Tires and gears???

[KNCJeeper]

Hey guys...like i have said before i am very new to jeeps and off roading so I am trying to learn and greatly apprciate all the info I can get.


I was looking at the gallery and noticed sarah had put 33s on her jeep(was that with no lift?) and also do you have to re gear to put on 33s? How much does it cost to re gear??

Also I was looking at the RE BB 2" spacer kit i guess pretty much...are coil spacers bad in any kind of way?? and do you guys think thats a good cheap way to get some more clearence and articulation??? until I can afford to go bigger???

Please help me im so new at this but want to get into it so bad!!!

Thank You guys
Cody

[swbooking]

you dont have to regear, but you probably want to. Youll be like me and my 32s (I rev high in third and have barley any momentum in 4th) but im used to it now, it also helps you when your crawling rocks, you wont stall as much, (if you have a manual, like me) ask anyone ive wheeled with, im the stall master! hahaha only on the trail though... haha to get your gearing done its about $1000 to $1200 for the front and rear. and im pretty sure Sarah has a lift on hers... Yeah the coil spacer will do you fine, youll get a little more clearence and it should help you when you get into the tall rocks and stuff. Hop I helped you out a little!
-Allen

[goodtimes]

It takes about 3.5" of lift to clear 33" tires...assuming you are leaving the body panels in place, and not lowering the bumpstops some insane amount.

Gear swaps are really the point of no return on jeeps. Since you are having the carrier out of the axle.....perfect time to add lockers (so you don't have to pay labor twice). Of course, if you are adding gears and lockers, make sure you have the axle you want in there to begin with. If you have a dana 35, you may consider getting rid of it, as they have their limitations. Price for gear swaps varies greatly. Cost of parts is a huge portion of the cost. For example, a set of 4.88's for my jeep (rubicon), with a pair of master install kits will run me upwards of $700...just for the parts (at least that is what I saw a year ago). Labor will depend on who does the swap. Figure $300 for "off duty" mechanic working in his garage. Twice that for a "on duty" mechanic working in a shop, maybe more.

[KNCJeeper]

see now im confused...ive been told 33s will fit on a stock jeep...thanks for the input though guys

[sarah]

33's probably will physically fit on a stock jeep, but you won't be able to turn or flex it at all! I do have 1" springs and 1" spacers (and I'm pretty sure the bump stops have been adjusted, among many other things including new track bar and control arms), but I still rub in sharp turns and on the trail. We've been compiling parts to make me a 4" lift, it's just taken a long time since I didn't have the money to buy a kit.

Be careful of death wobble if you don't get a lift kit. If you don't know what death wobble is, just do a search on this site.

[goodtimes]

Let me clarify my statment. If you want to have a reasonable amount of articulation (flex), dont' want the tires to rub all over the place, don't want to do a ton of shimming to your steering stops, and want to run something close to the OE offset on the wheels...all at the same time....it'll take about 3.5" of lift.

[KNCJeeper]

k thanks guys...now another questions. When I get tires and wheels and lets say I go with 31s for now...the whole tire sizes matching wheel sizes i dont understand??? how do I know what tire size fits what wheel size?

Also the re gearing seems expensive...so I might as well just upgrade to D44s then??? when i go to do that?

Now lets say I decided to go with the RE 3.5 SF kit...1 is that a good lift??? I really want the 4.5 but thats another 600 and 2. what else do i have to do besides what comes with the lift...like SYE and stuff like that???

sorry guys im very new to this and am trying to learn

[Jeri Lyn]

If you go over 2" of suspension lift, you'll want a SYE. Best advice I ever heard was look far down the road, decide what type of wheehin' you want to be able to do, and build towards that. Don't do it piecemeal or you'll end up spending tons of money. It's hard to wait, but it will be worth it.

For what it's worth, my D30 or D35 never gave me any problems.

[KNCJeeper]

If you go over 2" of suspension lift, you'll want a SYE. Best advice I ever heard was look far down the road, decide what type of wheehin' you want to be able to do, and build towards that. Don't do it piecemeal or you'll end up spending tons of money. It's hard to wait, but it will be worth it.

For what it's worth, my D30 or D35 never gave me any problems.

Hey thanks Jeri...so what your saying is over 2" SYE and is that all or well there be more. and im not really trying to jump into stuff im just trying to learn as much as I can before I do start to do stuff. and im sorry but what do you mean by piece meal???


also you never had any problems with your D30 and D35? Do you still use them? also did you do some pretty rough stuff with them and they were good to go?

sorry for all the questions guys...just trying to learn!

Thanks
Cody

[Mike]

Wheelin' in Maryland and wheelin' in So Cal are different. Having grown up in the South and playing in the West, I think that I have a feeling for the difference. But the key thing is that you will probably be dealing with is more mud than rocks. If you agree, then you will want clearance with more spin in the tires. If your stock Jeep comes with 3.73 gearing (which it probably does), you should consider a 4" lift and 33" tires. No gearing change wil be needed to play in less than 30 degree slopes and more mud than rocks. If I am on the right track, you will want to go with M/T tires.

Try to get the widest tire that you can. You will need the float in the clay and mud, in comparison to rock-crawling (although width really helps).

I am very new to this game but I am a reading geek. I have to admit that this advice is based on what I have read. All of my driving experience has been in (mostly) dry rock. If you are interested, I recommend the "4-Wheeler's Bible" by Jim Allen.

Malachi

[KNCJeeper]

k thanks Malachi...i will pick that up. And actually i grew up in the midwest and the MUD scene is very big there and i have been there done that and well its just not really that fun to me...here on the east what I have seen its a lot of rock..rock and mud combined but mostly rock not like it is in cali...although I am going to school right now and I live in maryland by the time I am done with school I will also be done with my contract in the military and me and the ole lady really want to move to Cali too. So the next four year I can build and then hopefully the outcome in I will live in Cali.

[Jeri Lyn]

Hey thanks Jeri...so what your saying is over 2" SYE and is that all or well there be more. and im not really trying to jump into stuff im just trying to learn as much as I can before I do start to do stuff. and im sorry but what do you mean by piece meal???


also you never had any problems with your D30 and D35? Do you still use them? also did you do some pretty rough stuff with them and they were good to go?

sorry for all the questions guys...just trying to learn!

Thanks
Cody

I wheel pretty agressively. I still have the D30 but sold the D35 to another TJ and they're still rock crawling with it. You will hear vehement arguments for and against the D30/D35 axles. (there's a thread on this site somewhere when I was trying to decide if I wanted to change axles.) What I mean by piecemeal is buying a smaller lift and tires, deciding you want to go bigger, swapping out, not changing gears, then deciding you really no longer have power, regearing, etc.

For my 2 cents, I'd regear if you go bigger than the stock tire. You will lose power and it will be harder to get the rig moving. Especially if you use it as a daily driver.

[KNCJeeper]

hmmm ok...thanks a lot bro!! and to regear its in the 1000 area? and what would be a good gear to go with for daily driver and trail abuse jeep?

[USMC 0369]

hmmm ok...thanks a lot bro!! and to regear its in the 1000 area? and what would be a good gear to go with for daily driver and trail abuse jeep?

Ahem.... Jeri Lyn... is a her, not a he. But a damn badass wheeler to boot.

[KNCJeeper]

yea a figured that...just a figure I use. sorry jeri