37s vs 40s: Is there really a need for 40s?

If you truly plan to wheel all over the U.S., I know there are places where the extra width would be a problem (think trees). Also, are you building to do the hardest obstacle a park has to offer, or wheel different types of terrain in different (scenic) areas of the country?
Personally, I prefer the latter.
Exactly what got me to thinking about it again. I want to wheel different terrains not one obstacle.
 
Sorry for all this, I'm just trying to bounce my ideas off of some more smarter guys than me.
No worries there. I've built lots of rigs, lots of different type rigs. Lots of rigs on 35's, 37's, 40's, stock length, stretched and stretched some more. I still need someone to bounce ideas off of when I'm considering a non cookie cutter build.
 
Thunderhead said:
32's can get you through the same places as 37's, you just have to pick better(?) lines.

Not where I wheel. . . .

Yeah, but the "trails" you wheel every weekend more closely resemble mountain goat tracks . ;)

And to put @Thunderhead's comment into perspective for those who don't know him, he just successfully completed the Rubicon on 32" tires in the rain and snow - no mean feat based on the photos I saw.

I think @Thunderhead's point was really that driver skill and/or a different line can often make up for taller tires. The problem with speaking in absolutes is that there will nearly always be an exception.
 
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Yeah, but the "trails" you wheel every weekend more closely resemble mountain goat tracks . ;)

And to put @Thunderhead's comment into perspective for those who don't know him, he just successfully completed the Rubicon on 32" tires in the rain and snow - no mean feat based on the photos I saw.

I think @Thunderhead's point was really that driver skill and/or a different line can often make up for taller tires. The problem with speaking in absolutes is that there will nearly always be an exception.
I don't have an exception, I have about 15 of them varying from 300 yards to 3 miles long. I just want know what kind of goats make tracks wide enough to drive a TJ through.

FYI, I drove the section from Rubicon Springs to Tahoe several times on 31's and 32's in stock TJ and JK Rubicon models. Jeep was kind enough to let us air down to 27 psi. Not taking away from anyone's fun but the Rubicon trail is an okay benchmark, but that's it. The price of admission is a stock Jeep. Our area is a very well built TJ with high clearances on 35's and that assumes a decent level of skill.
 
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I don't have an exception, I have about 15 of them varying from 300 yards to 3 miles long. I just want know what kind of goats make tracks wide enough to drive a TJ through.

FYI, I drove the section from Rubicon Springs to Tahoe several times on 31's and 32's in stock TJ and JK Rubicon models. Jeep was kind enough to let us air down to 27 psi. Not taking away from anyone's fun but the Rubicon trail is an okay benchmark, but that's it. The price of admission is a stock Jeep. Our area is a very well built TJ with high clearances on 35's and that assumes a decent level of skill.
I saw stock Jeeps and trucks on the Rubicon in August. The tougher spots have bypasses, you can set your own desired difficulty for that trail.
 
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Blaine, I'm just giving you a hard time about those goat tracks.

But let's give a slick, snow covered Rubicon Trail some respect, particularly going up Cadillac Hill if another group is trying to drive down from the other direction. I'm fairly certain it is a more difficult endeavor than on a dry day, but since I have no compelling desire to do snow runs I'll probably never be able to say precisely how much more difficult. It is certainly more difficult than the trail conditions in early August between the jamborees.
 
I was absolutely just flinging shit.
Though I have heard it said any trail is 90% driver and 10% rig.


I took no bypasses
I took none either but there are one or two "extra credit" sections that are pretty tough that few driving on smaller tires could get through.

This is a very well built Jeep owned by one of the builders/supporters/members of a King of the Hammers race team on an extra-credit section called Soup Bowl and he was having traction troubles even on his 37's. They were rocking his Jeep to help his 37's get a little more traction.

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I took none either but there are one or two "extra credit" sections that are pretty tough that few driving on smaller tires could get through.

This is a very well built Jeep owned by one of the builders/supporters/members of a King of the Hammers race team on an extra-credit section called Soup Bowl and he was having traction troubles even on his 37's. They were rocking his Jeep to help his 37's get a little more traction.

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Oh I looked at Soup bowl lol,
It was a tad wet on our trip
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Blaine, I'm just giving you a hard time about those goat tracks.

But let's give a slick, snow covered Rubicon Trail some respect, particularly going up Cadillac Hill if another group is trying to drive down from the other direction. I'm fairly certain it is a more difficult endeavor than on a dry day, but since I have no compelling desire to do snow runs I'll probably never be able to say precisely how much more difficult. It is certainly more difficult than the trail conditions in early August between the jamborees.
You act like I've never wheeled in snow in JV. ;)
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108-110" WB will be doable in my LJ. I would like to keep my overall width down to where I'm currently at which fits on a normal car trailer. With the 05+ superduty axles that requires heavy offset wheels which exposes the hub more than I would like to. I've got the axles in my garage but I also came across a complete hub to hub Ford KP 60 with truss and a 14bolt with a shave kit already done and machined 5.13 gears. I'm really leaning towards 37s just need to pop or get off the pot
5.13’s with 40’s? Hell I run 5.38’s with 35” tires, are you planning a regear if you go 40’s?
 
I know its cold as hell in JV in the late winter, but that is a lot more snow than I would have thought.

Those are conditions when I would rather be back at the motel entertaining a lady friend than on any trail. I like jeeping, but not that much.
Is November considered late winter?