Who wheels with 31 inch tires?

You mentioned the other day your yj. Is it on 31s? You wheel it?

I did wheel in quite a bit up near the Canadian border, and in the Silver Valley. It's gone now to a friend who really babies and Pampers the old YJ and its 4 hampster power-plant!

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An open diff TJ/LJ is 2 wheel drive. That wont get you far down south on most trails/off road parks. Im not talking cable hill. I really wont get far in my open diffs down here in Alabama. Be it Grey Rock ORV, Morris Mountain ORV, Stoney Lonesome, HawkPride, or Busted Off Road Park. Most people build full on crawlers down here because trails are so different than out West. Wet slippery rocks require a different style than other places.

Same in Pennsylvania's mountains/coal country, it’s a dark, super wet, lush, green forest environment which means many spots are extremely slippery & due to all the vegetation many perils are obscured, you’re constantly calculating where the trail will push your Jeep & how to react when it does. Sometimes I look at those arid moonscape photos from out west & wonder how it would be picking a line & actually enjoying the reasonable likelihood of staying on it. I have to get pretty creative sometimes to find workarounds on 33s
 
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Yea I am really curious to where folks woth stock TJ’s/LJ’s are “wheeling.”

Are people really tackling rated trails with open diffs front and rear?

All these trails are easy just here in Socal, the entire Old Mojave Road and all of Death Valley is pretty easy.

Rated trails? Honestly what does the term "rated trails" have to do with off-road? And now we're talking about lockers? One of the longest stretches of off road here in socal is the Old Mojave Road and it isn't a rated trail. I just did it with a friend in a 2WD Sequoia. So what? Here in California at the OHV parks the "black diamond" runs are really pretty easy with a stock LJ on 30" tires. The ratings are for SUVs. You don't even have to air down. You can also cover most forest service roads and have a good time. It's still off road and fun. Hundreds of miles of trails across the state.

Your basically saying that vehicles like the FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, Ford Ranger, Pathfinder, F-series, Suburban or Tahoe can't go wheeling because they can't take hardcore trails. Makes no sense.
 
So here in the land of CA weenies everything but the "Extreme" would be a walk in the park. What do those ratings mean for you guys? For example what does it take to run "Advanced" on that map? When I went to Hunter Valley OHV park in CA it was almost silly but I haven't been wheeling where your are.
 
So here in the land of CA weenies everything but the "Extreme" would be a walk in the park. What do those ratings mean for you guys? For example what does it take to run "Advanced" on that map? When I went to Hunter Valley OHV park in CA it was almost silly but I haven't been wheeling where your are.
Was my comments taken as condescending or in any way calling CA wheeling for weenies? If they were, apologies. As CA has some awesome wheeling that I would love to hit sometime.

As for the trail ratings, Calling @JeepZilla380 as he has been atleast a couple of times IIRC.
 
Was my comments taken as condescending or in any way calling CA wheeling for weenies? If they were, apologies. As CA has some awesome wheeling that I would love to hit sometime.

As for the trail ratings, Calling @JeepZilla380 as he has been atleast a couple of times IIRC.
It's the internet and we're all Jeepers. I was just trying to understand what you were getting at and sometimes it's difficult to understand what people are saying. I think that most OHV parks are pretty easy for our rigs that's all.
 
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Newly assembled 265/75/16 tires on rubicon rims with a 2 "or medium load and I love it. No problem of rubbing in steering or compression of the wheels. I use it on the road and I rarely travel any light off-road, without problem.

64679359_386579882209875_6440214404205117440_n.jpg
 
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I did wheel in quite a bit up near the Canadian border, and in the Silver Valley. It's gone now to a friend who really babies and Pampers the old YJ and its 4 hampster power-plant!

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Thanks, but I was asking @Fouledplugs. He wheels a lot in the south. He posted a yj the other day on small tires and was asking if he wheels it. And I asked another member other day about his YJ cause I have some questions, but that’s for another thread.

Edit: I see he only has a stock Tj according to his profile and his stock yj according to his post the other day.
 
It's the internet and we're all Jeepers. I was just trying to understand what you were getting at and sometimes it's difficult to understand what people are saying. I think that most OHV parks are pretty easy for our rigs that's all.

Ain’t been to many parks around here, but the ones I have planned on going 2, have easy trails on about 25 percent of the park. Including the access roads.
 
I found this thread because my goal for my newly acquired, completely stock TJ is to be able to get to/from trailheads and primitive campsites on USFS/BLM roads.

Question for y'all: if i run the existing 31" tires (BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A 31X10.50 R15 LT Load Range C installed by PO on the stock Alcoa rims) and wanted to install some sway bar disconnects to aid traction on those types of roads, would they rub enough to cause problems?

Based on my searches/reading so far, it looks like they would. If that's the case, what would need to be done to prevent that (mild suspension and/or body lift, fenders, etc)?
 
I found this thread because my goal for my newly acquired, completely stock TJ is to be able to get to/from trailheads and primitive campsites on USFS/BLM roads.

Question for y'all: if i run the existing 31" tires (BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A 31X10.50 R15 LT Load Range C installed by PO on the stock Alcoa rims) and wanted to install some sway bar disconnects to aid traction on those types of roads, would they rub enough to cause problems?

