2021 JLR - Which 31" Tires?

[WAOLIFE]

Thinking about ditching the stock 33" tires for some 31" tires. Will that look stupid on a Rubicon?

Thinking it'll give me better torque for off road. I do pretty difficult trails and think the additional torque will be great.

Any suggestions on tires for mixed rock and mud, for the PNW?

My only suggestion if you are looking to go this route with the tire size is . . . trade your Jeep in for a Subaru

Sponsored

 

[AcesandEights]

@WAOLIFE I originally tried to order a Subaru with 4:1 t-case, 4.11 diffs and lockers front and rear but they referred me to Jeep. If you know of a Subaru model or trim with those, please let me know because I've heard they have a lot of ground clearance.

 

[TrailSnail]

This thread gave me autism.

 

[AcesandEights]

Sorry about that @TrailSnail

I read so much about needing to modify the Jeep, due to an anemic 3.6L, having to re-gear, that I thought it made more sense to gain 6% more torque and better crawl ratio by just replacing the stock tires with 31" tires when they wear out. A lot less money for smaller tires than taller, and all the money spent buying bigger tires, a lift, and then a couple grand to re-gear, especially considering a Jeep on 35" tires will only have two inches more ground clearance than one with 31" tires, and I've seen stock Saharas on most of the trails I run.

 

[blnewt]

Sorry about that @TrailSnail

I read so much about needing to modify the Jeep, due to an anemic 3.6L, having to re-gear, that I thought it made more sense to gain 6% more torque and better crawl ratio by just replacing the stock tires with 31" tires when they wear out. A lot less money for smaller tires than taller, and all the money spent buying bigger tires, a lift, and then a couple grand to re-gear, especially considering a Jeep on 35" tires will only have two inches more ground clearance than one with 31" tires, and I've seen stock Saharas on most of the trails I run.

What situations have you gotten yourself into that the 3.6 is anemic, especially w/ the 4:10s on your 32.5s??? Maybe high speed dune running or high speed mud bogging, but most any other off road situation that 3.6 w/ those gears should be golden.

 

[Zandcwhite]

What situations have you gotten yourself into that the 3.6 is anemic, especially w/ the 4:10s on your 32.5s??? Maybe high speed dune running or high speed mud bogging, but most any other off road situation that 3.6 w/ those gears should be golden.

Anybody who calls the JL with the 3.6L anemic has probably never driven any other wrangler ever. Before the 392, the last jeep v8 (amc 304) made 125hp and 220 ftlbs. The almost legendary 4.0L made 190hp and 235 ftlbs. Now let's talk about the actual anemic engines...2.5L 4 cyl made 120hp and 140ftlbs. The 3.8 v6 in the early jk's made 196hp and 232ftlbs. The JL has better gearing than virtually all of those, plus 89 to 165 more hp and 25 to 120 more ftlbs. Compared to the 4xe, ecodiesel, or 392, sure it's anemic, but none of those are available in a 2 door. Using tire size reduction to gain torque is negligible at best, as gearing does more than enough torque multiplication especially in 4 low. A tune would do more for usable torque than a minor tire size change ever could.

 

[blnewt]

Anybody who calls the JL with the 3.6L anemic has probably never driven any other wrangler ever. Before the 392, the last jeep v8 (amc 304) made 125hp and 220 ftlbs. The almost legendary 4.0L made 190hp and 235 ftlbs. Now let's talk about the actual anemic engines...2.5L 4 cyl made 120hp and 140ftlbs. The 3.8 v6 in the early jk's made 196hp and 232ftlbs. The JL has better gearing than virtually all of those, plus 89 to 165 more hp and 25 to 120 more ftlbs. Compared to the 4xe, ecodiesel, or 392, sure it's anemic, but none of those are available in a 2 door. Using tire size reduction to gain torque is negligible at best, as gearing does more than enough torque multiplication especially in 4 low. A tune would do more for usable torque than a minor tire size change ever could.

Yeah, my CJ5 had a built 401 from a Cherokee, it was quite a beast, but I also had a T19 compound low Ford transmission. The 8AT combined w/ the 3.6 V6 has better response, even w/ the civilian 3:45 gearing. But that crawl ratio back then was damn impressive

 

[Zandcwhite]

Yeah, my CJ5 had a built 401 from a Cherokee, it was quite a beast, but I also had a T19 compound low Ford transmission. The 8AT combined w/ the 3.6 V6 has better response, even w/ the civilian 3:45 gearing. But that crawl ratio back then was damn impressive

We’ve owned a dozen or so Jeeps over the years, and none of them felt as quick as our jlur with the 2.0t. My old wagoneer with a built 360 with fuel injection had more torque for sure, as did the 01 grand with 4.7L v8, but this JL is impressive even on 37’s.

 

[AcesandEights]

Anybody who calls the JL with the 3.6L anemic has probably never driven any other wrangler ever...

Compared to the 4xe, ecodiesel, or 392, sure it's anemic, but none of those are available in a 2 door...

You said it brother, or sister.

 

[engineXI]

I, for one, support the OP in their endeavor. It is persons like this that break the mold, destroy group think, and pioneer the innovations of the future. Without people like this we wouldn't have things like pop tarts, hot Cheetos, or Thigh-Master.
The original question was which tires.
I recommend Mickey Thompson Sportsman -31/18/20. High quality performer.
https://tiresize.com/tires/Mickey-Thompson/Sportsman-SR-Radial-31X18R20.htm

 

[Zandcwhite]

I, for one, support the OP in their endeavor. It is persons like this that break the mold, destroy group think, and pioneer the innovations of the future. Without people like this we wouldn't have things like pop tarts, hot Cheetos, or Thigh-Master.
The original question was which tires.
I recommend Mickey Thompson Sportsman -31/18/20. High quality performer.
https://tiresize.com/tires/Mickey-Thompson/Sportsman-SR-Radial-31X18R20.htm

Break the mold by running 31's on a Jeep... never been done before. All those people buying lifts, fender flares, cutting the small wheel openings on previous gen 4x4's, etc to fit big tires before Jeep finally caught on and designed the JL to fit a 35 from the factory were just group thinking and never went off road? Likely billions of dollars spent over the last 30 years modding for big tires, all for nothing. We should have stayed on 31's the whole time and just drug our rigs over every Boulder.

 

[AcesandEights]

Break the mold by running 31's on a Jeep... never been done before. All those people buying lifts, fender flares, cutting the small wheel openings on previous gen 4x4's, etc to fit big tires before Jeep finally caught on and designed the JL to fit a 35 from the factory were just group thinking and never went off road? Likely billions of dollars spent over the last 30 years modding for big tires, all for nothing. We should have stayed on 31's the whole time and just drug our rigs over every Boulder.

Someone who gets it. Preach!

 

[Zandcwhite]

Someone who gets it. Preach!

Not to beat the dead horse, but a JL on 31's will have ~9.8" of ground clearance, on 35's ~11.8", on 37's ~12.8". As you said, it's only an extra 2" from 31's to 35's. Now look at that as a percentage. 35's have 20% more ground clearance and 37's have 30% more ground clearance than 31's, but I'm sure it doesn't make a difference offroad...

 

[AcesandEights]

You're probably right. It probably makes very little difference off road in all but the most extreme cases. Most of the time, and in most cases, the SFA/SRA combination probably kind of precludes the need for an inch or two more ground clearance. That's one of the reasons I'd much rather have a SFA/SRA set up than a Subaru, which happens to have almsot the same ground clearance as a stock Wrangler 9.5" / 9.7"). I guess you kind of keep proving the point, whatever that is.

Sponsored