Jeff, we all love you, but I want to see some larger tires or mud terrains on that beast.
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Jeff, we all love you, but I want to see some larger tires or mud terrains on that beast.
Lol. Don't worry. Tires/wheels are next on the list. My current savings would allow me to purchase 1 wheel, so it will be a while. My wife and kids frequently remind me of the inadequate small size of my tires. They point out any Jeep or truck and say "they have bigger tires than you. why are your tires so small?"
I'll be getting "the combo" - 33x12.5 Duratracs with 15" wheels. I have 3.21 gears, so I'm a bit concerned that I'll want to re-gear as soon as I try driving with the new tires. It'll take a while to save up for a re-gear after the tires, though. I plan on going with 4.10 gears and TrueTrac LSD front and rear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kfYyeRwRSI
Jeff, that is some very unsafe driving. I like your style.
Oh dear Lord, please don't take the time to "upgrade" to 33's, those are far too small. I have 35's on my Jeep right now with 3.21 gears, and it's not bad. If I had an SC/Turbo, it would be more than fine. I realize this is more of a daily driver for you, so MPG is important, but it just seems sacrilegious to move a Jeep off the OEM tires to a only a 33" tire. Right now I have my studded winter 35" Duractracs on, and I just measured them so I could re-program the speedo with my AEV ProCal, and they _measured_ at 33.75" tall. Tell me that isn't a rip-off. 35" tires only coming in at 33.75". I hate to think what the real size is of 33" Duratracs.
Do you guys know something more than me about how I plan to use my Jeep and what my personal preferences/priorities are?
Auto, or manual trans? I have a manual, which requires numerically higher gears for equivalent performance to an automatic.
Since I have the turbo, there's really no extra power at lower rpms. I'm concerned about sluggishness when getting started with my manual transmission (no torque converter to perfectly "slip" and *multiply torque* without wearing any parts).
33" Duratracs measure about 31.75". I currently have the tiny base model Sport tires that measure at only 28.5". About 3.25" and 11.4% gain in tire diameter, and about 1.6" gain in ground clearance. That's a decent upgrade in ground clearance. It's an upgrade in rain/snow/off-road traction. It's a big upgrade in appearance. It's a reasonable/affordable upgrade to a lightweight tire/wheel combo that will have minimal effect on MPG and will not require any additional cost/effort on supporting mods (I already have a 2" budget boost for full articulation clearance). I don't want or need to get into larger tire sizes that require larger lifts, which require more expensive kits to do it correctly, putting more strain on various other stock components that should really be reinforced/upgraded, etc., etc.
The 11.4% gain in diameter will be felt as about a 10% loss in acceleration across the board for daily driving purposes, which is why I'm concerned about it feeling sluggish to me. It doesn't matter if you feel that 40" tires with 3.21 gears feels fine to you. It's the relative change in feel to me that matters.