Gearing and Tire Selection

[SparkyIBEW]

Joe, I went with the EVO from some good recommendations. One main reason for the XR package was the 4:56 gears and 35" tires. I thought I'd be content with the KO2's till I considered how bad they preformed in the mud on my Tacoma this last bird hunting season, and I also thought I'd be happy with the 35's. I'm still torn between the 35's and 37's. I no doubt will pull the KO2's and sell them and mount MT tires. All these big ideas have evolved after I placed my order in mid December, it's now in D1 status and suppose to ship next month (supposedly). I've been spending way too much time on this forum brain storming. I found a link on this forum where someone took a lot of his time to make a spread sheet of 35" and 37" tires and all the particulars including what size wheels that are needed. Every one of the 48-37" tires listed required a 8.5-11" wheel. Apparently the 8" XR wheels are fine with 35's.

Most of this stuff is all new to me and I'm just passing it along.

I'm liking that Sting Gray, it's the same color I ordered.

Jim, the shifting down is what I'm really curious about.

And I forgot to mention, I'd probably be towing a single axle 12' trailer with a side x side, so that's another thing.

Yesterday after making some calls and getting some prices on wheels and 37" tires and making a stop at the Jeep dealership where they have a couple Jeeps with 35 and 37" tires to compare, I really started to give this some serious thought..... For about $4000 for new wheels and 37" tires, I'll be getting less gas mileage, gearing will be screwed up a bit, which will make it a tad slower, mountain driving will suck? All that for an extra one inch of ride height and cool looks?

The money is not that big of a deal 'cause I was expecting to pour $$ into this new ride, But.....Right now I'm thinking I'll stay with the stock XR wheels and put on some MT tires and call it good, the gearing then will be a sure thing. If I can't "Wheel" on 35's............ But, that's subject to change, it changes like the time of day.

I wonder what kind of rpm's the 35" tires are turning with 4:56 gears at 70-80 mph?

Sponsored

 

[verapx]

If you get the bead lock rings for the XR wheels then you will have a 17x8.5" wheel. That should eliminate any wheel problems.

 

[Zandcwhite]

4.56 will be good with 37's. We have run 37's and now 38's all over the western states for over 30k miles. No problem with mountain driving or freeway passing at 85mph+. Granted we have the 2.0t which seems less concerned with gearing than the v6 according to hundreds of posters on this forum. We see 8th often. Crawling with the 4-1 tcase gearing really doesn't matter. People have been running wide tires on narrow wheels for decades, makes it less likely to lose a bead when aired down. Here's ours with stock 7.5" wide wheels and 37×12.50's.

And now with 38x13.50's

 

[SparkyIBEW]

And now with 38X13.50's, Wow.

On 7. 5" wheels, did you use wheel spacers?

 

[Zandcwhite]

And now with 38X13.50's, Wow.

On 7. 5" wheels, did you use wheel spacers?

1.5", the tires rubbed the swaybar and lower control arms up front and the inside of the fender in the rear when stuffed without them. We initially did a 2.5" spacer lift, shock extensions, and 37's on stock wheels with no wheel spacers the week before our 1st moab trip 2.5 years ago. Ran top of the world, Fins, Hell's Revenge, poison spider, golden spike, and gold bar rim with no issues. I think we only used the lockers twice and she walked right up the waterfall on gold bar rim. We've made several changes since then, but a set of tires costs about what I have in the suspension at this point. Rock krawler 4.5" springs in the rear, icon springs in the front with a 3/4" spacer, metalcloak rock sport shocks, stabilizer relocation bracket, and fad skid, Rubicon express front lower control arms and track bar, lowered frame side rear track bar bracket, and a synergy drag link with track bar bracket/flip kit. It's a hodge podge but works amazingly well. If I had it to do over again I'd probably go icon stage 7 as we do take a few trips to the desert every year where we put in hundreds of high speed miles. Did 200+ miles in the dirt just 2 days ago at speeds as high as 95mph.

 

[Traveller128]

I have a Extreme Recon Rubicon due next month with the V6 E torque engine and Auto transmission, with 4:56 axle's. It will be a daily driver, around town, highway and a lot of off-road driving. I will drive from the dealership to the tire store to replace the the 35" BF Goodrich KO2 tires the day I pick it up. I've been beating myself up deciding between 35" or 37" tires. Will I regret installing 37's when it comes to highway driving particularly uphill grades (without towing anything)?

Here in Southwest Idaho, when the first sign of dark clouds are approaching in the Owhyee's, It's time to get the" hell out of dodge" to escape the soon to be muddy dirt roads and 2 tracks. The KO2's fail miserably in the slightest mud. I'm looking really hard at the Maxxis Razr M/T and the Mickey Thompsons BB M/T, the Cooper STT along with the Nitto Trail Grapplers. We get all kinds of road conditions here in Treasure Valley, wondering if I will regret having "mudder tires" when the pavement is wet, snowed on, or frosty? Or just simply slow down and take it easy, which is always a good plan......

Maybe a happy medium would be Mickey Thompson's Baja Boss A/T tires? Reading the forums, they are better than the KO2's?

Thanks in advance, Gary

We do a lot of exploring in the Owyhees also. M/T's are about the only thing I think would work when the trails get that slimy top coat where it rains a bit, but doen't soak down. We're going to try AT3W Falkens, simply because they are an all around tire and did really well on our Renegade Trailhawk. Also running skinny instead of wide, I've had better luck with that as I've run wide tires on 4x4 trucks and they just slide around on top in the Danskins or the Owyhees.

