33/10.5R15 or 32/11.5R15?

Don Ashcraft

Don Ashcraft

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 13, 2018
Messages
281
Location
Kalamazoo, MI
Hi all. I'm new to forums in general and still new to my TJ. I've wanted one since I was a boy but was never in the cards. After my second XJ went to pasture, a stroke of luck found me parking my first Wrangler in my driveway. I got it this summer and have been impatiently waiting for my bank account (and my wife) to give me the okay to buy some upgrades. So in the mean time I've been spending way too much time looking into what I'd like to do over all. Its pretty nice as is. 2006 TJ SE, 2.4l, 6 speed manual and 99.9% sure 3:73 gears. Its been lifted slightly. 2" I believe, but no more than that. The first thing I wanted to do was replace the wheels and tires. It has 31" equivalents, not on stock wheels. I'm looking at American Racing 172 Baja 15x8 satin black wheels and either 32" tires or 33"x10.5". I REALLY want to go the 33" route but I read that may not be such a great idea...but I love the look. It's my daily driver and I don't off road with it except for easy trails while camping occasionally. I guess I'm hoping to get some feed back, words of wisdom and if there are any photos of folks running 32s or 33x10.5s that would be great.

My Jeep.JPG
 
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I ran bfg 33x10.5 on 15x8 wheels with 3.75 backspacing for a few years. They are great tires and had better road manners than my 12.5 inch wide tires I currently run. In an ideal world you would want to be close to 3.5 inches of lift to run them but since it doesn't seem like your pushing it to the limits you would probably be fine.

Is your 2 inch lift suspension or body? If suspension you could add a 1.25 bl to clear and while your doing that a mml wouldn't be a terrible idea.

The biggest issue you may have is gearing.
 
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Alex01 said:
I ran bfg 33x10.5 on 15x8 wheels with 3.75 backspacing for a few years. They are great tires and had better road manners than my 12.5 inch wide tires I currently run. In an ideal world you would want to be close to 3.5 inches of lift to run them but since it doesn't seem like your pushing it to the limits you would probably be fine.

Is your 2 inch lift suspension or body? If suspension you could add a 1.25 bl to clear and while your doing that a mml wouldn't be a terrible idea.

The biggest issue you may have is gearing.
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Thanks for the info. Yeah the 2” is suspension. There’s a chance it may be 2.5”. I’m crawling underneath to measure this weekend.
I keep reading mixed remarks on 33 and 2 in lifts so I’m wondering if I could pull it off for 6 months to a year to when I can get a different lift.
It sounds like you’re old set up it what I’m looking for.
 
Thunderhead said:
Im on 2 inch spring lift and my 32's are about as big as you can go W/O rubbing.
If your never going to flex......eh 33's will fit but watch out for pot holes or you might be in trouble. 10.5 is good with 3.75 backspacing
33's on 2 inch will look like this
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Right! They’d be so beast lol. Some people seem to think the tire increase on their 2.4 TJs are an improvement in how it drives in general. I’ve been reading up on gearing. Sounds like if it’s a dog that 4:88 is the way to go.
 
Don Ashcraft said:
Right! They’d be so beast lol. Some people seem to think the tire increase on their 2.4 TJs are an improvement in how it drives in general. I’ve been reading up on gearing. Sounds like if it’s a dog that 4:88 is the way to go.
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Thunderhead said:
Im on 2 inch spring lift and my 32's are about as big as you can go W/O rubbing.
If your never going to flex......eh 33's will fit but watch out for pot holes or you might be in trouble. 10.5 is good with 3.75 backspacing
33's on 2 inch will look like this
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I’m mixing up my comments and responses. Do you have a picture of yours with the 32s?
 
When I bought my TJ it had Micky Thompson degan 38 in 32x11.5 on 15x10 wheels. I tore one tire up out in the Nevada desert and wound up at a big o tire in winnemucca, nv trying to get a replacement. Wound up buying a 33x12.5 for a spare as that was the only thing available for my jeep other than going down to 31x10.5 AT without driving another 200 miles. Kept the 33 as my spare until replacing the Micky Thompson’s with cooper stt pro in 33x12.5, I really love the coopers and the Micky Thompson’s were good also. I really can’t say with the 4.0 I notice much difference between the 32 and 33 tire size in how my jeep drives. I also read actual tire sizes vary from brand to brand so one tires 33 might be closer to another’s 32, I’ve seen some charts that give actual sizes.

