Just switched over to 31's and I gotta tell you, what a difference! PO had 33's on 18" rims - I have 3.07 gears (4.0 5-spd manual) and could rarely get into 5th gear - I just felt so under powered. Dropping to 15" rims with 31x10.5.15 is great...at least on my test run. Went out on the freeway and could easily tell I had more power - I seem more peppy now. Also gone is any tire rubbing - even with having added two(2) washers on my steering bumps. I'll have to take out the washers to see how they do.
No pictures yet, too late at night. I'll try and post some tomorrow. However, what I have on are just temp wheels and used tires. I'll buy new...probably in the Fall. Would like to stay with 15's but 'might' move up to 16's.
I'm actually liking the look with the 31's as compared to the 33's...I know, pictures.
Love my 31s. But I do need two washers on each steering stop or they rub.
Fwiw, I had my front and rear 3.07 swapped for a used 3.75 D44 rear and matching D35 front, making 5th gear useable and providing substantially more get-up-and-go.
Ah - would love to, and would love to get out to Little Moab. However, my first free weekend isn't until the last weekend in April and I'm targeting that weekend to do my 2" BDS SL. I umpire Girls Fastpitch Softball, both High School and Accelerated so I stay pretty busy from March through Oct. I'm not busy every weekend, but a lot I am.
Pictures...finally. While the 33's do make for a full wheel well, I actually like the spacing of the 31's - before and after pics below. And you can also see my plasti-dip wheels (and used tires). The wheels and tires are just to get me through the summer and then I'll buy new before the snow flies..."IF" it will at all. This past winter was a joke here in UT.
3.07 gears are the issue, not tire size regarding power. I'm running a 4-cylinder with 33s and the weight of a winch and armor of every variety and it pulls nicely through all gears with 4.10 gearing. When I had 31s I would start from a stop in second gear because 1st was too low. I certainly understand trying to avoid the price of a regear to gain power back.
I'm still liking very much so the feel of 31's. While definetly not a sports car, I'm able to zip around town using 'all' my gears, and can get up to speed on the freeway much better. So my decision has been made as to NOT move to 33's anytime soon...if at all. What I don't know though, what would 32's be like. However, the tire that I'm looking at are the Treadwright Guard Dogs which come in a 31x10.5x15. They don't have a 32 on a 15" rim - I'd have to move to a 16" rim. Won't have to decide till Fall at the earliest. For now, 31's are great!
One thing to consider with 16" rims is weight. Both the rims and 16" tyres weigh considerably more than the 15" versions for the same overall tyre size because of the heavier load rating and tyre construction. Bits something you'd notice.
If you love the driveability of 31's, 32's will be worse. I would stick with 31's with 3.07 gears. My 4cyl with 4.10s seems a perfect fit for my 32's BFGs.
On my phone posting so we'll see how this works out.
The PO had put on a 2" BL and the 33's. While I liked the height, I didn't like the performance. Dropping the 2"BL to a 1", and putting on a 2" BDS suspension lift...shocks and coils.
Nellieboy... another route you could go would be picking up some JK 17" take-offs. Just bought some myself... 5 gray Freedom Edition wheels and tires, 5 miles on them, still have stripes on tread. Measure out to 31.5" Just have to get some adapter plates and good to go. Goodyear Wranglers... but for the fire roads I'm on they're just fine.
Agreed...though I do kind of like the look of 15's. The Treadwright Guard Dogs that I'm looking at had one reviewer listing the size at closer to 31.5 as well. We'll see what happens. I've got the whole summer to think and research.
Nellieboy... another route you could go would be picking up some JK 17" take-offs. Just bought some myself... 5 gray Freedom Edition wheels and tires, 5 miles on them, still have stripes on tread. Measure out to 31.5" Just have to get some adapter plates and good to go. Goodyear Wranglers... but for the fire roads I'm on they're just fine. You could also look for 17" Rubicon takeoffs with BFGs too.
Let me play devil's advocate. If you are not changing the gearing, when you buy the new tires consider 30s. Yes, I know that's sacrilege around here but performance and braking will improve a little more, result in a lower center of gravity for better handling and they are cheaper.
There are many aggressive looking tires from which to choose. It's hard to see the difference unless Jeeps are parked side by side. If anything, 30s make a ride appear slightly lifted whereas 31s make a stock Wrangler look lowered. But that's just me.
One fellow here in town has a '99 Sahara and said his 31s rub. When I bought new tires for my '98 Sahara with 3.73 gearing, I was sorely tempted to move up to 31s but now a year later have no regrets running on 30s.
Keep livin' the Jeep dream. You're making it your own. Whatever you decide, you can't go wrong. Love, love, love the yummy yellow and matching hardtop.
Thanks Mad Mac - never hurts to hear differing opinions...but agreed - to each their own. As for the color, I don't know why, but I seem to be partial to the yellow as I've always liked that color - but it doesn't look good on just anything. When I bought my 2010 Dodge Diesel 2500 Cummins, I bought black, but thought I should have bought yellow - it just looked sharp. So glad I have my yellow jeep w/matching hardtop (though as I understand, TJ's only had 'black' hardtops from factory...).
The wheel in the picture may not be 15x8. Probably more like a 15x7. Not sure. A 31 would be 10.50 wide which might be too wide for that wheel. 30s are 9.50 which should be on a 15x8 but might work. I don't know. Somebody jump in here.
Point being if larger tires are chosen new wheels may be in order.
The black finish looks good, specially against the yellow.
Thanks - I like the black against the yellow too. As for the wheels - what I have currently are just temp wheel and tires. I needed some temp 15's to get out of the 18" XD rims and 33's. My total out-of-pocket for my current wheels and tires - less than $100. I plan on buying 15x8 when I buy my new wheels...and then probably 31's.
My 00 Sahara came off the assembly line with 8" Canyon rims and 30 x 9.5 x 15 Goodyears...... with that said I get just a touch of rub at full lock if I'm not careful now that I'm running Nexen 31 x 10.5 x 15 Roadian HTs. I'm not into wheeling so the rub factor might be different for others that do.
As for looks.....to each his own. Ride quality...... if we were talking performance such as lean and sidewall break over then Yes Sir there is a bit of difference. On a Jeep if anything it is slightly better for ride quality with the added sidewall ratio that changes the overall total spring rate because the sidewall isn't as tight when comparing a 30 x 9.5 to 31 x 10.5.
I'm also running 31 x 10.50 x 15 and very satisfied with the ride. I'm thinking of putting on a 2" suspension lift and then see how it looks. If I'm not satisfied, I may upgrade to a 32" x 10.5 x 15 and keep the lift on. This is my first wrangler and I just joined the forum Yesterday... I'll add a pic when I can figure out how to do it
I obsessed about wheels and tyres. Haha.
I'm in the UK so we've got a lot less available options over here and everything is really expensive!
Anyhow, I wanted to keep the weight down because of gearing and not wanting to overstrained the spare carrier on the tailgate. In my opinion it's worth spending a little more for alloys. I had factory 15x7 alloy wheels, and swapped to Pro Comp 7069's. 15x8 with 3.75" backspace. I've got 33" BFG AT's and total weight of wheel and tyre is only about 10 or 11lbs more than stock. Works for me.
15x8 is a common size and seems to work across a wide range of tyre options.
New to the forum. This is my first post. Just got this 2002, my wife calls it cute and my daughters friends call it adorable. I'm going to have to do something about that, may ditch the 31's although I like the way it rides now. Hopefully I post this pic. correctly.
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