Can You Put 33" Tires On A 2-Door Wrangler With No Lift Or Leveling?

[Themallcrawler]

Are there any concerns with putting 33" tires on a 2-door wrangler if there's no lift or leveling?

2.0L engine, automatic tranny.

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[Jtclayton612]

Should be fine, if you have the extra fender flare to bumper pieces those may need to come off.

 

[Dyolfknip74]

There is a 2 dr Wrangler that comes stock with 33" tires.

 

[JHTS]

Mine fit no issues.

 

[rkwfxd]

Real 33s or advertised 33s? I have BFG 315s on mine. On paper they are advertised as 34.5" which is why I bought them. I had read that these do NOT rub on a stock Rubicon. I wanted 35s or close to it and these were a good deal and available.

In reality they BARELY measure out to 33.5 inches. I measured them unmounted, mounted on the wheel but not the rig, mounted on the rig, mounted on the rig with no weight and probably a couple of other ways and the max I got was 33.5 inches. Probably less now that they have about 4,000 miles on them. But still, they are "real" 33 inch tires.

On my stock 21 Rubicon 2 door THEY RUBBED in the rear off road, with a load, under flex. I could hear the knobbies rubbing on the fender flares but it was not enough to do damage or even leave a mark to see where the contact was occurring.

I experimented with a custom spacer lift and 2" bump stops in the rear which eliminated the rub.

I have since installed a 2.5" MC GC lift and I am using the same 2" bump stop spacers in the rear and 3" bump stop spacers in the front. No rubbing at all. I have had it FULLY flexed off road with all my gear and nothing rubs.

FWIW YMMV

Good Luck

PS -Stock 285s that come on the Rubicon only measure out to 32 inches.

 

[Some Random Guy]

They fit, but not sure if they rub on stock wheels. Here are mine on aftermarket wheels:

These are Sport flares. As mentioned, a Rubicon comes with these stock and will be fine on stock wheels because of the higher clearance flares.
Yes, I was lifted BUT this is full stuff with no bumpstop, so it is apples to apples with no lift for determining contact. These photos are from when I still had stock control arms too.

 

[Themallcrawler]

Super helpful, thanks all. I guess I should have been more specific: do I need to get specific wheels, or can I use the stock 2-door JL wheels with 33 inch tires and not need to do any re-gearing or have any rubbing issues?

 

[Some Random Guy]

Super helpful, thanks all. I guess I should have been more specific: do I need to get specific wheels, or can I use the stock 2-door JL wheels with 33 inch tires and not need to do any re-gearing or have any rubbing issues?

Rubicon or non-Rubicon? Which do you have?

 

[blnewt]

Rubicon or non-Rubicon? Which do you have?

Yeah, if it's a Rubicon no problem since you have the wider axles and high clearance fenders along w/ lower gearing.

A sport w/ auto transmission is no problem w/ the higher Sport/Sahara gears but w/ the narrower axles and a true 33" that is 12.5" wide, you will have contact at the inner fender/suspension area and also that plastic euro piece that fits between bumper & grill. If you have a 6spd the gearing starts to be an issue although still manageable.

If you plan on a 33 that comes on the Rubicon which is a 285/70/17 these are narrower and shorter than the true 33x12.5 tires so there's more room but still may have some contact at full stuff or full lock on your steering.

 

[rkwfxd]

Thanks much! After measuring, I see that I’m actually getting exactly 34” diameter with a tape measure placed from ground to top of tire tread for my new set (15 on tire gauge) of BFG 315/70 R17 C load rated rubber with 35 psi morning air and sitting on level ground when mounted on the JLR. Good thing I’ve got the Tazer JL Lite so I can adjust speedo cal down from the 34.6 currently entered. The speedo seemed OK but this is more ‘gnats ass’.

I'm the same way. I like to be as accurate as possible. Once I put my numbers into my Tazer I checked the JL speedo with a GPS speedo on my phone and they were right on.

Interesting that you got 34" on your 315/70/17 BFGs and I got 33.5". Yours are C and mine are E. Are you running ATs or MTs? Mine are MTs.

 

[west tex]

Are there any concerns with putting 33" tires on a 2-door wrangler if there's no lift or leveling?

2.0L engine, automatic tranny.

I have 275/70-R18 General grabbers with no lift. Specs list them as 33.2" tall. Did real well at Moab last year. Never a rub.

Also a 2.0T auto.

 

[AcesandEights]

Real 33s or advertised 33s? I have BFG 315s on mine. On paper they are advertised as 34.5" which is why I bought them. I had read that these do NOT rub on a stock Rubicon. I wanted 35s or close to it and these were a good deal and available.

315 is the width, not the height.

...
PS -Stock 285s that come on the Rubicon only measure out to 32 inches.

They're actually 32.8"

 

[rkwfxd]

315 is the width, not the height.



They're actually 32.8"

Please.

I know 315 is the width. I also know how to calculate the diameter based on that width. Clearly you did the same to come up with 32.8” for the 285s. Or maybe not. Good chance you just looked it up on the BFG site which is notoriously optimistic regarding diameter. It’s also clear to me that you did not put an actual tape measure on the tires.

 

[AcesandEights]

285mm isn't 32.8". Tire diameter isn't measured with a load, as the load changes the height. A 33" tire is not 33" when loaded, and it is a different height on a 4,500 lbs JLR or a 5,250 lbs JLUR, especially depending on psi. So, maybe I measured the spare tire on my JLR, and maybe I got wet doing it because it's raining outside. You're welcome.

 

[blnewt]

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