Tire fittting question

[jfrabat]

Hey, guys, I've got a question for you;

I want to put 33" tires on my rig, and was going to do a spring over axle conversion to do so. But I started thinking, and what if I use a 1" Body Lift (I'd rather not use more than one inch of body lift, so I am sticking to this amount) and put some bushwacker or TJ flares and cut the wheel wells? Do you think I could still fit the 33" tires?

By the way, I have aftermarket wheels... American Racing Outlaw II.

My reasoning is that if I can fit the 33" tires without a "real" lift, my center of gravity will remain fairly low (higher than stock, but lower than with lift) and this will be better for offroading once I take the Jeep down south to Panama... Any thoughts?

Felipe

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

TJ flares would barely allow the fitment of 31" tires, and the 1" body lift would only realistically increase allowable tire size to 32". I'd recommend a full-length add-a-leaf for another 1.5"-2" to run 33" tires without rubbing. I ran that combo and it worked well.

I made my own add-a-leaves from a used pair of front spring packs, using the top two leaves from each pack. This ensures the same spring rate and height all the way around, and gave 1.5" of lift without making the ride harsh, and keeping the stock shocks. I've done this on a few YJ's with the same 1.5" result and soft ride.

You'll need to cut the spring eyes off the main leaves of the donor springs, and buy 4 new centering pins (bolts) for the leaf packs. Got mine at O'Reilly's.

 

[TwistedCU]

Lookinf at the pic of your jeep, I doubt a 1" lift and trimming will clear 33's with that much backspacing. It looks as you need that for what you have on there now.

Get a 3.5"-4" suspension kit and be done with it

 

[Wrangl3r93]

Lookinf at the pic of your jeep, I doubt a 1" lift and trimming will clear 33's with that much backspacing. It looks as you need that for what you have on there now.

Get a 3.5"-4" suspension kit and be done with it

Amen! I have 4.5 inches of lift and 33's and still rub at a full flex. Anything less i'd be scared to take over a speedbump even with trimming. Keep it simple with a spring under you'll still get good flex

She's got more than that i had to stop due to the bricks but not too shabby for a spring under. And the 33's fit in there quite nicely

 

[jtjwrangler]

Springover will give you more flex and less thing hanging down under the axle. I just installed a springover on my friends cj using stock yj springs. I took off a 4" lift he had to do this and the jeep sits about 1-2" higher after the spring over than the 4" lift did. If you decide the springover with stock springs do not install shackle reversal because it will reverse the effects and be a waste of time. Shackle reversal only work if you have lift springs with a arch in them. Stock springs are almost flat at ride height. You might experience wheel hop with a springover. But install a traction bar like sams offroad has and it works great. Tj flares will give you more tire clearance with a little trimming and will help with 33" tires. It all comes down to what you want or need.

 

[jfrabat]

Thanks for the feedback, guys...

My original plan was a SOA conversion, but I was wondering if I could run these tires (which to me, is the minimum to be hitting trails) without lifting the Jeep in order to get better balance on the jeep (kee the CG as low as possible). But it seems like this may not be possible.

So it looks like I will continue with the SOA plan...

Twisted, you are right; right now I do not have enough clearence (I have tire rub even with street bump kind of flexing... Bounty, I think I prefer to go the SOA way to retain as much flex as possible... Red, is that a YJ? Seems you also have the Outlaw II wheels, by the way, so it is a good idea on what mine would look like... jtj, thanks for your thoughts.

So now for more questions:

1. What SOA kit would you recommend?
2. Will I need a SYE and shaft for a SOA?
3. Will I need an over the top steering conversion to eliminate bump steering?

Felipe

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

I wouldn't discount your original plan, there's a lot to be said for a low COG with the benefits of larger tires. Sounds to me like you're on the right track.

I'll be doing a SOA soon, and have TJ flares, but this is with D44 axles and 35"-36" tires. 5.38 gears help too

 

[jtjwrangler]

What about replacing your hood with a rockcrawler hood from www.4wheeler.com and trim your rear wheelwells. You could gain amoust enough clearance that way.

 

[jfrabat]

I could not find the hood you mention... But I think I'll end up going SOA. Just not in 2007.

 

[jtjwrangler]

Sorry forgot the "s". Its www.4wheelers.com It provides about 5" of tire clearance over stock.

 

[jfrabat]

I like this for a rock crawling rig, but mone is a daily driver, so I cannot go in this direction (damned laws!!!)

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Those are 31's on your YJ in your sig pic? Wow. Seems like I remember having a lot more clearance on mine before the lift with 31's than that. Have your stock springs sagged much? Mine hadn't, they were still pretty close to original shape when I got my lift, or so the guy at the 4x4 shop said.

 

[jfrabat]

Yes, they are 31" tires on the sig pic.

To be honest, I dont have the slightest idea about the sag... I bought this Jeep in September, and it's my first Jeep. It came with the wheels and tires that it has on right now... But looking at the picture, it looks better in real life (about 3 fingers worth of space there; not enough really, but not as bad as the picture leads to believe)