33 vs 35s for my XJ Overland Build

[WyoCherokee]

Stick with 33's. Locked and good driving will take you anywhere 35's will. you are only gaining about 1.5" of clearance, but gaining about 10-25lbs of tire weight per tire. more stress on your rig. My old xj locked on 32's followed a JKU on 37's all over Moab. Its all about the driving.

 

[bloodyWEST]

I'll admit I only read the first page of comments.

I just went from 3.55s on 31s to
5.13s and 35s.

I don't consider it the tires that make it less drivable. I take it on 100-150 mile day trips here and there. It actually drives. Nice at 60 on the highway, I the 2 biggest factors in it driving crappy, are the slop in my 1 ton OTK tie rod set up, and the quirks of my rear Detroit locker.
Mix that with no sway bar and it drives like a death trap.

One other thing to consider with 35s I'm running 5" lift with lots of trimming. But I don't have much travel to the bump stops which makes it ride kinda crappy. The amount of lift required to get a good 4-6" of up travel to the bumps will make for a very tall xj.


And I get claustrophobic in the xj. That's why I use a big truck for expo stuff

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[osinrider04]

Figured I would update this thread now that it's been a while and can report back. I ended up with 33s from BFG KO2s. Going with 35s would have required updating bump stops, possible additional trimming, and whatever else. I will say that 4.88s is overkill on 33s on the highway for overlanding. Howeverrrr, I am adding a ton more weight lately with skids, additional armor, and a small trailer that I'm building. I will see how it all pans out once the trailer is in place. I think the 35s would have been better for the gearing but not necessarily better for the wear and tear it would add to the jeep. Maybe on the JKUs and other vehicles that come stock with bigger everything, going to 35s isn't really an issue at all. But on the XJ it's a bit excessive without having one tons under it.

 

[Happy Joe]

Coming from the four wheeling world, I have used mud tires up through 38s. (require much body butchery to fit on a CJ). all were driven on the interstate at speed (setting up the 38s for good & safe dual highway/off road performance was much more work).
With I- 6 power I have been happiest with 33x12.50 MTs on moderate trails and 33 x 14 inch wide Boggers on hard trails (35 inch Boggers really need/deserve a V-8 engine and a minimum of D44s). Note Boggers have really poor life on the street/highway.
35x12.50 BFG mud tires worked just fine on and off road and their moderate traction helped reduce axle & U-joint breakage. They required so much lift (5.5") that it became a PITA just getting in and out of the vehicle. They worked fine with 4.56 gearing and a 5 speed with a 0.8 overdrive (shift into OD at any speed over 45). Taller tires work better, IMO, for tall stair step obstacles and seem to do a bit better on washboard /stutterbump roads. The vehicle does have a bit more of a tendency to try and end-o during steep climbs and decents though.
For 33 inch tires I have gotten the best overall results wit 4.27 or 4.30 axle gearing (note be sure to adequately calculate the highway cruise gearing if using one of the more modern extra high OD autos like the 42rle as it can easily under gear the vehicle; too much overdrive for the axle gearing).
I found 4.11 gears ok for 30 and 31 inch tires. and use them up through 33 inch tires with an automatic tranny, when 4.27/4.30 gears are not available..
3.73 gears seem to work best for tires in the 28 inch range.

4.88s seem to work best for 4 bangers with overly large tires (33s to 35s).
4.56 gears were great for 35x12.50s but were a bit too much for 33 inch tires on the highway (would have preferred lower highway rpm/higher OD)

When seeking lower crawl ratios I regear the transfer case low range. (note 4:1 transfer case low is too low for me I prefer to keep the compound low/first gear, crawl ration around 70:1, for autos double the listed first gear ratios to better account for slippage)

I have heard of "off road parks"... amazing; people actually paying to wheel...

Enjoy

 

[Mr_Miyagisan]

I have heard of "off road parks"... amazing; people actually paying to wheel...

Enjoy

joys of the midwest