Largest tires with 3.07 gears?

[Scott Davidson]

Hello friend, when i bought the jeep used it had 32 11.50 x 15s on it with a 2 inch lift block that sat on top of the springs in the tower. I removed those and installed a new 4 inch lift. Then went to 33s. I never had any issues with either one.

 

[H_E_H]

so crawled under the Sahara and sadly saw that I’m running 3.07s....my plan was to get about 3-3.25” and run 33’s but now I’m not sure that’s very wise with my gearage. What’s everyone’s opinions on the largest tire to run with 3.07s? I imagine way down the road I’ll do a gear swap to 3.73s or 4.11s. Oh and this Jeep is going to be on the road 80% of the time and the other 20% will be hunting land and the occasional trail ride. Thanks as always.

Cal, what have you decided to do? I'm in the same situation with an automatic '99. It definitely needs new tires and unless I can squeeze just a bit more larger-ness, I'll probably just stick with same size: 235/75R 15

 

[Damazzaro]

Cal, what have you decided to do? I'm in the same situation with an automatic '99. It definitely needs new tires and unless I can squeeze just a bit more larger-ness, I'll probably just stick with same size: 235/75R 15

Daily commute might not be all that bad but off-roading will kinda suck. My 33s with 3.07 needed so much more gas when off-roading and didn't have any pep during daily driving. For me the daily driving part didn't bother me as I have another daily driver, but I'd still advise against it.

 

[Cal]

Cal, what have you decided to do? I'm in the same situation with an automatic '99. It definitely needs new tires and unless I can squeeze just a bit more larger-ness, I'll probably just stick with same size: 235/75R 15

I have a good bit of tread life on the BFG KOs that came on the Jeep when we bought it so I haven’t been in a rush to make a decision. However, I am a planner and always try think 20 steps ahead so this is my plan as of right now....get paint correction done to the body to take out all the little imperfections in the paint and get it back to great condition (it’s really nice right now), winch, .75 inch spacer up front for the sag that’ll come with adding a winch and then a set of 31inch pro comp mts and then when the mts start to go I’ll probably get 2” Pro Comp coils, Rancho shocks and 32x11.50 TSL swampers. I have been meankng to research and see if the Ranchco shocks are 0-2” lift and I can go ahead and get them but haven’t asked the elders of this forum. Haha. Sorry for the novel.

 

[Cal]

Cal, what have you decided to do? I'm in the same situation with an automatic '99. It definitely needs new tires and unless I can squeeze just a bit more larger-ness, I'll probably just stick with same size: 235/75R 15

What tires are you thinking about getting?

 

[Sancho]

Looking at the same coil and shock setup.. but I find myself gravitating back to the zone combo.

 

[AJBlack98TJ]

so crawled under the Sahara and sadly saw that I’m running 3.07s....my plan was to get about 3-3.25” and run 33’s but now I’m not sure that’s very wise with my gearage. What’s everyone’s opinions on the largest tire to run with 3.07s? I imagine way down the road I’ll do a gear swap to 3.73s or 4.11s. Oh and this Jeep is going to be on the road 80% of the time and the other 20% will be hunting land and the occasional trail ride. Thanks as always.

I’ve been running 33’s with 3.07 gears for about 10 years. I’ve never gotten stuck or couldn’t get over an obstacle due to being under geared. I do plan to go up to 4.56 when I get lockers due to the amount of work I would need to do just to get the lower gears. Until then it would be pointless.

 

[GreenJeep511]

Thanks for posting this question... Had same question but mines a 5spd.

When I bought my TJ I sort of figured lifts and tires would be super easy but there is so much nuance, and honestly I wonder why Jeep ever bothered with these stock tire sizes and gear ratios. Even with 235s and the 3.07 ratio I find myself just using 4Lo because I like to creep around the hunting club - also the stock suspension is rougher than I ever imagined. I find myself goosing the throttle and doing a ton of clutching in 4Hi. It's a very hilly area with rutted out roads. 2nd gear in 4Lo gives me about the speed I get from 1st gear in 4Hi but with gobs of torque.

Good to see a fellow Bham TJ owner on here, I've probably passed you at some point on the roads.

 

[billiebob]

I’ve been running 33’s with 3.07 gears for about 10 years. I’ve never gotten stuck or couldn’t get over an obstacle due to being under geared.

Same, 10 years on my YJ. 33x9.50s. Never used 5th gear unless I was in 4LO. But in 4LO it was like a Mustang on forestry roads, easily hitting 60mph. And 1st gear, 4LO was as low as I ever needed "crawling" thru ditches to get to the beach.

But in reality, 3.07s are best with 30x9.50 tires or smaller.

 

[Fonz54]

im going to assume you have a 5 speed manual?

when i bought my jeep it had 3.07's with 31" tires. its was OK (ish) around town but trying to go more then 65-75 really sucked. i could barely use 5th gear at all. while this set up does "work" it was a real dog when it came to power. even on drive up an incline on a freeway 6% grade was rough constant down shifting back down to 3rd.
re-gearing is not cheap my advice is when you know what tires you want to run then you can re-gear for that size.

Same for me 3.07s with 31" tires. Fine around town, OK on the freeway as long as there are not any hills. On hills fifth gear is useless. Off road is limited to fire roads and light trail runs. When the budget can handle it will regear to 4.56.

Lou