I've driven Mickey Thompson M/T's on snow (JK 2 door) in the Ada/Elmore area, and they sucked. AT3W's grip like a cat's claws in comparison. Going to get another set of rims to run the factory Firestone M/T's on and that way I can just swap out for really mucky trail weather. The AT3W's will be the all around tire.

 

[SparkyIBEW]

Thanks for taking the time Zack, notes well taken!

I'll take a look at those Falkens.

About the last week of the bird season I went out, a chilly morning and all the mud was frozen which was easy driving, knowing by afternoon exiting the Owyhee's it would be thawed out and iffy. I barely made it out of there. I figured if I got stuck because of no traction in the mud, I'd have to hang out till after sundown, build a fire, and wait till the mud re froze again. When you can crank your steering wheel back and forth and doesn't effect your direction, and at times at a 45 degree angle traveling in a straight line cause the tires are like donuts, that's not good. i've been told by others that no tire will work in that stuff. Cheers!

 

[blnewt]

Thanks for taking the time Zack, notes well taken!

I'll take a look at those Falkens.

About the last week of the bird season I went out, a chilly morning and all the mud was frozen which was easy driving, knowing by afternoon exiting the Owyhee's it would be thawed out and iffy. I barely made it out of there. I figured if I got stuck because of no traction in the mud, I'd have to hang out till after sundown, build a fire, and wait till the mud re froze again. When you can crank your steering wheel back and forth and doesn't effect your direction, and at times at a 45 degree angle traveling in a straight line cause the tires are like donuts, that's not good. i've been told by others that no tire will work in that stuff. Cheers!

Those Falkens, along w/ the Mickey ATs have the deepest tread for AT-based tires, the tread is in the 19/32nd range vs most ATs that are in the 15 to 16/32nd depth so the off road performance should be pretty good for an AT tread block.

 

[SparkyIBEW]

Aren't the Falkens and Mickey Thompson AT tires resembling the BF Goodrich KO2's a little too much, That's what I want to get away from. That's the problem I have with my KO2's with mud, as soon as the tires hit mud, all the grooves will immediately fill with mud for a baby's ass smooth surface. However, for a All Terrain tire the "Toyo Open Country RT" looks like a good compromise. The lugs are wider spaced. I saw these at the tire store Sunday and we may be on to something with these?

 

[Zandcwhite]

Aren't the Falkens and Mickey Thompson AT tires resembling the BF Goodrich KO2's a little too much, That's what I want to get away from. That's the problem I have with my KO2's with mud, as soon as the tires hit mud, all the grooves will immediately fill with mud for a baby's ass smooth surface. However, for a All Terrain tire the "Toyo Open Country RT" looks like a good compromise. The lugs are wider spaced. I saw these at the tire store Sunday and we may be on to something with these?

I don't have any experience with the open country rt's, but the mt's were awesome on the old jk. The rt is a hybrid design between a full mt and an at. I've never been impressed with any AT off road. That being said I don't live and rarely wheel where ice is a concern so we've always run aggressive MT's. Obviously they are far better in mud, but even sand and deep snow I find the large lugs and big voids work better than any AT on the market. If I needed ice traction, I'd run studded snow tires and keep a set of real tires for off road and the non-frozen months anyway. Off topic, but are you a 291 hand? You guys hosted the western states apprenticeship competition way back in 05 when I competed. 22 year member of local 595 but I've been working out of 332 for the last 15 years.

 

[RudeJeepin]

I've run a few sets of the Falken Wildpeak AT and MT. The MT is obviously better in the mud, but the AT is better at almost everything else. I haven't had any real issues in the mud with the AT, but we don't have much real heavy clay around here.


I might be interested in your XR wheels and tire if you take them off. Might be a good excuse for a road trip.

 

[SparkyIBEW]

RudeJeepin, yes, road trip for sure.. I'm still struggling on a decision and of course delivery.

I've got 46 years in LU440 . We may have crossed paths in 332? I was there with Redwood for five years until I retired when Covid shut everything down.

 

[Zandcwhite]

RudeJeepin, yes, road trip for sure.. I'm still struggling on a decision and of course delivery.

I've got 46 years in LU440 . We may have crossed paths in 332? I was there with Redwood for five years until I retired when Covid shut everything down.

Never worked for redwood, Cupertino for 8 years before I came to Sprig, been here the last 5-6 years. Congrats on the retirement, that's still ~15 years out for me.

 

[blnewt]

Aren't the Falkens and Mickey Thompson AT tires resembling the BF Goodrich KO2's a little too much, That's what I want to get away from. That's the problem I have with my KO2's with mud, as soon as the tires hit mud, all the grooves will immediately fill with mud for a baby's ass smooth surface. However, for a All Terrain tire the "Toyo Open Country RT" looks like a good compromise. The lugs are wider spaced. I saw these at the tire store Sunday and we may be on to something with these?

I would say the Falkens are closer to the BFG, take a look at the tread blocks of all 3, the Mickey Thompsons have quite a bit more spacing between the center tread sections and larger outer lugs, they also have very aggressive sidewall biters. They seem to rate very well in tougher off road conditions, so that might work out better in your situation. All three are 3 peak snow rated and all three are a 45k mile tire, but the Mickeys for the off road win!

 

[zrickety]

The Extreme Recon wheels are 8 inch. Most every 37" tire is calling for 8.5 to 11 inch wheels.

What width wheel should i have and will I need an offset?

What's a good brand of wheels?

And I forgot to mention, the rig will have a 3-1/2" EVO lift.

I'm a fan of Method and Fuel wheels, though I haven't bought them yet. I would shoot for a 9" width probably, you go bigger you are adding mass which will slow you down.

Sponsored