Based on my searches/reading so far, it looks like they would. If that's the case, what would need to be done to prevent that (mild suspension and/or body lift, fenders, etc)?
Those tires should not be an issue at all. I ran 31's for years with no problems with rubbing. Now, I did not have disconnects but they were not really needed for USFS/BLM roads in western CO. Even then I would think the stock bump stops would prevent rubbing, if it rubs though that would be the only thing you should have to adjust.
 
I found this thread because my goal for my newly acquired, completely stock TJ is to be able to get to/from trailheads and primitive campsites on USFS/BLM roads.

Question for y'all: if i run the existing 31" tires (BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A 31X10.50 R15 LT Load Range C installed by PO on the stock Alcoa rims) and wanted to install some sway bar disconnects to aid traction on those types of roads, would they rub enough to cause problems?

Based on my searches/reading so far, it looks like they would. If that's the case, what would need to be done to prevent that (mild suspension and/or body lift, fenders, etc)?
You'll be fine.

There's a possibility of minor rub at full flex, with one end of the axle all the way up and the other end fully dropped. But it's minor and not likely to damage the fender.

Turning at full flex may be blocked by the spring perch, but that's sort of an unlikely problem.

If you're doing mild fire roads, you probably won't get into either of those situations.

Go for the disconnects. They help smooth out the trail even if you're not fully flexed.
 
When Jeep engineers got permission to design the most formidable version of the TJ they could , they built the Rubicon. It came stock with 31” tires . They had done their homework, and knew 31 inch tires and 4:10 gears were the best combination mated to that chassis..,,and they had to consider everything....from clearance , to production cost, safety and performance .... many of the same guys developed the TJ , so they knew the vehicle inside and out .
 
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When Jeep engineers got permission to design the most formidable version of the TJ they could , they built the Rubicon. It came stock with 31” tires . They had done their homework, and knew 31 inch tires and 4:10 gears were the best combination mated to that chassis..,,and they had to consider everything....from clearance , to production cost, safety and performance .

Almost. The engineers originally wanted to put 33s under the original Rubicon. But that would have required the same kind of lift and suspension redesign efforts we often go through.

What the engineers actually did was really push the limits of the stock platform. They added a bit of factory front bump stop to keep the tires mostly away from the fender sheet metal. But it is really not quite enough when the sway bar is disconnected.

There is a hint that they almost got what they wanted, though. The 2003 Rubicon speedo is incorrect from the factory. When I put my first set of 285/75r16 tires on, the speedo was really close to accurate.
 
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Almost. The engineers originally wanted to put 33s under the original Rubicon. But that would have required the same kind of lift and suspension redesign efforts we often go through.

There is a hint that they almost got what they wanted, though. The 2003 Rubicon speedo is incorrect from the factory. When I put my first set of 285/75r16 tires on, the speedo was really close to accurate.
There is a great short video on YouTube with the engineer that led that team and introduced it at the Easter Jeep safari , it isn’t long , but really interesting.
 
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Thanks for the confirmations. I've got some time to consider my options while I do all of the 'deferred' ;) maintenance on my new money pit. What can I say? I love a project. This site has been invaluable to me so far and I hope to be able to give back eventually.

The original shocks are on it (108K), so that will be one of the first things I do. I'm wondering if it would be worth it to replace the springs at the same time to gain a slight lift for more clearance? I often see the H&R Sports (1") or Moog 3226/3227 (.5") recommended with the RS5000x or Bilsteins. Any other spring/shock combos I should consider? At this point in my life I'd say I'll be doing 80% street and 20% unpaved and would eventually like to pick up some narrow snow tires to switch out every year.

Weight-wise, I have the 4.0 and manual trans with Dana 30 up front and 44 in the rear. I would guess that I should first decide if I am going to add significant weight (bumpers, winch, hard top) before I make the springs decision?
 
The H&R spring/Rancho RS5000X shock combo would be a nice setup. Put some washers on the steering stops quell the rubbing, or get some wheel spacers to decrease the wheel back spacing. shouldn't need much. H&R also makes some good quality spacers that are hubcentric to match the TJ lug pattern.
 
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Thanks for the confirmations. I've got some time to consider my options while I do all of the 'deferred' ;) maintenance on my new money pit. What can I say? I love a project. This site has been invaluable to me so far and I hope to be able to give back eventually.

The original shocks are on it (108K), so that will be one of the first things I do. I'm wondering if it would be worth it to replace the springs at the same time to gain a slight lift for more clearance? I often see the H&R Sports (1") or Moog 3226/3227 (.5") recommended with the RS5000x or Bilsteins. Any other spring/shock combos I should consider? At this point in my life I'd say I'll be doing 80% street and 20% unpaved and would eventually like to pick up some narrow snow tires to switch out every year.

Weight-wise, I have the 4.0 and manual trans with Dana 30 up front and 44 in the rear. I would guess that I should first decide if I am going to add significant weight (bumpers, winch, hard top) before I make the springs decision?
Be soaking the mount bolts with a penetrant. It will help .
 
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