What's needed to run 31” or 33” tires on a TJ?

[Emily2000tj]

So I’m new to jeeps. 2000 TJ all stock. I just had my dad lift it 2”. He says no bigger than 31” inch tires or it will slow the Jeep down. All my friends say 33”. All my dad did was shocks n springs. He says 2” and less that’s all. Friends are says trac bar and pan drop are also needed. I’m getting confused. I feel my dad is just doing the minimum to save me $$. I read your Jeep guide which confused me more. Here are the particulars that everyone here seem to ask for.
It will be my daily driver and also used on the beach. There are off road trails near me but no rock climbing mostly uneven sandy trails.
The Jeep is a 4 cylinder automatic
With 3.73 gears
the lady before me never did anything to it. It is from Hawaii with no rust I am looking at the ridge grappler tires.

So my questions
1) what other parts needed if any and why besides springs n shock.
2) 33” or 31” tires.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

You have a decent looking Jeep and a story which leads me nowhere as to what anyone else's goal is for you and your Jeep.

How many miles is on it? How did you end up with it?

How old are you? This may be where your dad's (and friend's) ideas are coming from.

Anyway, you shouldn't need a trac bar for a 2" lift and the pan drop would only be to help fix some vibrations that you probably won't have either. You should be able to get 32" tires with that lift, maybe 33" but any tire you get that's bigger than what's on it right now will slow it down some. The bigger they get, the slower you will go, especially with the 4 cylinder automatic. Not a huge problem if you don't take it on the freeway too much and don't drive up long hills too often. Putting around town and to and from the beach, or school, or work shouldn't be too bad.

 

[mots]

I’d say you’re Dad is wise...stick with 31” if you don’t want it to be a dog and lose the OD gear. I would say maybe 32”, but with the 4 speed auto and 4 cyl, I’d just stick with 31” tires unless you want to pay to regear. 31’s and then 15” rims with 4” backspacing would look good.

 

[Emily2000tj]

You have a decent looking Jeep and a story which leads me nowhere as to what anyone else's goal is for you and your Jeep.

How many miles is on it? How did you end up with it?

How old are you? This may be where your dad's (and friend's) ideas are coming from.

Anyway, you shouldn't need a trac bar for a 2" lift and the pan drop would only be to help fix some vibrations that you probably won't have either. You should be able to get 32" tires with that lift, maybe 33" but any tire you get that's bigger than what's on it right now will slow it down some. The bigger they get, the slower you will go, especially with the 4 cylinder automatic. Not a huge problem if you don't take it on the freeway too much and don't drive up long hills too often. Putting around town and to and from the beach, or school, or work shouldn't be too bad.

It’s going to be my daily driver to work. I want it to look good but be a good off road Jeep for the beach plus good for winter snow. I’m 20 and always wanted a Jeep so I saved and got this 80k on it. I’m second owner. Original owner is from Hawaii where she bought it new.

 

[TJ4Jim]

With the 2.5 stick with 31s otherwise like others stated it will kill you performance. I run 31s on my 2.5..

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

It’s going to be my daily driver to work. I want it to look good but be a good off road Jeep for the beach plus good for winter snow. I’m 20 and always wanted a Jeep so I saved and got this 80k on it. I’m second owner. Original owner is from Hawaii where she bought it new.

That all sounds good. Just be sure to look around this site to find out what you should do to keep the rust away. Salt on the roads is wicked and I'd hate to see your Jeep find out the hard way.

 

[Deuxdiesel]

Nothing is needed to run 31's, but I went with Moog springs front and rear from a TJ Rubicon plus a 3/4" spacer and it gave me a great stance on my '97 2.5. Not a big change in power from the 30's I was running, but it looks like it should. Make sure to change your speedo gear as well.

