4.88s ordered by the shop (cold feet)

[NashvilleTJ]

The only thing brakes do is stop the rotors from turning. The friction between the tires and the road is what makes the car stop. It’s a fact look it up.
I can give you a perfect example to. When a car is on ice you can have the worlds best brakes and without friction the car won’t stop for shit even though you have the brake pedal to the floor.
Do some research and I’m positive Blaine knows this.
My post doesn’t even come close to Top 10 dumbest post.

Although I understand your point, your original post implies that running good tires on inadequate brakes would work fine. Throw a set a great 37’s, or even 35’s, on stock TJ brakes, and the brakes will certainly not be enough to effectively stop the rotors from turning and therefor effectively stop the vehicle - regardless of the tires. It is a system. To Jerry’s point, you keyed in on one aspect of stopping and have missed the salient point - which is that in order to run big tires, and be able to stop safely, you need to upgrade the brakes.

 

[Alex01]

Ok y’all. I did it (sorta). I have a 98 TJ 5sp 4.0 with Currie 4” and upgraded Currie steering.
I’ve never had a BIG vehicle & I admit I really wanted to go to 35s at least once, haha. The 4.88s are on order, deposit paid, and now I’m getting cold (ish) feet.
The only part of the build I’m currently worried about is brakes. I will get one of Mr Blain’s kits next, hopefully this summer. This is currently my daily for maybe another year or 2. I work from home and rarely drive over 3 miles one way.
Question: The other part of BIG I want (don’t necessarily need) is meaty tires! But, should I get some 50ish lb ATs for now and wait until the rest of the rig is up to par with brakes and fenders to get heavy meats probably weighing over 70lbs, or is it not that big of a deal.

-Current usage is errands & light trails until I can trailer the TJ to/from the fun..

I ran my 35" MT/R's with stock brakes for a year and didn't think it was a big deal except in panic situations. I tend to keep my distance and use gears to slow down. (drive like a grandma in the jeep) After what I felt was a close call I got Blaines 15" BBK and it was a night and day difference. I remember doing the break-in procedure and I was legit scared when I slammed on the brakes the first round and the jeep locked up at 35 mph.

Stock brakes and 35's will work fine as long as you keep your distance but I'd highly recommend a BBK, 15 or 16" kit, as a long-term solution.

4.88s is a great gear choice. Personally, if I was to do it again I'd go 5.38 but that only because I think it'd be fun to be over 100:1 in crawl ratio and don't really care if I was limited to 70 on the highway.

 

[FJQue]

If you don't mind, what are you paying to regear to 4.88s? I'm saving up and wondering what's the average cost now.

So this is in Missouri, local highly rated Jeep shop doing it for $2,300 with parts including speedo & fluids. Only other place I checked is our resident gear shop specialist, who quoted $3,200 without speedo. People are pretty much making up prices these days..

 

[06TJ35's]

Although I understand your point, your original post implies that running good tires on inadequate brakes would work fine. Throw a set a great 37’s, or even 35’s, on stock TJ brakes, and the brakes will certainly not be enough to effectively stop the rotors from turning and therefor effectively stop the vehicle - regardless of the tires. It is a system. To Jerry’s point, you keyed in on one aspect of stopping and have missed the salient point - which is that in order to run big tires, and be able to stop safely, you need to upgrade the brakes.

I was referring to a regular car with regular size tires. Of course we need to upgrade our brakes because of our bigger tires and brakes do play a part on getting a car to stop. I just wanted to OP to know tires play a huge part on stopping the car and although stock brakes are ok I would definitely recommend Blaine bbk.

 

[FJQue]

I ran my 35" MT/R's with stock brakes for a year and didn't think it was a big deal except in panic situations. I tend to keep my distance and use gears to slow down. (drive like a grandma in the jeep) After what I felt was a close call I got Blaines 15" BBK and it was a night and day difference. I remember doing the break-in procedure and I was legit scared when I slammed on the brakes the first round and the jeep locked up at 35 mph.

Stock brakes and 35's will work fine as long as you keep your distance but I'd highly recommend a BBK, 15 or 16" kit, as a long-term solution.

4.88s is a great gear choice. Personally, if I was to do it again I'd go 5.38 but that only because I think it'd be fun to be over 100:1 in crawl ratio and don't really care if I was limited to 70 on the highway.

Good to hear! I’ve been driving like a grandpa since I was 16, shouldn’t be a problem, you know, for a little while at least. How did the MTRs treat you?
Tires I have been looking at are Grabber ATX (56lbs) vs. Cooper STT Pro (68lbs)

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I was referring to a regular car with regular size tires. Of course we need to upgrade our brakes because of our bigger tires and brakes do play a part on getting a car to stop.

Did you know that bald tires will stop faster than tires with excellent tread will?

Good to hear! I’ve been driving like a grandpa since I was 16, shouldn’t be a problem, you know, for a little while at least. How did the MTRs treat you?
Tires I have been looking at are Grabber ATX (56lbs) vs. Cooper STT Pro (68lbs)

Be less concerned with their weight which has very little to do with anything other than being more difficult to lift. It's the tire's diameter that has everything to do with braking and acceleration with its weight having little to do with either. Think leverage and the length of the lever which is the tire's radius. The larger the diameter, the more leverage the tire has against the engine and the brakes.

 

[06TJ35's]

I never once said OP didn’t need a big brake kit. Someone implied blaine is in the wrong business and let other to believe i said stock brakes are adequate enough for 35’s. I didn’t want OP to buy cheap tires. Just imagine cheap tires with stock brakes.

