rock crawling 35s vs 37s on 2-inch lift

[shrinkhead]

I am having a blast with the JT on the trails but I do pickup new and sometimes deep scratches on my rock sliders and also ding diff covers and underbody armor here and there. Currently sitting on 35s and I am curious if going up to 37s would provide any additional clearance that is meaningful and leads to fewer scrapes or if that's only with 40s plus lift. I do not want to get the roofline too high either so 37s could be a cheapish way for some extra clearance. Nitto M/Ts are tires of choice in 12.5 width. I do have the 2inch lift right now

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[ThatStinging_Jeep]

Yeah you would for sure get a bit more clearance with 37's and a lift man,and if you really dont wanna lift it your truck you could probably get away with a small spacer lift with a fender chop delete from American adventure labs,again you won't gain too much offroad performance/flex if you do that,I'd rather spend the money on a real lift to get more flex and overall offroad performance

 

[MPMB]

Tires first. Lift to avoid any rubbing.

Or, the cheapest method is to drive around the rocks.

 

[shrinkhead]

Tires first. Lift to avoid any rubbing.

Or, the cheapest method is to drive around the rocks.

I wish that was an option ha ha. I do have the 2-inch lift so will just get 37s and some axle shaft upgrades probably and see what happens

 

[Axeman]

I'm in a similar situation with the 2" and 35s. I upgraded most of the skids and added diff & CA sliders for the rocks you can't just drive around. I really didn't want to go to 37s

 

[Kindafearless]

Depending on the up travel in your lift, you might run into some problems with the 37s running into stuff (like fenders).

37s do help, but a higher lift does more.

 

[Bonanza]

I have 37s. If you're going to do serious rock crawling, 37s on a gladiator is a must, IMO. The departure and approach have never really been an issue for me, but the breakover is a killer. 37s, to some degree, serve as a sort of secondary skid plate. Even that little bit of difference keeps some key parts off the rocks-- namely, the exhaust crossover, diffs, oil pan, pinion, and driveshafts.

Even 37s look small eh?

 

[UIN2IT]

I am having a blast with the JT on the trails but I do pickup new and sometimes deep scratches on my rock sliders and also ding diff covers and underbody armor here and there. Currently sitting on 35s and I am curious if going up to 37s would provide any additional clearance that is meaningful and leads to fewer scrapes or if that's only with 40s plus lift. I do not want to get the roofline too high either so 37s could be a cheapish way for some extra clearance. Nitto M/Ts are tires of choice in 12.5 width. I do have the 2inch lift right now

Checkout Ben's video on this very thing....he upgraded to 37's on his gladiator and wheeled the same trail to see the differences.

 

[JerseyMike]

I have 37s. If you're going to do serious rock crawling, 37s on a gladiator is a must, IMO. The departure and approach have never really been an issue for me, but the breakover is a killer. 37s, to some degree, serve as a sort of secondary skid plate. Even that little bit of difference keeps some key parts off the rocks-- namely, the exhaust crossover, diffs, oil pan, pinion, and driveshafts.

Even 37s look small eh?

awesome, what lift do you have to fit 37's on a sport?

 

[andrew8404]

37s look way better on the Gladiator then 35s. Gladiator just eats tires. Even my 37s look like 35s with the Rubicon fenders. Here is my gas mileage with 37s and stock 4.10 during at trip from Albuquerque to Colorado. Pretty decent considering the elevation up and down on the trip.

 

[Orange01z28]

Is it more cost effective to just get a bigger lift first?

I started looking at serious armor and I just decided to go with a 3.5" lift instead.

I will go 37s eventually too

All of this will happen before I do skids most likely

 

[Bonanza]

awesome, what lift do you have to fit 37's on a sport?

I have a JKS 2.5/3.5" lift (Depends on rubicon v. sport). From experience, I'd say you'll need the following to rock crawl, in descending level of importance:

Tires+ Lift
Solid rock rails
shock mount/C.A. skids for rear
bumpers/crash bar skid
hitch skid

I have a MT so I have 4.10 gears and its more or less fine on the road. 4.88s have my eye, but I run the risk of messing with something's that "fine" for "could be slightly better".

 

[HorneyBadger]

37's for about a 1" increase of height? Go with the lift first if you are scraping on 35's and a 2" lift.
That's a lot of money for a small increase in height from tires. Also new gears!

 

[shrinkhead]

so I decided to do tires and upgraded axle shafts first as I want to get a couple more seasons out of the lift. I have a HEMI so will hold off on gears. Should be just fine.

I will eventually build this up with proper axles, lift, gears and 40s but not for another couple years so in the meantime I am curios how the 37s will do with the more basic setup

 

[Bonanza]

so I decided to do tires and upgraded axle shafts first as I want to get a couple more seasons out of the lift. I have a HEMI so will hold off on gears. Should be just fine.

I will eventually build this up with proper axles, lift, gears and 40s but not for another couple years so in the meantime I am curios how the 37s will do with the more basic setup

Axle shafts isn't even on my list. Unless you're wheel hopping and being rough, the stock axleshafts will hold up fine. I've been wheeling with 35s on Dana 30s, JK Dana 44s, and now the JT 44s. Never broken an axle. I've seen a few guys break axleshafts before, and wasn't surprised when they did. Basically if you're driving smart, it's fairly challenging to snap a shaft.

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