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33's or 35's? honest experience

47K views 183 replies 75 participants last post by  jdinny 
#1 ·
I've got a 2014 Jeep Wrangler unlimited Sport , yes with the 3.21 gearing, and the Pentastar. I've got a 2.5 teraflex bb. (auto)

I have just ordered my Procomp 7032's last week, and i am purchasing tires in two weeks.

I live in Windsor, Ontario. It's basically flat, i do a little highway driving, nothing major. no off-roading. i baby my jeep. i've always been like that with all my cars.

Choice of tires, i have a good discount at belle tire and love the look/price of the Mastercraft Courser MXT's. My boss just got a set of 35/12.5 20 for his f150, and they are relatively quiet and did not see much of a fuel loss.

The two sizes i was looking at are the
1)295/70 17 which are 33.5 almost 12 (58 lbs)
2) 315/70 17 which are 34.5 and about 12.8 (62lbs)

With that gearing in mind, what are your honest thoughts? i am not looking for a race car, and was not really planning on re-gearing anytime soon. And with the tires only being an additional 4 lbs.

A few local guys have the 35's set up and say it isn't that bad. I will have the procal to make adjustments for tire size etc.

I have been constantly reading forums about this issue and gearing charts, but it seems to be mixed reviews. If anyone could chime in on the issue and if you have any pictures of your set up? I do not plan on adding anything else besides a possible tire carrier to help support the weight.

Thanks Everyone
 
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#2 ·
3.21's are insufficient for even the 255/75R17 tires, much less anything bigger.

Can you live with it? Probably.

Would you be happier with better gears? Most likely.

The weight of the tire is only a secondary consideration. It's the diameter that throws everything out of whack.

Read more about it here: http://www.grimmjeeper.com/regearing_basics.html

I have 4.56 gears with 35's and it's a great combo. My freeway performance is just about optimal. I can get up shallow hills without having to downshift which is more than I can say about when it had factory tires and 3.21's.
 
#44 ·
3.21's are insufficient for even the 255/75R17 tires, much less anything bigger.

Can you live with it? Probably.

Would you be happier with better gears? Most likely.

The weight of the tire is only a secondary consideration. It's the diameter that throws everything out of whack.

Read more about it here: Regearing Basics

I have 4.56 gears with 35's and it's a great combo. My freeway performance is just about optimal. I can get up shallow hills without having to downshift which is more than I can say about when it had factory tires and 3.21's.
I agree with derf. You will hate the loss of power!! The next mod after going to 35s will be to re-gear it. Check the price for re-gearing. You may even get into driveline angle problems. If you don't plan to off-road it, stay as close to factory as you can and you will be happier. I off-roaded my 92 YJ for 8 years and had a ball but every mod necessitates another mod.
 
#3 ·
35s are fine IMO with either 3.21 or 3.73 and the pentastar. It's a vastly improved engine over the older 3.8 which I ran 35s on when I had my 2010 and with 3.21s. Was it super fast? No, but I didn't mind or care as I always drive slow anyway. I'm running 35s now with my 2013 3.6 and it's fine too. If you like the way 35s look, get them or regret it every time you look at your jeep after going with something else. That's an honest experience for ya.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the responses, and yes I love the look of the 35's. The local dealer said the exact same thing. Don't settle, you can always upgrade later the gearing if it's unbearable. Don't spend the money twice.

Was just trying to avoid putting another 2g's up at this time.
 
#129 ·
Me neither. I assume you have the D30 up front? If you go 35s a regear will mandatory IMHO. Otherwise there will be a huge strain on the tranny, especially starting off in 1st gear on hills. And beefing up the suspension and front axle will be mandatory as well if you are really concerned with wheeling it. My advice is to go with the 33s unless you are ready for spending some coin and doing some projects. Around here, a good deal on a regear runs about $1000 front and rear. Good luck.
 
#10 ·
#13 ·
To piggyback on this thread, I'd also be interested to hear how snow performance compares in 33's vs the wider 35's
 
#16 ·
IMO 33's are best with 3.73 or 4.10, for 35's I would want 4.10 minimum even at low altitude with no real wheeling.
3.21 gears should be left for the 29" tire combo only. Having said that there are many people running 35's with 3.21 gears and say it's ok, it's an opinion thing really. In all honestly if I was only going for looks I would stick to lightweight 285/70r17 tires on some decent aftermarket wheels.
It would keep the 3.21 bearable and driveability similar to stock.
Just my $.02.
 
#17 ·
Since you are doing it for looks, you'll have to decide for yourself. You know the performance will be worse and they are not needed for your situation. It's just looks. So the question is, how much performance are you willing to trade for the look you want. Or, if it steers worse, gets 2MPG less on average, has more sluggish performance and has less traction on winter highways, would it be a good idea? Only you know.
 
