Tire Question

alexfm

Explorer
I figure this is the place to ask, as my question relates to my XJ. Im going to be buying and installing the Rusty's 3 inch spring pack lift, and was wondering if I could squeeze 33's under that, with as little trimming as possible. I've also thought about just staying at the 235/75's, as I priced out a full set of new tires, and they came out to $473 installed. And the tires I want dont come in a 33. :snorkel: So, if anyone has an opinion or advice about this, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Alex.
 

Black Dog

Makin' Beer.
You might be able to stuff 33s under there with 3 inches. It will depend on the back spacing of your wheels whether or not they rub when you flex or turn the steering wheel or something. Some good bump stops would be a good idea, and it wouldn't hurt to take the plastic fender flares off. Even with trimming you wouldn't have to cut much off to make a difference. 31s would be a good fit on a 3 inch lift, 32 would probably fit too and the difference between that and 33 wouldn't be noticeable.
 

wardrow

Adventurer
You might be able to stuff 33s under there with 3 inches. It will depend on the back spacing of your wheels whether or not they rub when you flex or turn the steering wheel or something. Some good bump stops would be a good idea, and it wouldn't hurt to take the plastic fender flares off. Even with trimming you wouldn't have to cut much off to make a difference. 31s would be a good fit on a 3 inch lift, 32 would probably fit too and the difference between that and 33 wouldn't be noticeable.

Do XJ's have trouble fitting 33's with 3'' of lift?
 

Black Dog

Makin' Beer.
I think the general rule of thumb with an XJ is that 3 inches will let you fit 31s with no body trimming. On Wranglers I think 3 inches will fit 33s easy but I may be mistaken.
 

bat

Explorer
I am going to say a big negative on that unless you bump stop like crazy and trim like crazy. I had 32'S on 4.5" of lift and still had to trim and bump stop, sway bar was disconnected which makes a big difference on the setup.
 

ridgerunner97

New member
I'm running 32s with 4in of backspace on 2in of lift with the fenders cut out and rusty's flares. Looks clean and stock. Did some homeade hockey puck bumpstop extensions up front and am running DPG bumpstop plates out back. I have about 2.5in of uptravel which is plenty the way I have my Jeep set up, and it droops like nobody's business with the swaybar disconnected. I'm not an advocate of the RTI ramp but FWIW it ramped a 912 on a 23* ramp.

A friend cut his out and ran 33s on stock suspension as well btw. It worked well. We're all really big into Low Center of Gravity builds.

I am going to say a big negative on that unless you bump stop like crazy and trim like crazy. I had 32'S on 4.5" of lift and still had to trim and bump stop, sway bar was disconnected which makes a big difference on the setup.

I'm going up to 4.5in of lift and will be running 35s here in a few weeks, you should be able to easily run a 33 on yours without very much work at all...
 

alexfm

Explorer
Thanks for the opinions folks. :) I've decided to go a different direction and keep the 235/75's. ON a slightly different note, where do you guys suggest I look for bumpstops, epecially for the rear? Because mine are entirely non existent. :snorkel:
 

Dirty_Jeeper

Adventurer
I've experimented with several tire set ups and lift heights on my XJ. I've removed the factory flares and trimmed the fenders. I ran 33's with 3", 4", and 4 1/2" of lift and added bump stops. All will work if you have enough bump stop on the lower lifts. For my daily driving and my gearing I returned to 31's and 4" of lift due to lots of long distance driving. Consider your type of driving and take into account your gearing. Unless of course you can re gear right away.

If you do step up to 33's or larger, consider getting your steering box area braced due to the added torque of turning larger tires. I added a C-Rok plate system and a Hard Kor brace to mine. No fear of tearing out the steering now.

A note on the TJ tire size...We are running 33's on ours with a 2" suspension lift with no issues. Though we do plan on installing a 4" down the road.
 

Cityslicker

Observer
I've experimented with several tire set ups and lift heights on my XJ. I've removed the factory flares and trimmed the fenders. I ran 33's with 3", 4", and 4 1/2" of lift and added bump stops. All will work if you have enough bump stop on the lower lifts. For my daily driving and my gearing I returned to 31's and 4" of lift due to lots of long distance driving. Consider your type of driving and take into account your gearing. Unless of course you can re gear right away.

If you do step up to 33's or larger, consider getting your steering box area braced due to the added torque of turning larger tires. I added a C-Rok plate system and a Hard Kor brace to mine. No fear of tearing out the steering now.

A note on the TJ tire size...We are running 33's on ours with a 2" suspension lift with no issues. Though we do plan on installing a 4" down the road.

what this guy said.
 

xjaugie

Adventurer
what this guy said.

ME TOO. I currently run 33s with 3.5" of lift but I trimmed the fenders and installed TJ flares. I like this set up, high enough with out being too high. I also have the C-rock plate and a steering cross brace, worth every penny. Ofcourse I also added a PSC steering box and pump, which makes turning the 33s a breeze.

4.56 gears are nice with the 33s :victory:
 

goldenbeagle

Adventurer
Run 31's if its your DD and you like to travel in your rig.

Run 33's if you want to look cool parked outside of the Barnes and Noble/Mall.

- Please don't take that as me being a jerk. But with 33's there are many things that need to be changed/upgraded. 31's are great offroad and onroad...just get a nice tire.
 

Cityslicker

Observer
there isn't a whole lot of difference between a 31 and 33. it's more of a weight difference then a hight difference.
one inch more around, so you get one more inch of clearance.. but.. that inch could be the difference between rolling by smooth and hanging up on a stump or whatever. you know what I mean.

but 33s on xjs do look sooooooooo nice. they are aesthetically pleasing. and thats important, to like what your rig looks like. so throw some 4 10 gears in there, and a few extra u joints, and have at it!
 

drgnhrt1979

Adventurer
you can run 33's on 3 inch of lift if you trim the fenders. I am running 30's now and will be running 31's on shot springs. I will need to trim my fenders, but that will also allow me to run up to 33's later if I choose on 3 inches of lift. I dont plan on running anything bigger than 33's for whast I am gonna use the XJ for, so I am fine with this. If I need to, I will add flares to make it look cleaner at a later date, but not worried about looks, function is the bigger deal maker for me personally.

Run what you want, and trim to fit, if need be extend the bumpstops till they stop rubbing and hitting... and make sure you have good backspacing on your rims, generally about 3.5-4 inches will do the trick.
 

jscusmcvet

Explorer
I lifted my 2001 xj 3" and run 33x10.50 BFG MT. I trimmed about an inch off the front and used the cut and fod method to expand the rear wheel well. I covered that with Flexi flares from Pacer, and added hockey puck bump stops up front. The backspacing on your wheels is important. I stuck with stock wheels so they are tucked nice and deep into the wheel well. It leads to rubbing on the control arms at full lock. I have Currie arms which are round so a little thump thump let's me know I am approaching full lock on the wheel... which by the way, is also when the rest of your steering/drivetrain is all bound up and likely to break... so I know to back off a bit. I have an auto with 3.55 gears and in the future will either regear or go down to 31's.
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I came from a 2003 TJ Rubicon and found the move from the stock 31's to 33's to be impressive, then from 33's to 35's to be a waste of time and money from an offroad performance standpoint, so went back to 33's. I think each vehicle will have it's sweet spot depending on your intended use, other modifications and ability behind the wheel.

Good luck

John
 

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