TJ drives much better after going down to 32 inch tires from aggressive 33s

J

JohnJ78

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 26, 2020
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125
Location
Australia
Also went from 12.5 inch wide to 11.5 inch wide.
Still on muddies, but More torque, higher top speed, zippier in and out of traffic (toot toot), can turn full lock now, lower center of gravity, handles like a sports care in comparison. I've driven a stock TJ with 29's and that thing chirped into third gear a swear.

Oh what a difference. If you want to run 33's. make sure you get it re geared or its a nightmare.
 
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4.0 or 2.5? I switched from 33x12.5 MT/Rs to 33x10.5 KO2s awhile back and that made a huge difference as well.
 
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When I first bought my Jeep it came with 35s with 3.07 gears. I’m glad you made the choice to get it all squared away.
 
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JohnJ78 said:
Also went from 12.5 inch wide to 11.5 inch wide.
Still on muddies, but More torque, higher top speed, zippier in and out of traffic (toot toot), can turn full lock now, lower center of gravity, handles like a sports care in comparison. I've driven a stock TJ with 29's and that thing chirped into third gear a swear.

Oh what a difference. If you want to run 33's. make sure you get it re geared or its a nightmare.
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TWiG01 said:
4.0 or 2.5? I switched from 33x12.5 MT/Rs to 33x10.5 KO2s awhile back and that made a huge difference as well.
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Most don't realize how much difference rolling resistance makes. The difference between a 33x12.50 and 33x10.50 tire is noticeable. Gearing can fix the tire height, but not the width. At that point it becomes a compromise.
 
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Irun said:
Most don't realize how much difference rolling resistance makes. The difference between a 33x12.50 and 33x10.50 tire is noticeable. Gearing can fix the tire height, but not the width. At that point it becomes a compromise.
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How much is weight a factor? Looming at 33x10.5 that are only 3 pounds heavier than the 31x10.5 I'm currently on.

In a case like that, will the 33 rob power even though it works virtually the same?
 
DaveC said:
How much is weight a factor? Looming at 33x10.5 that are only 3 pounds heavier than the 31x10.5 I'm currently on.

In a case like that, will the 33 rob power even though it works virtually the same?
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Unsprung weight plays a huge factor. Compared to sprung weight, unsprung weight is much harder to accelerate. When I added beadlock wheels, weighing almost 10 lbs more than the previous wheels, I noticed it immediately. Saving weight on tires matters too!
 
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When I bought my LJ, it came with 32x11.5 Goodyear MT/Rs w/ kevlar. Stock 3.73 gears with the 6 speed. When it was time to get new tires last year, I ended up staying with the same size, but I switched to all-terrain Falkens. It was tempting to go to 33x10.5, but I wasn't ready to re-gear yet and my Jeep was mostly a daily driver back then.
 
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Irun said:
Unsprung weight plays a huge factor. Compared to sprung weight, unsprung weight is much harder to accelerate. When I added beadlock wheels, weighing almost 10 lbs more than the previous wheels, I noticed it immediately. Saving weight on tires matters too!
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Not only acceleration, braking impacts are left to be gained by shedding weight.

Shaving unsprung weight will improve shock absorbing responses which can lead to a better shock tune and better overall ride.
 
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Going from the 35x12.50 when i bought it to 33x10.50 was a huge difference too.
Tire and wheel weight can also be noticable
 
707kevin said:
Going from the 35x12.50 when i bought it to 33x10.50 was a huge difference too.
Tire and wheel weight can also be noticable
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I'm debating this same move. Currently have 35x12.5x15 MT's with 4" suspension and 2" body lift running 4.56 gears.
@AndyG Has been convincing me to drop down to 33's and possibly ditching some or all of the body lift.

How much of a difference did you notice? And regrets? And what is your opinion on reducing or ditching my body lift?
 
There is a hill on my way home on the highway that I had to drop to 4th to continue on with 35's (regardless of speed) With the 33's I can stay in 5th at 65. In 4th I can pass the trucks. at 70+ If I am in slow traffic and the rpms are too low, it's back to 4th anyways. But a huge difference.

The rest of the ups and downs on my drive to work, I can actually use cruise control in 5th now. I don't normally DD the TJ, but the old Subaru started smoking pretty bad so I'm finding myself really happy with the 33's
 
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707kevin said:
There is a hill on my way home on the highway that I had to drop to 4th to continue on with 35's (regardless of speed) With the 33's I can stay in 5th at 65. In 4th I can pass the trucks. at 70+ If I am in slow traffic and the rpms are too low, it's back to 4th anyways. But a huge difference.

The rest of the ups and downs on my drive to work, I can actually use cruise control in 5th now. I don't normally DD the TJ, but the old Subaru started smoking pretty bad so I'm finding myself really happy with the 33's
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What gears are you running?
 
707kevin said:
There is a hill on my way home on the highway that I had to drop to 4th to continue on with 35's (regardless of speed) With the 33's I can stay in 5th at 65. In 4th I can pass the trucks. at 70+ If I am in slow traffic and the rpms are too low, it's back to 4th anyways. But a huge difference.

The rest of the ups and downs on my drive to work, I can actually use cruise control in 5th now. I don't normally DD the TJ, but the old Subaru started smoking pretty bad so I'm finding myself really happy with the 33's
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My TJ must be fucked then because I have to change down to 4th on any uphill and I am on stock wheels/tires!
 
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Fishtaco said:
My TJ must be fucked then because I have to change down to 4th on any uphill and I am on stock wheels/tires!
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Man it may be time for a set of spark plugs.... You can gradually lose power not realize it and these things don't have a lot of power to lose.
 
Claybirdd said:
I'm debating this same move. Currently have 35x12.5x15 MT's with 4" suspension and 2" body lift running 4.56 gears.
@AndyG Has been convincing me to drop down to 33's and possibly ditching some or all of the body lift.

How much of a difference did you notice? And regrets? And what is your opinion on reducing or ditching my body lift?
Click to expand...
Be sure to tell him it will fit in my shed we can do more work to it if he's got smaller tires....
 
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