Tires, gears, and lifts - putting it all together

[packmule1911]

'01 Limited. 8.25 rear. Dana 30 front. 3.55 gears. No lift. Stock 255/70R16 tires. I want to add 2", and bigger tires when the ones I have wear out. I do not want to cut on the body. Just some modest improvements.

If I understand the tire/gearing charts correctly, the highest lift I can get without change drive angles or shocks is 2". Is that correct?

Likewise, the largest tire I can go to without have to change gearing seems to be 29". 30" is one step into the yellow zone. Is this right?

It seems like folks run lower cost 15" steel wheels. Are the factory 16's I have now ok? They're nice looking wheels, in great shape, with new Goodyear Assurance all around. I'd be fine selling or trading them for a 15" budget set up if found locally. I don't really care about keeping the original wheels. I can more about funding all of this stuff in a low impact way.

Bottom line is that I'm trying to determine what can be done without requiring modifications and expenses as a consequence.

Thanks for your feedback.

[xj-jake]

'01 Limited. 8.25 rear. Dana 30 front. 3.55 gears. No lift. Stock 255/70R16 tires. I want to add 2", and bigger tires when the ones I have wear out. I do not want to cut on the body. Just some modest improvements.

If I understand the tire/gearing charts correctly, the highest lift I can get without change drive angles or shocks is 2". Is that correct?

Likewise, the largest tire I can go to without have to change gearing seems to be 29". 30" is one step into the yellow zone. Is this right?

It seems like folks run lower cost 15" steel wheels. Are the factory 16's I have now ok? They're nice looking wheels, in great shape, with new Goodyear Assurance all around. I'd be fine selling or trading them for a 15" budget set up if found locally. I don't really care about keeping the original wheels. I can more about funding all of this stuff in a low impact way.

Bottom line is that I'm trying to determine what can be done without requiring modifications and expenses as a consequence.

Thanks for your feedback.

Okay as far as the lift goes 2-3 inches on stock shocks is gonna be about all you'll get out of them. If you wanted to change shocks you SHOULD be able to go 4-4 1/2 without doing much for driveline issues. I ran a 4 1/2 in my 88 without a SYE just a t-case drop.

Gearing is/can be a gray area. Right now I'm running 265/75-17's on my Jeep on stock gears. Does is perform like stock? No. Do I care? No. I also have a set of 34" tires that I've had on it. Did the Jeep like it? No. But it sure looked cool.

15" or 16" rims doesn't really matter. I think people usually go with 15" because the prices of the tires stay a little cheaper, but I could be wrong. Yours will be just fine with what you are trying to do.

Just remember that it may be a little more cost effective to step up to a 4-5" lift right off the bat instead of buying stuff and then 6 months or so later replacing it with something else. 4 inch lifts can be had for under $500.

Great questions and good luck!!!

[4.3LXJ]

As far as tires go, 30" diameter is max for no fender rubbing. You can do that on a 16" wheel if you convert the metric sizes to old school sizes. Gearing for that size can remain stock. 2-3" of lift is a nice lift for that size of tire

[bluedragon436]

I've seen folks run the factory 16" rims with larger size tires.. Heck was looking at a guy the other day that was running 35's on his XJ on stock 16's... if you are going for the wider tread like the 12.5" and up you might end up needing spacers to keep from having rubbing on your lower control arms at max turn... but if you are looking to stick at a lower lift like 2-3" you could probably get away with running 11.5" tires and have no issues...

[abebehrmann]

'01 Limited. 8.25 rear. Dana 30 front. 3.55 gears. No lift. Stock 255/70R16 tires. I want to add 2", and bigger tires when the ones I have wear out. I do not want to cut on the body. Just some modest improvements.

If I understand the tire/gearing charts correctly, the highest lift I can get without change drive angles or shocks is 2". Is that correct?

Likewise, the largest tire I can go to without have to change gearing seems to be 29". 30" is one step into the yellow zone. Is this right?

