mrcartoon99

Okay, last night a few friends called me up to do a little off roading. i have a 97 XJ, (with almost bald tires) the other trucks all had 4+ lifts nice meaty tires ect. My jeep is stock alot smaller then the rest, Looked like the runt of the litter haha...But Everyone was getting stuck but me!

with all that said, it made me question what i should do to mod my XJ.
I feel a lift is something i would need for clearance, so that logs or whatever other debrie thats hiding in the muddy pits doesnt go up into the engine.

But whats the advantage of having the beefy tires?
would it make my jeep that much better?
would it take away from the Proformace i have now?

Nor-CalJeeper

Bigger tires will effect your perfomance unless you change your gear ratios. depending on what size you choose it may effect it ALOT or a little.

The advantage to bigger tires is generally better traction and the biggest benefit in my eyes is ground clearance between the axle housing and the ground.

A lift gives you more vehicle clearance but no clearance between the axle and the ground unless you go bigger tires.

I think you would like a 3" lift and 31" inch tires if you are wanting fairly close to stock and that wont effect perfomance to bad without doing a regear.

All just my own opinion though I'm sure many others will chime in =)

mrcartoon99

ahhh.. didnt think of that

xj2

also consider the weight of your friends cars. they could've just been sinking. if you dont want to do much ild say go with some spacers and shackles with zj front springs from the jy and 31's but just cut your fenders. this keeps you pretty low to the ground and still gives you more clearance and articulation

JeepingDan

Weight does play a big role in swamp. I had a 78" ford pickup with the big block motor dana 60's and 35's on it following me and he sunk like a rock. on the same trail I drove thru.

mrcartoon99

thats what im trying to ask xjs, My XJ is not as heavy as the F-250s,
so aside from clerance what am i realy gaining from putting 31's on?
maybe im not getting it? im kinda tired as we didnt get back till about 5am lol

98 JeepJeep

you will get new tires with tread...

Tankerblade

Getting a lift will help give you clearance between the ground and the axle/diff. Thats minorly important. Also with the bigger tires it helps it roll over stuff like ruts and not get caught in the ruts. (had this happen to me)

claygrassmann

you will get better traction so you can do more stuff than what you can already

JeepingDan

Very true the tires I have right now suck at trying to crawl up something big

xj2

i think the biggest help in the thirty ones is the width. bigger isn't always better. the bigger you go the more torque gets robbed in trying to get the leverage to turn the bigger tires around unless you have gearing to make up for it. the thing about thirty ones is that theyre not too big and they dont take a whole lot to turn, especially with the 97 you got. so you get a little more axel clearance, ground clearance but the fact that 31's are usually 11 & 1/2 inches wide you have more surface area on the tires making contact the mud or trail which helps with traction and floating(mud) think about mud like water. if you through a ski in the water v.s. a snowboard which do you think will sink faster?

mrcartoon99

okay this makes a lot of sence....i will be getting the "beefy" tires xj2 thanks for your input. but with that 31's being that wide would i have to get a bigger rim? cheapest i could find (that i liked) wheels and tires was $819 on jc whitney...any other good places to look?

mrcartoon99

bump

zjbednorz

Continuously check craigslist if you're near an urban area. I found my current wheels and tires for $350.
It's a good place to check every week if you aren't in a hurry.

ceejay612

bigger tires just look cool.