Who wheels with 31 inch tires?

Halfstock

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 23, 2019
Messages
197
Location
North Idaho
Who wheels their TJ with 30's or 31's?

Yep, these forums are packed with information to make our rides tougher, more capable, this resource is AMAZING! However, not everyone either needs, nor wants 33's or 35's for how they use their Jeeps. At times I wonder if new Jeep owners get overwhelmed with all the focus on bigger tires, re-gearing, bigger lifts and more armor? These rigs are pretty capable machines as they came from the show-room let us see what they can do!

So, let's see who still wheels on 31's and smaller tires, and where they go, and what they do with their TJ's!
 
I had a couple Wranglers with 31’s. If your only doing moderate wheeling and your careful they’ll get you by but you’ll obviously be dragging your undercarriage allot. The nice thing with 31’s is in most cases you won’t need to regear, your tires being the limiting factor off-road. On road with the 4.0 motor your fine. I think Jeep runs 31’s on the Rubicon Trail to get the Trail rating? I see people on the trails all the time running 30-31’s on basically stock Jeeps, Run what you brung style.

33’s are my personal favorite on a TJ, the starting point for “big” tires. Great all around performance and manors on road, look great on your Jeep and work much better than 30-31’s off-road for sure. Also the tall lifts and other more radical mods aren’t as necessary running 35’s. 2-3” lift, 1” body-lift and a recommended regearing , your good to go.
 
I think quite a few guys on here wheel their 30/31’s on the SE usually. Build for what you do. I think most on here would agree.
30/31’s will get you hella places. Will it get you through JV? Nope. But they can take on FS roads no worries. Little off roading.
They are a boat load cheaper to run also
 
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I'm still on 31s with stock suspension. Here's me making it down a waterfall in Anza Borrego without any drama (but with excellent spotting by our trail leader from SDJC!).

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The 31s are fine for moderate trails, but there are clearly limitations. There are quite a few trails around here that I wouldn't attempt without bigger tires and a lift kit. The official Jeep club runs often require 33s and lockers, which I don't have. I can still go out and play on the social days though.

The 31s are plenty for me on unofficial days out. I can tackle fire roads that are pretty rutted or rocky without any trouble. And I can get out in the desert or up in the mountains and have some fun, which is the whole point.
 
Sometimes I look back on going out into the pucker brush with my grandfather and uncle, we went places that amazed me, and the CJ was outfitted with bias-ply 10-15LT's and open diffs. We went absolutely anywhere we wanted... I don't know, maybe we have higher expectations of our rigs today. Or have the trails become tougher? (I know for a fact however, our TJ's ride much more smoothly than that bygone era's best trail runners!)

The old bias-ply tires looked similar to these... and in my memory about as worn too!

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Oh I absolutely love my 31's.

Don't get me wrong I love bigger tires too, but I love the look of a stock-ish TJ with 31's. Obviously your limited to the type of obstacles you can take on but that goes with out saying. I get out all the time on all types of trails and terrain and every time I go out exploring with my Jeep I am consistently impressed with its capability.

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Sometimes I look back on going out into the pucker brush with my grandfather and uncle, we went places that amazed me, and the CJ was outfitted with bias-ply 10-15LT's and open diffs. We went absolutely anywhere we wanted... I don't know, maybe we have higher expectations of our rigs today. Or have the trails become tougher? (I know for a fact however, our TJ's ride much more smoothly than that bygone era's best trail runners!)

The old bias-ply tires looked similar to these... and in my memory about as worn too!

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This is a good post . Look at the rock crawling world and also the dirt bike hard enduro world ....everything is so extreme today .

We have “energy drinks”....growing up you just drank 5 cokes and went nuts.


The good old days were pretty good.
 
My TJ is setup with 31" x 10.5" DuraTrac tires. I mainly drive FS roads, both snow covered and not, and do some light off-roading. So far they've done everything I've wanted to do without an issue, and I can't say they've limited me much. I would like to go to 33" x 12.5" tires when I need new ones mainly for the added benefit in the snow.
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Wheeled on 31’s for awhile. Loved them, but needed more for my terrain. I think people look for harder trails and growing their jeep. 31’s is like holding hands with your girl for the first time. After awhile you want 33’s and to put your hands to elsewhere. Enough, you get the point.

I think the best budge build is a Rubicon manual on 32’s with 2.5” OME and a small tuck. Take you many, many places.
 
We won WWII with Jeeps no where near what a stock TJ can do. The Rubicon and many others were run by CJ 2's and 3's. Admittedly the lines were far less extreme. But for probably 90% of people that take their Jeeps off road a 31" tire will work if the driver is up to the task. A lot of money is spent to make you think you need 1 ton axles with 40" tires powered by an engine from an Abrams tank. Start small and see if you need more. But to be honest, I like to do more than hold hands!😉