What A Difference A Day Makes

[Mozman68]

Well, I did my 750 mile drive on Saturday....crappy weather as usual going over the mountains on the PA Turnpike, but once I hit the Cleveland area I passed the edge of the front and it was smooth sailing all the way to Western Michigan.

Averaged over 20 MPG  (20.2??)...which I actually couldn't believe as I thought the rating was 19 MPG for highway.

12 hours on the road...and I immediately started installing my new Tuffy console and prepping for the stereo install.  I'll hopefuly have interior pics and a review submitted by the end of the week.

Here is a before shot of the TJ....stock 2000 model....taken on Sunday afternoon.



Here is a shot of the stock wheels from the rear so you can appreciate the difference when I switched to the larger size.




Here are the same shots as taken 24 hours later.

Of course, 5 minutes after I took this shot I removed the front bumper ends (I'll update with a new picture later).  Also, note the illegal tint job.  I had to have it on the front windows as well and Michigan only allows the top 4" to be done:



...and a rear quarter shot...



...and the tire shot.  These are 31x10.5 Dick Cepak FC II's on American Racing 15x8's with a 4.5" back space (thanks Jeffy and others for convincing me to go this route as I only stick out about 1" as you can see)



Uuuugghhh...look at those crappy flares.  Will clean and try the dye method for that Griot's Garage stuff I bought this week.

Bumpers will be next month....also need a strip and re-spray on the hood and cowl due to some orange peeling going on.  Body shop said it had been painted before and was a bad job??

[Jeffy]

Looks good.  I had my Jeep tinted before.  I went with 5% in the top which was legal in the state which was great during the day but was so damn dark at night, I wouldn't see out the back.  If it was rainning, looking out the door wasn't even going to work.  My doors were done to 35% and I didn't bother with the windshield.  My new top has OEM tint on it and I'll probably leave it at that and eventually add A/C.

The tires look good.  A lot better then if you got 3.75".  I still think you'll be fine up to 12.5" tires.  One reason you noticed a mileage difference is that your current tires are taller then the stock ones.  If your Jeep was setup like mine, it probably has a 41T speedometer gear in it.  With the stock 205.75R15's, it will read 1-2mph fast.  With those 31's your speedometer is reading a bit slower.  This also affects engine timing and the air fuel mixture.  Check out the How-To's for the thread on speedometer gears and how to recalibrate them.  It's simple and cheap.

BTW: My 2.5L was getting into the mid to high 20's when I was running 32's and stock gears.  I probably could still get into the 20's if I kept it under 60mph but then it becomes a moving road hazard at that speed.

Are you the first owner?  If not then what forced whoever to get the front repainted? Perhaps an accident?   Orange peal is a clear sign of poor painting.  Contaminants on the underlayer caused the new layer not to adhear and it flakes off easily.

[Mozman68]

The mileage was actually on the stock tires.

Don't know why it was painted (I am the second owner and didn't talk to the first as it was turned in and sold through a used car lot).  

Jeep dealership and my local 4wd guy said they can't believe what great shape it is in (never in the salty Michigan roads)....no signs of any accidents or repair other than the fact that it has a crappy paint job on the hood and cowl.

[Jeffy]

Since, you' talked about going to 3.75" BS wheels,  here are some pictures of what a 12.5" wide tire on a 15x8.5" wheel look like.  The rear has a Warn 7" wide flare still.

Stock flares:


No Flares: