How many members here wheel serious off road with stock size tires and OEM lift?

[OllieChristopher]

I was thinking of what size tires I would get if I purchased a 2 door Rubicon. I have come to the conclusion to just leave it with stock size 285's and see what it can do. I am not putting down anyone who wants to go big.

Some background on myself: I have ridden/driven off highway desert since a kid. I've taken my XR600, 650R, KTM300, KFX700 (quad), and latest Beta 498 on some of the nastiest trails imaginable. I even raced District 37 desert for few seasons with my KTM300.

I do have a bunch of anecdotal experience of what I actually see on the hard core "black diamond" trails. Almost every time I see some Jeep Wrangler/truck with huge tires up to my chest broken with a line of rigs behind waiting for a repair.

With my lack of Jeep experience (having never owned a 4wd), I think It would be too easy to get myself over my head with a lift and large tires.

I believe I would be much better served with skid plates, rock sliders, diff guards, etc. Along with replacing OEM chassis components with beefier aftermarket as they wear out/break on the trail. Maybe a nice set of shocks to compliment the OEM lift.

For those of you experienced in wheeling what is your take on my thinking? Am I out of line in regards to being conservative? I honestly have no desire to beat the crap out of my rig on some of those outrageous King Of Hammer style trails. In fact I stopped riding those kind of trails when I got rid of my KTM300.

I would politely ask keep this thread on track: This is not about anyone who is lifting or going larger tires for looks. My opinion on the Jeep Wrangler is it's mostly a vehicle for it's function off highway!! I don't want this thread flooded with posts by those who are not going to actually use these rigs off road.

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[At Risk Ute]

I wheel(ed) my ‘21 JLR and ‘19 JLS on the stock Rubicon suspension and tires. Amazing what any stock JL can do.

I hang with my JKU friends wearing 37s. Just have to be more vigilant / take different lines.

My opinion is it’s better to build up experience first.

 

[redracer]

In short, Yes. But, my suggestion is to do armor first! Rock sliders should be #1 on your mod list.

I wheeled my '18 JLUR (4-door Rubicon) through two difficult trails a few times before I did my lift and tires and it did great!. When I bought my JL new, the first two mods where a winch and rock sliders. Shortly after they where on, I went through the Niagra Rim trail and it did great, with only a few times where steel met rocks. The same goes for the Slickrock trail. I had my JL for 2 years before I put on my 2.5" lift, and another year after that for my 35's. These of course make everything easier, but they are by no means essential.

 

[Rachel Ruby]

I was thinking of what size tires I would get if I purchased a 2 door Rubicon. I have come to the conclusion to just leave it with stock size 285's and see what it can do. I am not putting down anyone who wants to go big.

Some background on myself: I have ridden/driven off highway desert since a kid. I've taken my XR600, 650R, KTM300, KFX700 (quad), and latest Beta 498 on some of the nastiest trails imaginable. I even raced District 37 desert for few seasons with my KTM300.

I do have a bunch of anecdotal experience of what I actually see on the hard core "black diamond" trails. Almost every time I see some Jeep Wrangler/truck with huge tires up to my chest broken with a line of rigs behind waiting for a repair.

With my lack of Jeep experience (having never owned a 4wd), I think It would be too easy to get myself over my head with a lift and large tires.

I believe I would be much better served with skid plates, rock sliders, diff guards, etc. Along with replacing OEM chassis components with beefier aftermarket as they wear out/break on the trail. Maybe a nice set of shocks to compliment the OEM lift.

For those of you experienced in wheeling what is your take on my thinking? Am I out of line in regards to being conservative? I honestly have no desire to beat the crap out of my rig on some of those outrageous King Of Hammer style trails. In fact I stopped riding those kind of trails when I got rid of my KTM300.

I would politely ask keep this thread on track: This is not about anyone who is lifting or going larger tires for looks. My opinion on the Jeep Wrangler is it's mostly a vehicle for it's function off highway!! I don't want this thread flooded with posts by those who are not going to actually use these rigs off road.

I did serious off roading in my 2020 Stock Rubicon only mod was a winch , no issues very capable vehicle it was 2 door manual v6 . I did my first badge of honor trail with my stock Rubicon , I sold it earlier this year to upgrade to the Rubicon extreme recon package

 

[Bryce]

I now have what I call the worlds smallest lift kit... 3/4" F&R Daystar lift on my 2019 JLUR. Still running the stock 285/70R17 BFG KO2s. Prior to that I still wheeled it. Made it through Coppenger Cove TN and Beasley Knob in GA with little scraping and klanging.

I do plan on 315/70R17 tires when the stock tires wear out.

 

[runningshoes]

In my (limited) experience the addition of a lift (1 1/2" - 2 1/2") avoids the majority of the run ins that require skid plates, guards, sliders, etc., especially given your note about not trying to hit the harder trails up front. Obviously this is dependent on where you're riding.

 

[bjm00se]

Most folks going to the really large tire sizes are running "Wrangler Unlimited" four doors with the longer wheelbase and corresponding breakover angle penalty.

The shorter two door wheelbase allows you to have a lot more capability at stock height or mildly lifted.

33" tires (i.e. stock on the Rubicon) used to be considered large. It's the size I "upgraded" to on my Tacoma. The tire hasn't changed - only the expectation.

Forums like this do tend to be out-of-balance with folks modifying their rigs. Just the nature of the beast.

With regards to armor - Rubicon trim level does come with a fair amount of undercarriage armor, and sturdy rocker rails. Fab companies love to sell custom pieces of armor kit, but all that stuff adds weight, not to mention cost.

Bottom line - keep it stock, wheel the piss out of it. Upgrade (if necessary) as you find it's holding you back.

 

[Reinen]

First of all, take everything said by someone with a 4dr with a grain of salt. A 2dr can easily do the same terrain with smaller/stock tires. The short wheelbase is a functional off-road feature. The 4dr owners tend to overlook this. Throw in some careful wheel placement and the stock 2dr Rubi's capability can easily surpass your nerve. So don't automatically assume you should lift a 2dr like the 4dr people do. See if you actually need it or not. You'll be far better off not going down the rabbit hole of suspension mods if you can get away with it and the 2dr often can.

Focus on armor first but you don't need to go crazy with that either. The 2dr will use their underside armor much less than a 4dr. Just rock sliders and pumpkin protection, then go from there.

 

[ekim]

You have a great plan. Starting with skids and getting some experience to see what you like makes the most sense. Based on your indented plan a RECON with 35s might be a good starting place too.

You'll be able to have plenty of fun with a stock set up. There will always be harder trails and the need for bigger tires, but that requires $$ and higher probability of damage, getting into trailering, etc.

I would add getting involved with a local Jeep club to your list. Going in a group is a great learning experience where you get to see what works and what doesn't, including mods, lines, and the value of good spotters .


I think full underbody skid protection is a good thing. I may have posted this before in this forum, but here's "proof" that all the underbelly skids are important. This is a TJ that ran 33s and 35s.

 

[hiimmike]

Great topic! I, myself, have been pondering this. I ordered my first Jeep, a '22 JLUR 2.0. I am coming from an '18 Outback which I put a 2" spacer lift and a larger (29s) wheel package. I wanted an adventuremobile and coming from an '06 Corolla XRS it certainly was. This vehicle has taken me places I never would have expected, and others have even said, "wow". My original intent was to wait for the 6th gen 4Runner, I've always been a Toyota fanboy. Well, the Outback finally started struggling on some trails in CO. I gave up on the 6th gen 4Runner and went to go buy a '21 or '22 4Runner. I visited four Toyota dealers and they were so pretentious and treated me like a complete moron that I decided to look at a Wrangler. I ended up working with a guy who probably thought I was just blowing smoke but we worked out a fair deal and now I'm sitting here waiting on a Jeep!

Anyway, my goal is to get an off-road teardrop and do some overlanding with the wife and dog and maybe nieces and nephews. I said about the Outback, "I will keep this car as long as it can do everything I need it to" and it certainly did for a long time. I have decided to say the same thing about the Jeep. I plan on keeping the wheels and suspension stock until I cannot do something that I want to do or until my original tires need replacing. At that point, I might consider a 1.5 - 2" suspension lift and 35s. I'm going to take this thing to Moab next spring. I'm sure it will do fine and I'll probably see other stock vehicles there as well.

