How do you like the black rhino rims? Did you go with 35s and a 2" lift? How does it drive?
What do you mean you "lost 8th gear"? Do you mean it won't shift into 8th until 75? Or do you mean to go faster it drops to 7th?
Anything above 72mph it won’t go into 8th gear unless I am going downhill or manually select 8th gear. Even if I manually select 8th it won’t hold the speed and starts to drop and even if you barely touch the gas to speed up it drops to 7th and will stay there until I hit a down hill. It’s not really a big deal as 7th and 8th are overdrive gears anyway. If I cruise at 68-72mph it’ll stay in 8th all day long. I run load range e tires so maybe if you go with a lighter tire there would be a difference.
I used to have a JKU before this JLU, and I have taken both on trails that would scare most with bone stock tires. But since I live in Southern California, getting to great trails is at least a 2 hour drive, and 6 hours last week going to Zion. MOAB is next on the plan.
Ah thanks, you have the V6 though? I had the JKU 6 and at altitude the thing would drop to 4th going up any hill. The little 4 banger turbo holds 7th or 8th if it gets there. I don't see 8th till 70 though. 3.47 axle I guess.
~2" of extra rubber could make for a smoother ride, but it would also be dependent upon load rating/ply and tread pattern (mud vs all terrain). For mild off-roading, a C or D rating would be fine, F's will be very stiff, that's what I ran on 2500HD.
what is your front bumper? I have the lil brother.I can tell you that I am running what you want to do and at first I was told I could stuff 35’s in there with no issues but then I asked the right ppl and @TTEChris of Tank Customs here in Houston advised against doing that, he said stuffing 35’s in there could be done but the risks are rubbing and more than likely tearing out fender liners even with light offroad use and this is due to the shorter axles and lower fenders so I took his suggestion based on my use which is exactly what you are using your Sahara for and went with a RC 2.5” boost 3 years ago with some Method 312 wheels and BFG 315 KO2’s and have had zero issues
I was going to do a regear and advised safe my $$$ Chris said not worth it for what I was going to be doing, after all was said and done and doing my lift along with bumper and winch 8th gear has faded and mpg have dropped but I knew that going into it and have zero regrets
Before:
After:
Y'all already know that the "smooth" ride is controlled by not only the tires but also the suspension, swapping out the OEM tires for different size, compound, etc. without considering how the suspension responds would most likely lead to issues...obviously, OEMs design the tire/suspension system as a package deal...consider how tire sidewalls actually act as springs...on sports cars with huge wheels look at the sidewalls and see very narrow pieces...without correct suspension tuning to compensate, the ride would be ridiculously rough...on our 4 wheelers we need big sidewalls and the conventional wisdom is to have the wheel diameter be no more than about half the tire diameter...Jeep engineers chose a 17" wheel for the extreme recon package for a reason (the actual tire diameter is closer to 34" than 35")...they also chose lower diff gears and slapped a tiny lift on the XR rubi...keep in mind that the engineers always do things methodically and for good reasons, same way we should approach changes, too.
Of course, anyone talking about 35’s on a Sahara has already done some type of lift. I wouldn't give Jeep engineers the level of credit you’re implying though lol. The poster specifically asked about tires which is what I addressed (also responded to their new thread here).
The front bumper is made by ROAM Off-road, very solid.
