Hi all! New to the page and new TJ owner. I'm curious, if I were to put on a 3.25" lift, what's the largest recommended tire for the stock 15" rims without rubbing. 2000 sport, currently 100% stock.
Max tire size?
- Thread starter Frank13
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40’s… it’s just sheetmetal. 
LOL, j/k…Welcome! Nice jeep! My unscientific opinion starts with questions:
What gearing?
What engine?
5speed/auto tranny?
What wheels and backspacing?
And what’s your use case? Rocks? Fire roads? Just cruising on the highway?
I think 31’s-33’s are a pretty reasonable ballpark but it all depends?
This is a great forum. We’ll help get you sorted out.
LOL, j/k…Welcome! Nice jeep! My unscientific opinion starts with questions:
What gearing?
What engine?
5speed/auto tranny?
What wheels and backspacing?
And what’s your use case? Rocks? Fire roads? Just cruising on the highway?
I think 31’s-33’s are a pretty reasonable ballpark but it all depends?
This is a great forum. We’ll help get you sorted out.
Personally I'd go with 31" tires unless you want to have your axles geared to accommodate larger tires.
One of the rare times that I will not be hitting my “Tonz and Fodeez” function key…
It all comes down to what type of wheeling you’ll do and how fat your wallet is. Anything more than a 2.5” lift and 32s has a cascading effect. Drive shafts. Slip yoke eliminator, motor mounts, stronger axels, regearing, speedo recalibration adjustable control arms the list goes on. Bigger tires mean bigger brakes and new tire carrier. That’s not including lights, 2 way radio, winch, bumpers and all the other crap we put on these things. You don’t have to do it all at once it’s a progression.
Welcome to our world. If you use it often then it’s all worth it. These things are a hell of a lot of fun, you can go to a lot of neat places and you meet some nice people along the way.
My 05 TJR Unlimited with 32s and 2.5” lift.
Welcome to our world. If you use it often then it’s all worth it. These things are a hell of a lot of fun, you can go to a lot of neat places and you meet some nice people along the way.
My 05 TJR Unlimited with 32s and 2.5” lift.
To answer a few questions...
This is/ will be a daily driver. However, I do live in Colorado and would like to be able to do some moderate to medium trails occasionally, and camping, although most of that will actually be done on my KLR, but it's nice to have options. Engine is 4.0 I6. Not sure on the axles yet but I'll check on that tomorrow. 5spd manual. Not looking to go huge, 2.5 -3" or so on lift. Just wondering if 32 or 33 will rub at all. It's currently got 30" BFG A/Ts on the factory 15s. I've had the TJ a little over a week.
See what it'll do on the 30s. I bet you'll be surprised.
A TJ with a 2" lift and 31s is more capable than 98% of what you see driving around, and drives very nicely on the road. That was my plan when I was shopping for one.
Typical forum recommendations:
2” lift for 31’s
3” for 32’s
4” for 33’s
You’re in the 32” range. If you add a 1” BL you could run 33’s.
Will they rub? Depends on the width of tire and wheel backspacing. If you run a 10.5” wide tire on a stock rim you may clear, but it will be close.
A related issue is whether you have an adjustable front trackbar. If you don’t with 3.25” lift them then the axle will be off centered and the passenger side would likely rub.
If you got an adjustable front trackbar and a 1” wheel spacer you would likely not rub. There’s a lot going on.
Do a 2" lift or a 1.25" BL with some aggressive 31" tires.
p.s. @NashvilleTJ did not pay me for the Jeep color in my post.
p.s. @NashvilleTJ did not pay me for the Jeep color in my post.
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One of the rare times that I will not be hitting my “Tonz and Fodeez” function key…
...but its yellow...
That doesn’t look like a Dana35 to me! Stoked for you if it’s a Dana 44.
I think they were all Dana 30 fronts, other than the Rubicons?
Piling on to what has already been stated.
I installed 33" tires with a 4" lift and no body lift. It started out as an LJ Rubicon with a 4:10 ratio and 6spd manual and came stock with 31" tires.
I can get the 33" tires to rub when flexed out.
The 33s would work better with a 4:56 or 4:88 ratio and would need brake upgrade if it was a daily driver.
If mine was a daily driver I would go back to 31s.
I installed 33" tires with a 4" lift and no body lift. It started out as an LJ Rubicon with a 4:10 ratio and 6spd manual and came stock with 31" tires.
I can get the 33" tires to rub when flexed out.
The 33s would work better with a 4:56 or 4:88 ratio and would need brake upgrade if it was a daily driver.
If mine was a daily driver I would go back to 31s.
Thanks! I think I'm probably going to go for a 2.5 suspension lift. I'll be sticking with the 30s until they wear out. They are petty new. After that I'm thinking 31 or 32. I've read that there could be some rubbing issues with the stock 15 rims and larger tires? With that set up, would i need to do other things as far as brakes/ control arms etc?
I only researched my particular set up. Do some digging on the threads and you will find some very knowledgeable folks.
In general, the larger the tire the harder it is on brakes and fuel mileage plus the increased likelihood your be digging into your wallet for gearing.
There could be rubbing due to the backspacing of the stock rims and the wider tires. A small spacer to bring the backspacing to 4" or some washers on the steering stops will fix the rubbing.
At 2.5" of lift your trackbars will be too short and so the axles will be off center. It's not critical for driveability, but it will look off. An adjustable front trackbar and the relocation bracket for the rear will fix that. The control arms are fine for 2.5" lift. You may get vibes due to the rear driveshaft angle. If so you can get an SYE and new rear driveshaft, a 1" MML to help that angle, or a TCase drop (which nobody likes to do). You would also need longer sway bar links both front and rear. Front usually goes to a quick disconnect from someone like JKS. Better brake pads would be good. Black Magic Brake pads and centric rotors all the way. You'll need 1.5-2" of bumpstop on the lower perch up front and the upper perch in the rear. You should cycle the suspension to know exactly how much bumpstop you need.
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