First pic 32’s
Second pic 33’s
93B35114-8FBC-4BD3-833E-56CC87F309AF.jpeg
0CB83F08-2F26-42A1-AF90-0BB0CCFF2C30.jpeg
 
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1515art said:
When I bought my TJ it had Micky Thompson degan 38 in 32x11.5 on 15x10 wheels. I tore one tire up out in the Nevada desert and wound up at a big o tire in winnemucca, nv trying to get a replacement. Wound up buying a 33x12.5 for a spare as that was the only thing available for my jeep other than going down to 31x10.5 AT without driving another 200 miles. Kept the 33 as my spare until replacing the Micky Thompson’s with cooper stt pro in 33x12.5, I really love the coopers and the Micky Thompson’s were good also. I really can’t say with the 4.0 I notice much difference between the 32 and 33 tire size in how my jeep drives. I also read actual tire sizes vary from brand to brand so one tires 33 might be closer to another’s 32, I’ve seen some charts that give actual sizes.

First pic 32’s
Second pic 33’sView attachment 63173View attachment 63174
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Man, that looks great! thanks for posting the pics. Those Mickeys are sweet. Here in Michigan snow and ice are something to contend with 4+ months of the year. It sounds like the narrower 33 10.5 is better in snow and on road in general compared to the 33 12.5. I've been looking at the manufacturers sites and most give the specs. Actual dimensions vs advertised changes some. I've been looking at the BFG 33/10.5r15 and they say they're 32.5" actually, and that I heard is aired max without weight so they may really run more towards 32". The other perk for my thinking is they are lighter. 51lbs vs 57lbs.
 
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In the snow or rain, a 10.5" wide tire will perform considerably better than a wider tire. I had 33" Duratracs on my old Rubicon that were 10.5" wide, and those things were absolutely amazing in the snow.
 
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Chris said:
In the snow or rain, a 10.5" wide tire will perform considerably better than a wider tire. I had 33" Duratracs on my old Rubicon that were 10.5" wide, and those things were absolutely amazing in the snow.
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That's what I've been hearing. Do you know if they still make those Duratracs or who might carry them? I haven't come across any in my searches. It seems the narrower tire sizes are getting more rare.
 
Don Ashcraft said:
That's what I've been hearing. Do you know if they still make those Duratracs or who might carry them? I haven't come across any in my searches. It seems the narrower tire sizes are getting more rare.
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Well, these were 275/75/R16 tires on my old Rubicon. The Rubicon has 16" wheels from the factory, so I think that size was specific to the 16" wheel. I'm not sure if they make them for a 15" size, but I would think if anyone had them in a tall and narrow size, it would be the Goodyear Duratrac.
 
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Thunderhead said:
This is almost full stuff. My bump stops would touch before the tire hits the body

View attachment 63192

Playing around in the rocks. Not full stuffed but you can see the clearance
View attachment 63193
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Thanks for these. Most of what I'll be doing is on the roads and highways. There are some rutted trails/roads I get on while I the U.P. here, but nothing like those rocks. Nice jeep though man. I like the stance in you profile pic. 32s may be the way to go.
 
Chris said:
Well, these were 275/75/R16 tires on my old Rubicon. The Rubicon has 16" wheels from the factory, so I think that size was specific to the 16" wheel. I'm not sure if they make them for a 15" size, but I would think if anyone had them in a tall and narrow size, it would be the Goodyear Duratrac.
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Ah, gotcha! Yeah I was looking at going 16" on the new wheels for a minute. It would allow more options in tires but less in the wheels. But, they don't make the wheel I want in 16".
 
Don Ashcraft said:
Ah, gotcha! Yeah I was looking at going 16" on the new wheels for a minute. It would allow more options in tires but less in the wheels. But, they don't make the wheel I want in 16".
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You'll have so many more tire options with 15" wheels. I'll never again own a 16" wheel after my last ones. The tire selection is so limited with them. It's either 15" or 17". 16" is that oddball size that is largely forgotten by the tire manufacturers.
 
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Chris said:
You'll have so many more tire options with 15" wheels. I'll never again own a 16" wheel after my last ones. The tire selection is so limited with them. It's either 15" or 17". 16" is that oddball size that is largely forgotten by the tire manufacturers.
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Okay cool. That's good to know. I like the look of 15" wheel to tire ratio better too. Since I cant buy what I want today, I've had lots of time to over think all of the different options lol.
 
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Don Ashcraft said:
Okay cool. That's good to know. I like the look of 15" wheel to tire ratio better too. Since I cant buy what I want today, I've had lots of time to over think all of the different options lol.
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I agree. The tire to wheel ratio looks better on 15" wheels anyways!
 
33's and your 4 banger might leave you wishing you have either more power, or better gearing. I ran 32's, and now 33x1050x15's on a 15x8 wheel, 3.75" BS.

32's on 2.5" suspension lift, with 1"bumpstop extensions to keep the tires out of the fenders.
P1050281.JPG

33x1050x15's adding 3/4" coil spacers, and a 0.5" body lift, adding bumpstop extensions to 2".
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Even with my 4.0L and 5 speed, 33's pretty much left 5 gear useless, and I felt like I was also starting off in 2nd gear from a stop. I lived with it for a couple years until finally re-gearing.
7.jpg

20150729_093741.jpg
 
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