have no business on a given trail without a certain size tire, or lockers, or whatever, just thank them for their advice, and do what you're comfortable doing anyway.

 

[Dalko43]

My view on tires has been to go only as big and aggressive as is necessary (sort of similar to the "as slow as possible, and as fast as necessary" mantra that you hear so many offroaders repeat). Ask yourself what kind of driving and obstacles you'll be dealing with on a regular basis. Ask yourself what your stock gearing and powerplant consist of. Unless you plan on changing one or both of those items, you really don't have much leeway to go too big with your tires. If your vehicle can get where it needs to go with 31's, and does so without compromising its onroad abilities, then there isn't a real need to go any bigger IMHO.

I see plenty of people driving 5th gen 4runners with 'big tire' syndrome. They put huge, meaty 33's or 34's on their 4runners but I wonder how many of them do so out of true necessity and how many do it purely for the looks. With stock tire size, my 4runner's acceleration is barely adequate and I'm lucky if I can squeeze out 20 mpg on the highway, so I can only imagine what kind of degraded performance those bigger tire rigs are dealing with. If I were hitting hardcore California jeep trails every weekend, I could maybe see the need to move up to a bigger tire size. But with my 31's (technically 31.7") I've been able to get everywhere I wanted to go. So why mess with something if it ain't broken? And for every 1 mile I drive on some sort of dirt or rugged road/trail, I'm probably driving 50-70 miles on highway; so fuel economy and onroad comfort (road noise, handling) are ultimately just as important to me as is offroad performance.

 

[DaveInDenver]

My favorite soapbox rant is now to complain about people buying expensive wheeling rigs without actually learning any driver skills.

This annoys me a little, too. I followed the open/IFS/29" to dual locker/33"/lift progression with stops along the way that I suspect you did, too. Did I become a really good driver? Nope, not an expert by any stretch. But I do OK. And the original point, I got an IFS XtraCab Toyota on 33x10.50 through the Rubicon with the help of trusted, excellent spotting friends and not really that much damage. A broken leaf spring and that can happen to anyone anytime. Otherwise one minor off balance kiss on the side of the truck.

So I think the push for larger and larger tires is probably unnecessary. Not going to disparage anyone who builds their truck how they want, but my guess is there are very generally two types. One are people who know what they need and when (or if) they go beyond 31" they do it purposefully. Up to even large 37" and 40" tires, they are doing it on 1 ton axles.

The other are the zero to 11 crowd who throw down the card and get every little accessory. Those second types have always been in the hobby. We have called them mall terrain, posers, highway queens. In the end you can only control your world and the circle of people with whom you associate. I could care less if someone dumps $60K in a brand new Jeep, I only hope they use it for what it's designed and if they do they are safe and courteous on the trail. It's a case of having way more capability than skill sometimes, though. If there's a down side it's that they have a truck that doesn't require much effort to get through 95% of trails out there so it would seem a little bit of a let down to me I guess.

FWIW, I'm running 32" tires now (235/85R16) and have no complaints. I'll go to 255/85 next, I believe that is the right size tire for me, but my truck came with 31" tires stock so the jump is similar to my last truck going from 29" to 31", which I agree was about right. On that truck 33" was just a bit too much.

 

[Happy Joe]

Warning, crotchety old geezer opinion follows;

I too am going with undersize tires for my street/maintained road/very light offroad camping rig; no bigger than 33x12.5 mud tires and likely 32x11.50 mud tires or something close in a metric size....
It will also have at least one selectable locker (in addition to the torsen front diff) for those times when diagonal tires come off the ground (if combined with open differentials this would otherwise prevent slow, controlled forward progress; i.e. over the holes, moguls and trenches dug by poorly prepped and/or driven vehicles).
Over the last 30 years or so I found that it is better to have a well set up, reliable vehicle with more traction than I "need" for the purpose, mostly because it helps preserve the trails better than spinning small (or large) low traction tires and trenching/digging holes.

Run what you will; but spinning one or more tires, needing a tug, jack or winch to get unstuck is a sign that something needs improvement, IMO.

Enjoy!

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

I find it sad that once again someone has to play my opinion is best on my holier than thou soapbox once again. Its why this site has lost so many contributing members over the years.

I could jump on a soapbox and say how ignorant it is that people won't build a rig properly and think its better to stick with slightly larger 31s on stock crap rather than build a rig properly to support 31s or 35s or 40s. I can say how stupid it is to worry about tire size at all vs all the other aspects that are far more important, especially the skills of the driver.

But alas... There is no reason to even have this sort of thread on here. Y'all wheel what you want to the best of your abilities and have some good safe fun out there exploring.

 

[craig333]

My first trip into Barrett Lake was on 31's and no lockers. I had some good teachers though. Now the Jeep runs 33x10.50 15s and a locker in the rear, LS up front. To me the upgrades make sense for what I do. I don't have to take a perfect line all the time. My truck runs close to stock size tires because I don't and won't take it the places the Jeep goes.

Now if you don't like this thread just try repeating it on pirate4x4. You'll get a totally different response.

 

[M35A2]

I tend to agree with the OP and geezers. No need to go to the biggest possible size just because.

It's all balance. What is the use case and design point of the vehicle? Rock bouncer? Snow carver? Mud bogger? Design and equip accordingly.

Mall crawler? Show-and-shine aficionado? One-up my buds? It's your money.

 

[JandDGreens]

I could jump on a soapbox and say how ignorant it is that people won't build a rig properly and think its better to stick with slightly larger 31s on stock crap rather than build a rig properly to support 31s or 35s or 40s. I can say how stupid it is to worry about tire size at all vs all the other aspects that are far more important, especially the skills of the driver.

It is because most are new to the whole thing and learn as we go.....So we up-grade as we break or wear out components. Hard lessons for sure. At least we are having fun right?

 

[ripperj]

I think you should just use what works for what you do, and screw what others think


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