Who wheels with 31 inch tires?

Down south 31s won’t get you very far. To many hills and to much rain. Everything gets washed out.
Yea I am really curious to where folks with stock TJ’s/LJ’s are “wheeling.”

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

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.
 
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31.6" Duratracs (265/75R16s) and I don't plan to go any higher.


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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?

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.

Been looking through build treads here. I just started this morning. Haven’t seen an 37s or larger yet. I’m reading one that legit has a 3.5” lift and he wheels many trails in Colorado.
You won’t find trails in Georgia or Alabama that will be fun on 31s even locker all the way arounds.
You mentioned the other day your yj. Is it on 31s? You wheel it?
 
Been looking through build treads here. I just started this morning. Haven’t seen an 37s or larger yet. I’m reading one that legit has a 3.5” lift and he wheels many trails in Colorado.
You won’t find trails in Georgia or Alabama that will be fun on 31s even locker all the way arounds.
You mentioned the other day your yj. Is it on 31s? You wheel it?

Colorado is a funny place. Despite the appearances and presentation, a stock-ish TJ can actually get most places out here and you will see many wonderful things along the way. Most of our trails are old mining access roads cut into the mountain where regular work trucks needed to travel. They weren't doing that on 40s.
 
Colorado is a funny place. Despite the appearances and presentation, a stock-ish TJ can actually get most places out here and you will see many wonderful things along the way. Most of our trails are old mining access roads cut into the mountain where regular work trucks needed to travel. They weren't doing that on 40s.
Im on page 18 of yours. So far you’ve done a ton of work and only on what 33s? And you wheel Colorado a lot.
There’s isn’t anything close to that here in Georgia or across the state line in Alabama. Maybe some state forest roads, but that’s boring beyond beliefs.
 
Im on page 18 of yours. So far you’ve done a ton of work and only on what 33s? And you wheel Colorado a lot.
There’s isn’t anything close to that here in Georgia or across the state line in Alabama. Maybe some state forest roads, but that’s boring beyond beliefs.

Still on 33s, though the Jeep is setup very well for 35s with a couple odd caveats. If there is anything useful to take from mine, it is that I haven't focused on running the largest possible tire when there are other aspects to consider.

We see Subarus in places that would terrify a visiting giant Texas JKU. ;)
 
Colorado is a funny place. Despite the appearances and presentation, a stock-ish TJ can actually get most places out here and you will see many wonderful things along the way. Most of our trails are old mining access roads cut into the mountain where regular work trucks needed to travel. They weren't doing that on 40s.
Wanting to travel to Colorado one day just to wheel it. Trails there look awesome.
 
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We're running 265/70/16 on stock moabs and the tires are all season and have been to Uwharrie 3 times .. finally got gonads enough to do more that the easy trail and have been on all of them except Daniel..have scraped the skids several times and when we do I say hey jr (14 yo son) make sure were not trailing oil lol but so far so good ... looking to get off road tires soon maybe ko2 or km3 31/10.5/16... lift around tax time depending what jeep we find for the wife as she drives mine daily to work

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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?

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.

Mine isn't stock but it is on 31's, which was the original question. I have only watched videos of southern wheelin. You need big tires/diffs/HP because they are all about mashing on the skinny pedal to get up slimmed over boulders. West wheelin seems more about finesse and proper tire placement.
 
31s, front lockers, and wisdom will get you there.


I dont have alot of "action" shots, just final result.



But to give you an idea if what you can do nearly stock.. sidewinder in corral canyon and bronco peak was pretty grueling.

Vid is not me, as I ran it 10 years ago.. but I made it through on 30's.


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And this guy....
 
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What tire size you need all depends on the terrain you are trying to conquer. Where I am in TX there is limestone, granite and mud. I started wheeling 31’s. Found myself on the skid, hitting diffs, scraping gas tank skid, control arms. It became apparent that the fire road philosophy being touted by mostly PNW members wouldn’t work here. I noticed it wouldn’t work in the bogs and swamps of the Deep South either. They can easily build to 37’s, 40’s. Then you’ve got the folks in CA, mostly rocks, small and large, needs 35” builds, can justify more. For something like Slickrock a lot can be done on smaller builds, 32’s, 33’s. CO looks like a wide range.

What do you want to do? Where are you going? Are you sightseeing or looking for the next challenge? Build for that. Stock TJ can go many places, but also cannot go many places. This is reality. Nothing wrong with whatever choice a person makes.
 
My LJ has a 1” suspension lift and 31” all terrains. Took it Bantam Jeep fest a few weeks ago to do an easy trail ride. Well all the rain the week before and guys with bigger tires running through created some nasty ruts. It made it through fine but there were some sections where I was scraping the diff and bottoming out pretty bad. Made me wish I had better clearance and larger/ better tires for sure.

 
PNW, Wa and Oregon trails we have everything imaginable. Western side of the Cascades or on the Peninsula is wet and muddy. Tight technical trails like back east and slick mud we affectionately refer to as eel snot. Eastern Wa/ Or. is much dryer and rocky, much like Northern California but steeper. Also have massive sand dunes and desert terrain. Some rock crawling even. We have it all, great place to come wheeling even though we don’t get the recognition that other western states do.
Around here People can wheel probably 75% of trails on 31’s. Add lockers, winch and good driving and that probably goes up to 85-90%. So just stay off that 10-15% unless you like walking miles back to camp to get help. I think a good compromise size tire for the TJ is 33”. That seems to work the best on my daily driver and still allows me to drive most places I want to go off-road. The main thing is know your driving skills and machines limitations, then get out there and have fun. If that means 31’s and easier trails, so be it.