 

[06TJ35's]

Did you know that bald tires will stop faster than tires with excellent tread will?

A bald tire will have more contact with the surface of the road than a tire with excellent tread.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I still say you're focusing on the wrong part for best braking considering few of us here run or would consider "cheap" tires.

 

[BC Moto]

Im about to get in next month for some 4.88's as well but I am planning to install chromo shafts front and rear with a arb air locker out back. Since they are taking it apart it npot much more for installing newer shafts

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Im about to get in next month for some 4.88's as well but I am planning to install chromo shafts front and rear with a arb air locker out back. Since they are taking it apart it not much more for installing newer shafts

What rear axle do you have? Also, what model year, engine, transmission type, and tire size?

 

[Artsifrtsi]

Be less concerned with their weight which has very little to do with anything other than being more difficult to lift. It's the tire's diameter that has everything to do with braking and acceleration with its weight having little to do with either. Think leverage and the length of the lever which is the tire's radius. The larger the diameter, the more leverage the tire has against the engine and the brakes.

Absolutely not starting anything, but that is not entirely correct. Spin and stop a yardstick, then add a 5 lbs weight to each end and spin and stop it again... the weighted one will produce way more kinetic energy, and will require more energy to move or stop it. Conversely, a 31 inch tire that weighs 50lbs will be easier to start and stop than a 35 inch tire that weighs 50 lbs, that is where the leverage game comes into play.

 

[BC Moto]

What rear axle do you have? Also, what model year, engine, transmission type, and tire size?

My TJ came with a 30/35 I am putting in a 44 from another TJ the donor axle had drums but my 35 has disc brakes that i want swapped over. My TJ is a 03 sport with the 4.0L 5spd trans and currently on 33'S but once I get the gears and axles it will be 35/37's depending how long the wait is.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

My TJ came with a 30/35 I am putting in a 44 from another TJ the donor axle had drums but my 35 has disc brakes that i want swapped over. My TJ is a 03 sport with the 4.0L 5spd trans and currently on 33'S but once I get the gears and axles it will be 35/37's depending how long the wait is.

Thanks. Your front axle is fine for 35's but its ball joints are definitely not up to 37's and they can't be replaced with anything else that is up to 37's either. They are the same ball-joints I have in my front Dana 44 which is why I stick with 35's. For 35's and your 4.0/5-speed I'd go 4.88 or maybe 5.13.

Disk brakes from your Dana 35 will bolt right up to your Dana 44, you'll just need to shorten the hard lines on both sides a couple inches. Rent/borrow a double-flare tool from your local auto parts store than practice on the short lengths you cut off the hard lines. One or two practice tries is all it takes to make a good double-flares.

 

[P man]

Brakes don’t stop a car tires do. Don’t buy cheap tires.

I'm trying to wrap my head around this..I think it should say "brakes stop your car quickly" and "tires will help stop your car eventually".

A combination of the 2 work together to stop the car/jeep safely when those components are adequate for the vehicles modifications

Or maybe I'm totally off base lol

 

[Alex01]

Good to hear! I’ve been driving like a grandpa since I was 16, shouldn’t be a problem, you know, for a little while at least. How did the MTRs treat you?
Tires I have been looking at are Grabber ATX (56lbs) vs. Cooper STT Pro (68lbs)

The MT/R's have been great and I'd keep running them forever if they weren't discontinued for 15" wheels. I have a few years left of tread on them so I haven't given it much thought yet for replacements.

 

[06TJ35's]

I'm trying to wrap my head around this..I think it should say "brakes stop your car quickly" and "tires will help stop your car eventually".

A combination of the 2 work together to stop the car/jeep safely when those components are adequate for the vehicles modifications

Or maybe I'm totally off base lol

The best way I can word is with enough friction a car will stop when the brakes are pressed.

 

[machoheadgames]

Absolutely not starting anything, but that is not entirely correct. Spin and stop a yardstick, then add a 5 lbs weight to each end and spin and stop it again... the weighted one will produce way more kinetic energy, and will require more energy to move or stop it. Conversely, a 31 inch tire that weighs 50lbs will be easier to start and stop than a 35 inch tire that weighs 50 lbs, that is where the leverage game comes into play.

Yep....I went from a 43 lb tire to a 49 lb tire on my truck and I felt it noticeably in both braking and acceleration. Leverage makes a more drastic difference but I can feel a difference in either from leverage and weight both. And just the same, when I got tired of those tires after a month, I swapped back to a 42 pound tire and all was well again. My mpg was noticeably worse for the month of the heavy tires as well. All tires were the same size throughout that time period.

 

[Artsifrtsi]

just the brake pads from Black Magic until you can splurge for the full Big Brake kit.

Just remember to take into account the wheel diameter when you order tires... the BMB BBKs come in 3 diameters, and if you order tires for a 15" wheel, you need to get the correct brake kit later.

 

[machoheadgames]

Thanks. Your front axle is fine for 35's but its ball joints are definitely not up to 37's and they can't be replaced with anything else that is up to 37's either. They are the same ball-joints I have in my front Dana 44 which is why I stick with 35's. For 35's and your 4.0/5-speed I'd go 4.88 or maybe 5.13.

Disk brakes from your Dana 35 will bolt right up to your Dana 44, you'll just need to shorten the hard lines on both sides a couple inches. Rent/borrow a double-flare tool from your local auto parts store than practice on the short lengths you cut off the hard lines. One or two practice tries is all it takes to make a good double-flares.

He will need to convert his axle shafts as well, which I know you know but am mentioning it because I didn't see it brought up.