It seems like folks run lower cost 15" steel wheels. Are the factory 16's I have now ok? They're nice looking wheels, in great shape, with new Goodyear Assurance all around. I'd be fine selling or trading them for a 15" budget set up if found locally. I don't really care about keeping the original wheels. I can more about funding all of this stuff in a low impact way.

Bottom line is that I'm trying to determine what can be done without requiring modifications and expenses as a consequence.

Thanks for your feedback.

If I understand the tire/gearing charts correctly, the highest lift I can get without change drive angles or shocks is 2". Is that correct?

I had about 2.5'' of lift on my 1999 with stock links and some BPEs to extend the shocks a bit until I was able to afford (ie find in the junkyard) some new (used) ones

Likewise, the largest tire I can go to without have to change gearing seems to be 29". 30" is one step into the yellow zone. Is this right?
I have 31'' tires and still have stock gearing. Still accelerates well and my mileage only seems to have gone down ~1mpg if I correct my measured mileage for actual mileage with the larger tires. You might be able to run 31s with 2'' of lift without cutting but 30s would probably be safer.

It seems like folks run lower cost 15" steel wheels. Are the factory 16's I have now ok? They're nice looking wheels, in great shape, with new Goodyear Assurance all around. I'd be fine selling or trading them for a 15" budget set up if found locally. I don't really care about keeping the original wheels. I can more about funding all of this stuff in a low impact way.
I have my 31x10.5x15 BFG ATs on my stock 15x7 steel wheels. They rub a bit on the lower control arms but only when at close to full lock. As soon as I can, I will be buying a set of 15x8s with less backspacing so they won't rub anymore. At least where I am, the tires for 15'' rims are cheaper than the ones for the 16'' rim so maybe that's why it seems more people run 15'', and why not if they both fit over the brake calipers.

-Sorry for my incoherent rambling

[packmule1911]

Sorry for my incoherent rambling

No apology needed. Everyone's sharing great information, without making a new guy feel like an idiot.

What would be great is to find someone local (haven't yet found a central NC Jeep club) who wants some really nice factory 16" wheels and new Goodyear tires, and has a set of 15" black steel wheels with some 30" tires on them (street appropriate) to trade straight up.

Swapping, used, barter is appealing right now.

[xj-jake]

[QUOTE=packmule1911;200530]No apology needed. Everyone's sharing great information, without making a new guy feel like an idiot.
QUOTE]

This is exactly why most of us ended up here. There's no stupid questions and we are always willing to help.

[packmule1911]

This is exactly why most of us ended up here. There's no stupid questions and we are always willing to help.

Thanks. Glad to be here. I've learned to work on what I've had to along the way ('68 Plymouth, '89 Audi Quattro Turbo, Dodge Grand Caravan, and so on) to save money, and try to keep my family out of the land of car payments. This is my first experience with a Jeep, so I don't know much.

My 15 year old son, if he can manage to save some money, will need a car soon. I'm NOT letting him have my XJ. I did find him a '95 Laredo with 175k on it that we might go for. Same engine as mine, so I'm liking the economies of scale we could realize by adding another Jeep to the mix.

Anyway, thanks again to All.

[abebehrmann]

I did find him a '95 Laredo with 175k on it that we might go for. Same engine as mine, so I'm liking the economies of scale we could realize by adding another Jeep to the mix.

Anyway, thanks again to All.

That sounds like a good plan. I think nearly everybody in CaptTuna's family drives an XJ too, at least 4 XJs last time I checked. He buys the commonly used parts by the case when they're on sale and saves a good bit of money by doing it that way.

[denverd1]

you're not going big enough to regear. unless you're towing stuff or doing lots of interstate driving, it simply isn't a big deal. I'm running 33's through 3.55 gears and got some rad scratch action going around a wet corner a couple days ago. prolly had more to do with an expiring yellow light, some sweet body roll and my lead foot!

slap a lift and some tires on there and get out and enjoy it!