#21 ·
I ran 35s with 3.21 for about a year. Yes it was a bit more sluggish. It wasn't until I put the stock tires back on to trade the jeep in for a new rubicon when I realized how much better it performed with smaller tires.


So yes…you are going to notice a difference in performance if you go 35s. But in saying that I didn't mind it at all and do not regret it one bit. I thought the performance was good enough with 3.21s and 35s. If you are even thinking about 35s I would suggest going with them the first time around. Otherwise you are going to get the 33s and want to upgrade again soon anyways. Can always drive it for a couple years and if you have some extra money down the road look at regering then if you are really not satisfied. Or just sell the 35s and step back to 33s but I highly doubt you are going to want to do that
 
#22 ·
I have 33's on 3.73's and am thinking about an LS6...

(I will always have corvettes on the brain)

A lot of it depends on you and how you like to drive. For me, I wanted as much scoot as possible. I'm keeping the 33's while I regear to 4.88, beef up things, and go 37's.

I vote 33's on 3.21's max.
 
#23 ·
I have a 2014 JKU with 3.21 gears and when I replaced my stock 32" bridge stone duelers with 32" duratracs (only a bit wider 255 to 275) I noticed a slight decrease in performance and acceleration. I would say things would get even worse with 33"s at the 275 width and I can't imagine how horrendous 35s with 3.21s would be.
 
#25 ·
It's an interesting dilemma a lot of us face. How can an expensive modification to our Jeeps, that makes them not work as well, "look" good and be so tempting?

Seems like with Jeeps, form should follow function. What standard are we using to decide something looks better when it doesn't work as well? Why are we happy to drive a vehicle that we made drive worse? And why do we spend money on the visible parts and not on the invisible pars to compensate for what we've done, such as tires and gearing?

Are we building cartoon cars?
 
#27 ·
If you can squeeze the money for gears sometime soon then get the 35s. If its going to be a long time as long enough to wear out a set of tires before you can get gears go with the 33s.

I now have 40k miles on my 13 and wore out a set of 33" DT. I finaly have the money for gears and 35s so Im putting on 35s this time and my 4:56 gears are going in on the 6th. Been long time coming but if I would have went with 35s from get go would have been a long time not being happy with the power loss.
PS I dont give a rats ass what people say the 3.6 with 3:21s is not bad at all with a light 33" tire. Its very usable and actually peppy.
 
#28 ·
I just prefer the look of the 35's worse comes to worse I will regear if it's that bad. Is there anything different with regearing on a sport model? I know people say it's roughly 1500-2000 depending on who you know and how much you paid parts wise. But is there anything additional I would need compared to say a Sahara that has been running 3.73 ?
 
#32 ·
Yes you will need a front 3.73 and up Carrier. I went with a motive gear complete master kit from Rebel offroad. In the selections you will want to choose
Add AEV ProCal* Yes if you if dont have one, you have to have it
Add Lube Lockers*: very nice gaskets
JK Model*: non rubicon
Ratio*: choose what you want I went with 4:56 for 35s
Add D30 3.21/3.73 Carrier* yes if you have 3:21 gears from factory, no all others
I have $716 in parts and my install will cost another $650. $1366 total not bad at all around here.

Motive Gear Package for Jeep Wrangler JK MASTER INSTALL
 
#29 ·
I have duratrac 315's and 3.21 gears, AT and Pentastar. I live in terrain similar to you in Canada. I have a 2.5 TF coil lift.
I have been on this setup for 12000 miles. It is tolerable to drive the 3.21 but less than optimal. That being said, yes someday I will regear to 4.56. Is it critical I do it now, no.
Guys and girls that live in mountains and crawl a lot will say this set up is bad. For that driving it certainly is. No doubt a regear should be done immediately.
I would say get the 35's and go from there. Good Luck.
 
#31 ·
just picked up my jku with 3.21 after rims, 315 DT,bilstein 5100s, corsa exhaust, afe CAI, and fox steering stab install. After having multiple people drive it before and after, we all think it feels quicker now. This is without the flashpaq too since they dont have a 2015 yet. So happy i went 35s. Also the ride and steering feel much better than stock. You will always wish you went 35s if you go 33
 
#33 ·
To the OP: have you considered true 34's? I currently have 305/65R17 (33's) with 3.73 gears and a 2.5" lift. I want just a little more coverage of the wheel wells so am probably going to go with 305/70R17 when my current are worn out. That should give me about a 1.5" more height with no more width for just a few pounds more weight per tire. Even though my tire options are limited, I think this is a good compromise.
 
#34 ·
Red93yg do you have any lift on your jeep?

And thanks for all the gearing info, and the issue the 305's for that tire is actually shorter than the 295's. It comes in almost an 8th of an inch smaller in height and .5 of an inch wider. So The 295 is closer to a 34 cause it's approx 33.5.
 
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