37” tires on 15” wheels

Bababooey

Bababooey

TJ Enthusiast
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Oct 4, 2016
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361
Location
Arvada, Co
I’m moving from 35’s to 37’s. Any issues not going to a 17” wheel with the 37” tires? I know tire choice would be limited, but it’d obviously save money not having to go with new wheels. Any pics of that setup? Trying to determine if all that sidewall would look funny.
 
As you stated, tire choice and saving money was my issue too. I don't think 37's on 15's looks all that bad. I went to 17's because of the choice of tire that I made. And also a determining factor would be the kind of terrain you wheel in. In the rocks, a healthy sidewall is good if you air down low. A lower profile tire is better for mostly street pressures.
 
What axles are you running?
 
Bababooey said:
I’m moving from 35’s to 37’s. Any issues not going to a 17” wheel with the 37” tires? I know tire choice would be limited, but it’d obviously save money not having to go with new wheels. Any pics of that setup? Trying to determine if all that sidewall would look funny.
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I’d think the best route would be 17’s with a Vanco Big Brake setup from BMB
 
I have friends who ran 35's and 37's on 15" wheels and Dana 44 wheeled Tellico when it was opened no issues.

The one in the center Tombraider Edition run 35's the other 2 37's. The teal one had Super 35 for a long time and eventually went Dana 44.

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JeepNWilly said:
I have friends who ran 35's and 37's on 15" wheels and Dana 44 wheeled Tellico when it was opened no issues.

The one in the center Tombraider Edition run 35's the other 2 37's. The teal one had Super 35 for a long time and eventually went Dana 44.

View attachment 42826
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And I know a guy who is running 37's on a HP 30 front. Care to wager how long that will last?
 
JeepNWilly said:
Not looking to wager. I just personally know these 3 guys one of which has passed away since. Seen them wheel and beat them hard with no problems.
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Must be a regional thing then because they won't last out here on the hard stuff. I do tend to forget that no matter how difficult we tell folks our playground is, they never believe until they actually see it. Carry on.
 
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mrblaine said:
Must be a regional thing then because they won't last out here on the hard stuff. I do tend to forget that no matter how difficult we tell folks our playground is, they never believe until they actually see it. Carry on.
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I have never been out there but I do know your playground is very difficult. The farthest west I have been is Moab. Tellico in its day was very tough but I am sure nothing like out west. The thing about here in the east is that those rocks tend to be muddy and slippery compared to the dry west. I have seen my fair share of carnage out here. The Teal TJ in my pic destroyed the Transmission mount and driveshaft in the mix. I guess that was the weakest link at the time.
 
My old 2000 TJ with 37" MTRs (old style) on 15" Trail Ready beadlocks. Dana 30 front with alloys and 4.88s. Rear Currie 9". Wheeled for 10 years in TX and a trip to Moab and Hot Springs. Dana 30 held up fine for me. Usually aired down to 6-8 psi.

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As a comparison for the Pro 37" tires on small axle group. I ran them on my extended wheelbase TJ on Currie HP 9's front and rear. I'm the reason they don't recommend them for anything bigger than 35's. Wore out the rear gear set 2 times in 2 years. Front Ball joints 3 times. Couple sets front axle shafts, rebuilt the CTM u-joints at least twice.
We built a JK set to put under a TJ on 37's stretched out to 103 as an experiment.
Replaced the following so far.
Front ball joints 3 times, rebuilt the 600 dollar set of Dynatrac uppers once so far.
3 sets of front axle shafts and now RCVs which are getting noisy and clicking.
2 full sets rear axles. Wore out rear OEM locker, traded it for 35 spline ARB and a set of shafts. Now one of those is wobbling from over torque.
Wobbling shafts have ruined a set of rear brake parts.
Another rig on 37's, a TJ Unlimited has spent so much time at the tire shop trying to keep his tires balanced that he is going back to 35's and he never goes offroad.
Wheeled with a TJ on a HP 44 that broke an axle in JV with no spare so we were pulling him out in 3 wheel drive. The stress was high enough that when we were done we had to cut off and replace the inner C because it stretched out the upper hole so badly that the ball joint fell out.
TJ Rubicon on 37's. Little bump up an obstacle in JV, blew up the rear locker and it was the first day of a 9 day trip down from Washington. He towed it to town, got an ARB and new gears installed so he would finish his trip with us.

I've spent enough time and effort repairing, maintaining, and recovering stuff on 37's that shouldn't be that it will never be a good idea in my mind. Of course, your mileage may vary.
 
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mrblaine said:
As a comparison for the Pro 37" tires on small axle group. I ran them on my extended wheelbase TJ on Currie HP 9's front and rear. I'm the reason they don't recommend them for anything bigger than 35's. Wore out the rear gear set 2 times in 2 years. Front Ball joints 3 times. Couple sets front axle shafts, rebuilt the CTM u-joints at least twice.
We built a JK set to put under a TJ on 37's stretched out to 103 as an experiment.
Replaced the following so far.
Front ball joints 3 times, rebuilt the 600 dollar set of Dynatrac uppers once so far.
3 sets of front axle shafts and now RCVs which are getting noisy and clicking.
2 full sets rear axles. Wore out rear OEM locker, traded it for 35 spline ARB and a set of shafts. Now one of those is wobbling from over torque.
Wobbling shafts have ruined a set of rear brake parts.
Another rig on 37's, a TJ Unlimited has spent so much time at the tire shop trying to keep his tires balanced that he is going back to 35's and he never goes offroad.
Wheeled with a TJ on a HP 44 that broke an axle in JV with no spare so we were pulling him out in 3 wheel drive. The stress was high enough that when we were done we had to cut off and replace the inner C because it stretched out the upper hole so badly that the ball joint fell out.
TJ Rubicon on 37's. Little bump up an obstacle in JV, blew up the rear locker and it was the first day of a 9 day trip down from Washington. He towed it to town, got an ARB and new gears installed so he would finish his trip with us.

I've spent enough time and effort repairing, maintaining, and recovering stuff on 37's that shouldn't be that it will never be a good idea in my mind. Of course, your mileage may vary.
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Your last sentence sums it up completely. There are SO many variables in play here. I know I am the outlier, the anomaly. In my case, the terrain I wheel is probably more forgiving than the JV area, and also I do not wheel hard on the skinny pedal. The latter is what I believe allowed me to run that setup on my TJ and not have any issues. Again, I am the outlier, the anomaly. Can it be done, sure. Do I recommend it, no. YMMV greatly!
 
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^ Damn, I am just wondering what brakes he ran with 15" wheels.
And if he still had drums in the back.
 
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