The eternal question of a newbie

[Mikhail002]

Hi fellows,

I came to you to ask the eternal question that anyone venturing in the wrangler family does. “33 or 35”?

A little back story, the JL will be my first wrangler. My family owned the same wrangler since 1985, it was a work horse going up the mountains in Venezuela (my place of birth) to get strawberries (my family’s business first venture). That thing was a beauty. The vehicle represents my childhood, spending hours and hours working with my family and watching that clock on the dashboard.

Now is my time to get one. I live in the metro area of MN, and I work a couple miles away from home. I drive around 20-30 miles a day on a really busy day, mostly in the city. Of course having a wrangler means I will be taking it off road, but that will be once or twice a month. Mine will be a rubi with auto trans. I have read that if I am going to put 35( I am planning on doing later) I should get the 4.10 gear ratio, that will sacrifice a a good chunk of mpg and also increase wear and tear.

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[DanW]

Hi fellows,

I came to you to ask the eternal question that anyone venturing in the wrangler family does. “33 or 35”?

A little back story, the JL will be my first wrangler. My family owned the same wrangler since 1985, it was a work horse going up the mountains in Venezuela (my place of birth) to get strawberries (my family’s business first venture). That thing was a beauty. The vehicle represents my childhood, spending hours and hours working with my family and watching that clock on the dashboard.

Now is my time to get one. I live in the metro area of MN, and I work a couple miles away from home. I drive around 20-30 miles a day on a really busy day, mostly in the city. Of course having a wrangler means I will be taking it off road, but that will be once or twice a month. Mine will be a rubi with auto trans. I have read that if I am going to put 35( I am planning on doing later) I should get the 4.10 gear ratio, that will sacrifice a a good chunk of mpg and also increase wear and tear.

I'm debating the same thing. I've got a 2" lift and 33's on my JKUR and it has done just fine. I've replaced ball joints, but those would have gone bad by 90k miles on stock tires, anyway. Other than that, it is tight as a drum.

I was going to be just fine with the stock 33's on the JLUR, but I just spent a week driving a loaner JKU Sport with 35's and a 3.5 or 4 inch lift. It had 3.73's and an auto and did very well. It was lots of fun to drive, although it liked to wander a little with the huge lugs on the mud tires. So, I'm now thinking a little about 35's on the new one. Hmm. I'll probably drive it for awhile with the stock set up before deciding. I think it might be nice to enjoy the improved fuel economy for at least a little while before I go and screw it up.

Truth is, though, the 33's (BFG KM2's) on my 08 have gotten me everywhere I've wanted to go, off road, and it drives MUCH better on the road than that big lifted Sport.

 

[iki4life]

as a newbie, id also like to know what is the biggest tire and wheel size i can fit into a JLU without any lifts or spacers? i want an aggressive stance but no lift/spacers
thanks!

 

[DanW]

as a newbie, id also like to know what is the biggest tire and wheel size i can fit into a JLU without any lifts or spacers? i want an aggressive stance but no lift/spacers
thanks!

I'm betting 35's, as in 305's, will fit right on the Rubicon with no lift. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks.

 

[Vegas_Sirk]

I started with 33s then went to 35s and now want 37s. It seems a lot of Wrangler owners follow the same path, unless your super worried about gas milage. I would say go with the 35s as I think you'll end up wanting them down the road anyway.

 

[rodhotter]

due to the larger diameter of a bigger wheel + or tyre combo you need a numerically higher rear gear to get the same final drive ratio as smaller tyres. the lower mpg + xtra drivetrain ware comes from the added weight + moreso if they are sticking out more with aftermarket wheels!

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