 

[Doctor Bone Smash]

D

Nothing is needed to run 31's, but I went with Moog springs front and rear from a TJ Rubicon plus a 3/4" spacer and it gave me a great stance on my '97 2.5. Not a big change in power from the 30's I was running, but it looks like it should. Make sure to change your speedo gear as well.

Did your rubicon springs stiffen up the ride too much?

 

[05 Blue Unlimited]

Friends are says

Be careful of other people that are willing to spend you money. You don't need those kinds of friends.

I ran 31's for years on stock springs. With a 2" lift 32's would not be a problem BUT you can go most places you'll want to on 31's.

 

[AndyG]

Your dad has it right . What you need to run 31” tires is a set of 31” tires , the lost power with 33”tires negates the higher clearance in my book.

Also, and I’m not being mean .. I’m a Dad with a daughter named Emily, also, and there are several things you need to know ...

1. He’s paying so he has majority vote

2. He knows what he’s doing on the tires ... he’s been your age , and his age too, and this ain’t his first rodeo

3. He loves you and wants you to enjoy it , and wants it safe and reliable .

4. He has to have money left to get you through school, pay for a big wedding one day , plus everything else it takes to care for a family . He has worked his butt off so you can have it.

Hug your Dad, enjoy the Jeep responsibly , wear your seat belt at all times and require all passengers to, put blind spot mirrors on it , never , ever drink or text and drive (its about the same ), don’t fly around corners on wet roads , and don’t let any boys try to get you to take it up things you shouldn’t . Or you are grounded.

 

[jeepins]

Pic in my avatar is stock suspension on 31's which I ran for years. Only thing that bugged me was the tire rubbing on sharp (really sharp) turns in parking lots, etc. I've since put a 2" lift on but kept same size tires and am very happy. Economical, easy to install and doesn't change things enough from stock to worry about anything.

 

[Goatman]

At 20 everybody knows so much more than their dad does. Dads are old and don't know or understand anything.
At 40 you will realize that dad was 20 once too. And he knows a hell of a lot more than you. Listen to your dad. He is one of only 2 people (guess who the other is. And it isn't you.) that have your best interest in mind. All the time.
So ask him why. And not just on a Jeep. You have yet to learn the difference between a 'friend' and someone willing to drink your beer.
Sounds preachy, but true.

 

[Richard Brust]

... 2000 TJ all stock. I just had my dad lift it 2”. He says no bigger than 31” inch tires or it will slow the Jeep down. All my friends say 33”. All my dad did was shocks n springs. He says 2” and less that’s all. Friends are says trac bar and pan drop are also needed. ...
It will be my daily driver and also used on the beach. There are off road trails near me but no rock climbing mostly uneven sandy trails.
The Jeep is a 4 cylinder automatic
With 3.73 gears

So my questions
1) what other parts needed if any and why besides springs n shock.
2) 33” or 31” tires.

Hi Emily - around 7-8 years ago I bought a stock '98 4-cylinder with approx 150k miles. Drove it for years as stock as I wanted to learn how to 4-wheel before starting customizing. I ended up doing close to what you've done, and it's a great build w/o spending tons of money (full disclosure - if I had tons of money I'd spend it in a minute).

First thing I'd suggest is taking time on this forum and reading as much as possible. You'll find good and bad advice, but the good rises to the top. Reading this post quite a few of those people have chimed in.

I did a 2" Old Man Emu (you might see "OME" on this forum, same thing) lift (shocks/springs), with an additional 3/4" coil spacer in front to level it out. Ran stock tires (28") for a year, and only had to do a transfer case drop b/c of a very minor vibration. A few weeks ago put DuraTrac 31" (10.5" wide) on it, and ended up adding an adjustable track bar to re-center (just b/c it bugged me). Also had to add some washers to the steering stop b/c the wider tires rubbed.

There's very few places I cannot go with just the 31's, a spotter, and smart driving - and based on what you say about your plans, you should be fine.

I'd say drive it for a while and figure it out for yourself. You might not need transfer case drop and track bar. Good luck...