What do I need to do to put 35s on a stock Wrangler TJ?

Noakea.B

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Hello!! I am new to this forum and I have a 1998 wrangler sport and I want to put some 35" tyres on it. What do I need to do to it. I am not going to do any crazy offroading so it doesn't need to be super beefy. Can anyone guide me through this? I do want to do it as cheaply as possible (while maintaining good quality). Any help is much appriciated. Thank you!!
 
How did you get from here


to here?


Just something to ponder.

In the meantime, you're in luck, there's a comprehensive thread for this very question here:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/so-you-want-to-run-35-tires-on-your-tj.2428/
Welcome to the forum!
lol. TBH, I really like the look of 35s on jeeps and I don't need the over-the-top mods for offroading. I will be using it as a mountain bike shuttle vehicle so it will be running mainly gravel roads and such. It will be my daily driver.
 
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Tell us about your rig. Any upgrades? What tire size are you running now? Which engine? Manual or auto transmission? What do you have for a rear end? How many miles on the Jeep?
 
Tell us about your rig. Any upgrades? What tire size are you running now? Which engine? Manual or auto transmission? What do you have for a rear end? How many miles on the Jeep?
Its a bone stock (except for the rear bumper) '98 tj wrangler sport. It has the 6L 4.0 engine in it. Manual 5 spd transmission. Roughly 125k miles
 
will be running mainly gravel roads and such. It will be my daily driver.
To run 35's as your daily driver....you need to spend alot of money making it drivable. And even more to make it so it doesn't break when you crawl over a curb.

What rear end? Dana 35 or Dana 44?
 
At a bare minimum you'd need 4" of additional clearance for 35's, you can get that least expensively with a 3" suspension lift plus a 1" to 1.25" body lift. Personally I believe 5" is optimal like with a 4" suspension lift plus a 1" to 1.25" body lift. You'll also need a stronger tie rod, the factory tie rod is hollow, weak, and not up to staying straight with 35's. Finally, and this is not inexpensive... you'll need to regear your axles with lower ratio gears. 35's will reduce engine rpms so much you would feel like you were starting off from stops in 2nd or 3rd gear and you'd have to stay in 4th gear on the highway. Regearing the axles to 4.88 ratio gears would make it drive normally.

Check your rear axle to make sure you have the stronger optional Dana 44 axle. The standard Dana 35 rear axle is NOT strong enough for 35's.

This is a Dana 44

Dana 44.jpg


This is a Dana 35, it has a plastic snap-in lube fill hole cover which makes it easy to tell.

Dana35c Cover.jpg
 
Because of many reasons.
Two of the most important is that 35" tires need roughly 5" of lift (which leads to other mods), and regear

For example, if you dont lift your Jeep, your tires will rub, and you will have VERY little shock travel, so the ride quality would be terrible.

Also, if you don't re gear, your Tj will feel very underpowered
 
Because of many reasons.
Two of the most important is that 35" tires need roughly 5" of lift (which leads to other mods), and regear

For example, if you dont lift your Jeep, your tires will rub, and you will have VERY little shock travel, so the ride quality would be terrible.

Also, if you don't re gear, your Tj will feel very underpowered
I was going to use this lift kit: https://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-l...30.html?find=1998-jeep-wrangler-tj-4wd-736172. Also a 1" BL
 
Depends what cheaply and good quality mean to you.
-35”’s tires=>$1000
-Lift kit= $400-800 or $1800 like you posted.
-wheels=$400
-lots of gas money b/c you’ll get 8-9 MPG’s or less
 
You can do it. But tbh as most people in this forum would say Rough country might be a cheap choice, but it is definitely not a quality one.

Most would say it's garbage. IMHO, I wouldn't use it in my daily driver. It's your vehicle so it's your choice.

I don't know your budget, but I believe than buy once cry once is a good philosophy.

If I were you, I would give it a little bit of time to think about how I want to build my TJ, and why. Also, read some threads in this forum, which is quite useful. Why do you want to run 35s ? You might be able to do everything you want with 33s or even 31s. It's only about looks? Ride quality matters for you?
 
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