Does Anybody Ever Go DOWN in Tire Diameter?

[Zandcwhite]

Especially with the manual, gearing is more critical. With the auto I find I prefer gearing on the higher side. 4.56 and 37's is the sweet spot for me balancing freeway+ speeds and plenty of low end. Having owned/ wheeled JLs from stock 33's up to 38's and geared from 4.10 to 5.38's, I think even the stock XR gearing is a little low on the stock 35's. 5.38s and 38s was worse than 4.10s and 37's with the auto.

Sponsored

 

[ohthatguy]

I successfully emasculated my wrangler 392XR while simultaneously making it the fastest stock(ish) wrangler on the planet, kind of. The tires are comically small on this thing, but it rides so killer.

 

[c4ifford]

I run 37x13.5's on Mopar beadlockson the weekend and then on Monday morning I roll into the shop and have them swap on my 32" factory tires/wheels, then Fri after work, I go to the shop and they swap them back.

hows your alignment?

 

[Zandcwhite]

hows your alignment?

Tires/ wheels don't change the alignment at all, which is why the home alignment brackets bolt to the hubs with the wheels removed.

 

[StingrayMRB]

Good to know. I want to do it but to your point, what to spend money on? It works and while offroading the 4:1 t-case helps so it makes me want to put money into skid plates, better ball joints. drive shafts, etc. I already replaced the ball joints, added full undercarriage skids, on-board air, comms, track bar, steering stabilizer relocation bracket, tools, etc. Gears are coming up since I'm traveling more.

I pulled the plug and put in 4:88s. It made a significant difference in the performance and my mileage. I was pulling 11.9-12.2'ish around town and got up to 15 on the highway. Since the gear change I am showing 13.2 mpg around town and it has been going up although I am pushing factory claims on mileage now. Once I get through the break-in period I will try a small road trip. It also drives more like I expect a manual to drive. My first road trip will be to my offroad spot. With the 4.88's I should have a 100:1 crawl ratio.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

Personally I've been thinking about doing this for a while, not because I think there's any benefit to it, just because I think it would be hilarious seeing a Wrangler rolling around on tiny tires.

Mario Kart anybody?

Sponsored