Topic: 31/10.50/15's vs 32/11.50/15's

[streetmaster]

Hey fello's, its not to long before ill be tire shopping for my 04 SE, TJ. Right now the tires on my jeep are the P225/75/15's, and i want to up grade to a larger size. I cant make my mind on either a set of 31's, or a set of 32's. The most im planning on doing as fare as any kind of lift is a BB, plus i want a nice size tire to fill out the large wheel wells on the TJ. I love the way the 33's look, but cant swing for a 4 inch lift kit, for 33's at this time. I see a lot of guys go with 31's which do look kool, but i want to go a little bigger, if it wont hurt my top end to much. My SE has the 2.4L, NV1500 5speed, and 4.11's, and read a lot of post were some guys cant use 5th gear, after they install 33's, but dont read much about any problems after some guys put 32's on the rigs. I guess what i want to know is if, i would be much better off with 31's with my set up, or will i need to regear to run the 32's?

[Jeffy]

I'd go with 31's for a few reasons.  First off, you can get aggressive 31's that will make up the gap between teh two sizes.  The differences between 31's and 32's is very minimal though.  If you have 15x6" wheels, the 31's will be a better fit.  I think you'll probably have 15x7's though.  Still. narrower tires will sit better on your stock wheels without causing wear issues.  On the trail, you will more then likely find someone running 31's then 32's, so if you need to 'borrow' a second spare, it's a better choice. 

Regearing will be a personal preference.  Since I'm used to driving something really slow, running 31's on stock gears seems quick to me.

[streetmaster]

Thanx for the input there (Jeffy), the wheel, and tires my jeep came with are the ugly 15x7 ECCO alloy's, with P225/75/15's. I dont like either the wheels or the tires, so i thought about a set of 15x8" conyons and 31's, or 32's. I also like the look of the canyon wheel, plus i can get canyon wheels for 75$ a pop from the Collins Bros website. I dont realy need the tire, and wheel, combo to stick out very much because i dont wheel much at all, its mostly for the street.

[Mozman68]

Yeah...just get a good MT 31" tire and it will probably be the same size as a 32" AT....I ran 31"s for months without any lift at all.  Now that I have a 3" lift on there they are way too small.

Pre-lift.





Post-lift (was almost 3.5" at the time).

[dunklervogel]

I went 32 a/ts

Here are a few crappy camera phone pics...








I'm kinda glad I went what I did.  I had 30s before I added a BB and wanted a little bigger than just an inch taller/wider.  Now I'm thinking about adding a 1inch body lift and bein done for a while 

[lanulos89]

31's and 3.5" suspension lift

[streetmaster]

Thanx guys for all your oppinions, i guess ill just keep it simple and go with the 31's, and maybe a BB. I suppose if im only gonna use my jeep for mostly street use, i wont have much trouble with rubbing, if i put the 31's, on the Canyons that im planning on, with or with out the BB. (Oppinions Please)

[Bounty Hunter]

Thanx guys for all your oppinions, i guess ill just keep it simple and go with the 31's, and maybe a BB. I suppose if im only gonna use my jeep for mostly street use, i wont have much trouble with rubbing, if i put the 31's, on the Canyons that im planning on, with or with out the BB. (Oppinions Please)

Is there a question in there somewhere?

[dunklervogel]

I'd go with the BB
cheap and the extra clearance looks nice and gives ya a lil more help on the trail. 

But if you choose not to go with the bb.. 31s will be okay without.. just might not want to disconnect the sway bars because of rubbing issues.

[streetmaster]

Thanx guys for all your oppinions, i guess ill just keep it simple and go with the 31's, and maybe a BB. I suppose if im only gonna use my jeep for mostly street use, i wont have much trouble with rubbing, if i put the 31's, on the Canyons that im planning on, with or with out the BB. (Oppinions Please)

Is there a question in there somewhere?

Yeah there is, but its just a little one. I guess i answared my own ? but sorry if you got so  LOL

[Liljeepz]

If you don't like your Jeep speed now (I have read several of your post on this site and others, about your want for more power) I would stay stock size. I have 31" on my 2.4l and it SUCKS! To keep my speed at 55+ I have to have it in 4th and floored. I think its worse than the 2.5L My buddy was running a 2.5 with 31's and it was not as bad as mine. Gas mileage dropped a ton. If your not going to bring ot off road more than one or two times, you might want to keep it stock size with MTR tires. Only reason I don't put mine back to stock size is because I go wheeling all the time. Click on my sig below to see my pics I'm running a 2.25 spacer with a 1.25 BL and truxes MTR 31x10.5 tires.
Here are some Pics of the RTI ramp a week ago. (Time for longer break lines )
look at how close the tire is to the fender and that's with a 3.5" total lift.



Here is one just sitting on flat with me and my wife next to it.

[Elyod]

Sorry to change the subject, but what angle ramp was it and what was your rating?  I am planning on buying 31s soon and was curious how your suspension did.

[Liljeepz]

I can't remember off the top of my head, I'll see if any one from the club remembers. Our club tech might remember.

[streetmaster]

Yeah thanx (Liljeepz) for all that great info. I wouldnt have wanted to purchace 31s for my jeep, just to find out that the performance is going to stink. Ill probly just go with a set of (30/9.50/15s) because there only about an inch taller than the one's i got on there now. I dont think an inch will kill my jeep to much. 

[streetmaster]

Yeah thanx (Liljeepz) for all that great info. I wouldnt have wanted to purchace 31s for my jeep, just to find out that the performance is going to stink. Ill probly just go with a set of (30/9.50/15s) because there only about an inch taller than the one's i got on there now. I dont think an inch will kill my jeep to much. 

Beside (Liljeepz) what gears are you running, and shouldnt better gears give the 2.4L more power?