I see a lot of pictures on here of people building out their Jeep to be $80k and while they do look cool, I don't have that kind of money and I think I will be quite happy with just a stock JLUR with the top and doors off, on top of a mountain having lunch with the dog.

I agree with your investment of underbody protection. I do certainly plan on putting different bumpers, maybe steel or aluminum, so I can put on a winch and then also some additional armor underneath to protect this "investment". I'll come back and update this post if I ever win a billion dollars, at that point I'll be like, "yeah, duh, I'm putting 70's on and building a $200k Jeep to park next to my 3 Ferrari's in my garage of my multimillion dollar house in the mountains on 100 acres FAR FAR away from all the crazy demo people in Denver.

I think your Rubicon will be super capable and unless you're looking to climb up 60" ledges, wait on the lifting until you NEED it because it cannot do something you require of it.

 

[hiimmike]

Side question: I thought our Rubicon's came with rock sliders? Maybe they're not the best in the world but it offers that sill protection, no?

 

[Reinen]

Side question: I thought our Rubicon's came with rock sliders? Maybe they're not the best in the world but it offers that sill protection, no?

Rubis do come with rock sliders. They do offer protection. But anything less and you'd be hard pressed to call them rock sliders. They're bare minimum. They're especially bad at fending off rocks that you're sliding into sideways.

 

[GATORB8]

You have a great plan. Starting with skids and getting some experience to see what you like makes the most sense. Based on your indented plan a RECON with 35s might be a good starting place too.

You'll be able to have plenty of fun with a stock set up. There will always be harder trails and the need for bigger tires, but that requires $$ and higher probability of damage, getting into trailering, etc.

I would add getting involved with a local Jeep club to your list. Going in a group is a great learning experience where you get to see what works and what doesn't, including mods, lines, and the value of good spotters .


I think full underbody skid protection is a good thing. I may have posted this before in this forum, but here's "proof" that all the underbelly skids are important. This is a TJ that ran 33s and 35s.

That looks more like a reason to upgrade the roll bar.

 

[ekim]

That looks more like a reason to upgrade the roll bar.

Ha - with the TJ - I started stock. Then started on skids/winch. Then went to 33s / axle upgrades/sport cage/ lockers. Then went to 35s with associated lift. Also added hood hoop.

At that time the jeep had a sport cage and the front window was not installed. We Rolled it back over and continued competing.

I would offer that if you **need** to go to 37 or 40" tires then you should have a sport cage before making the associated tire size upgrades. The only real reason for those size tires is doing obstacles where the chance of "stuff happening" is pretty high.

The above photo just shows that skimping on armor under the rig is a bad idea. Just taking a slighter harder line on a moderate trail - which you'll want to do with a Rubi - will be more fun if you have armor. It's the difference between "whoops" and "oh no!"....

The fact that we flopped it isn't what I was trying to show. If you look at the rust, scars, and white spots (fresh skid usage), you can see that the under armor is being used everywhere - trans, engine, behind rear axle.

 

[GATORB8]

Ha - with the TJ - I started stock. Then started on skids/winch. Then went to 33s / axle upgrades/sport cage/ lockers. Then went to 35s with associated lift. Also added hood hoop.

At that time the jeep had a sport cage and the front window was not installed. We Rolled it back over and continued competing.

I would offer that if you **need** to go to 37 or 40" tires then you should have a sport cage before making the associated tire size upgrades. The only real reason for those size tires is doing obstacles where the chance of "stuff happening" is pretty high.

The above photo just shows that skimping on armor under the rig is a bad idea. Just taking a slighter harder line on a moderate trail - which you'll want to do with a Rubi - will be more fun if you have armor. It's the difference between "whoops" and "oh no!"....

The fact that we flopped it isn't what I was trying to show. If you look at the rust, scars, and white spots (fresh skid usage), you can see that the under armor is being used everywhere - trans, engine, behind rear axle.

Yup, couple notes from dragging our Jeep up the rocks.
Sliders are key.

Steering Stabilizer relocation or you’ll take out the stock one quick.

Don’t forget the sway bar skid,its pretty exposed and just sheet metal.

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