37s or 35s?

[TREX-10]

Hey Guys, I am new to the Jeep family. I just purchased a gladiator High Altitude addition and I want to beef it up. This gladiator is strictly a street gladiator with the occasional camping trip. I have a 20x12 XD wheel with an offset of -44. I am doing a 3.5 inch lift. What tire size should I be looking at….35s or 37s? Any help would be much appreciated

Sponsored

 

[LostWoods]

Your preference and there's a ton of info out there if you use the search but the short version is that you're probably going to hate 37s without at least 4.10 gears (probably going to want more) and 37s on standard fenders have a tendency to rub in various places.

 

[trailless]

If you're even considering 37s now, you're going to regret it when you put on the 35s...

I'm going straight to 37s when my JT arrives.

 

[glassjawkid32]

Your preference and there's a ton of info out there if you use the search but the short version is that you're probably going to hate 37s without at least 4.10 gears (probably going to want more) and 37s on standard fenders have a tendency to rub in various places.

I've been searching all over for specific info on 37s with sport fenders and havnt found much on this specifically. What places do they tend to rub?

 

[Jonny A]

I have 35"'s on stock height JTR. I am happy with them. The tire to empty space in wheel well looks perfect. You doing a 3.5 .inch lift on JT High Altitude? Maybe a little more space in wheel well with 35"s. Still should look nice.

I think a lot of guys love the 37"s because they look good, even though with out expensive regear it dulls performance and or fuel milage.

I am happy I'm on 35"s.

 

[LostWoods]

I've been searching all over for specific info on 37s with sport fenders and havnt found much on this specifically. What places do they tend to rub?

At tuck and full lock off road they'll definitely hit but it's going to depend on your tire and wheel setup because some offsets make it worse and "37" has a range of about an inch and a half in real world measurements. For a purely street build on a true 3.5 lift you'll probably be fine.

 

[glassjawkid32]

At tuck and full lock off road they'll definitely hit but it's going to depend on your tire and wheel setup because some offsets make it worse and "37" has a range of about an inch and a half in real world measurements. For a purely street build on a true 3.5 lift you'll probably be fine.

Ok good to know. Is that not correctable with bump stop extensions tho?

 

[PeterGriffin]

20x12 XD wheel

Why? Just...why? Your Jeep, do whatever you like but not only will running 17s or even 18s give you a lot more sidewall you're far less likely to damage your wheels in whatever infrequent "off-roading" you're doing. Pretty sure you'll have a larger selection of tires, 35s or 37s too, and if you don't regear with the 37s you absolutely will regret it, no matter how much looking "beefy" is important to you...

 

[TREX-10]

Okay If I do the 37s I just don’t know the mods I need to do to the gladiator. I read that a lot of trimming will be required and I need a speedometer adjustment. I just want to make sure I get this right. I will be going off road with it.

 

[bleda2002]

You can run 37's with the teraflex 1.5" spacers and 3/4" daystar in the back, especially if its a street gladiator. 37's on 3.73's though is going to be brutal, but honestly even 35's on the 3.73 is brutal.

One thing i will say is given you're on the 3.73's, look for lighter tires, avoid the big 80+ pound behemoths and if possible look for a lighter wheel closer to stock. While the diameter blunts some of the acceleration due to gearing, the extra rotational mass really brutalizes the power even more.

Edit: I agree with the guy above, if you're even considering 37's then go 37's. Even for 35's you're probably going to want some spacers and eventually regear so you might as well go 37's

 

[LostWoods]

Ok good to know. Is that not correctable with bump stop extensions tho?

Yeah that would do it and for a street truck there's little downside.

 

[DocMike]

I agree with all of this. I'm running 35s with my Black Rhinos and they are heavy. Rubicon take offs and a terra flex level kit. I ordered 4.88 for my gearing. I'd wonder about upgrading steering knuckles and ball joints for 37s.

You can run 37's with the teraflex 1.5" spacers and 3/4" daystar in the back, especially if its a street gladiator. 37's on 3.73's though is going to be brutal, but honestly even 35's on the 3.73 is brutal.

One thing i will say is given you're on the 3.73's, look for lighter tires, avoid the big 80+ pound behemoths and if possible look for a lighter wheel closer to stock. While the diameter blunts some of the acceleration due to gearing, the extra rotational mass really brutalizes the power even more.

Edit: I agree with the guy above, if you're even considering 37's then go 37's. Even for 35's you're probably going to want some spacers and eventually regear so you might as well go 37's

 

[JT1]

Okay If I do the 37s I just don’t know the mods I need to do to the gladiator. I read that a lot of trimming will be required and I need a speedometer adjustment. I just want to make sure I get this right. I will be going off road with it.

Hey Guys, I am new to the Jeep family. I just purchased a gladiator High Altitude addition and I want to beef it up. This gladiator is strictly a street gladiator with the occasional camping trip. I have a 20x12 XD wheel with an offset of -44. I am doing a 3.5 inch lift. What tire size should I be looking at….35s or 37s? Any help would be much appreciated

Rim diameter aside, a 12" wheel with that offset is going to stick out a bunch, and sling mud, rocks, sand or water everywhere... I wouldn't recommend a wheel wider than 9.5..

 

[trailless]

I agree with all of this. I'm running 35s with my Black Rhinos and they are heavy. Rubicon take offs and a terra flex level kit. I ordered 4.88 for my gearing. I'd wonder about upgrading steering knuckles and ball joints for 37s.

I don't have my JT yet but ran 37's on my JK for 70k miles. I upgraded to dynatrac prosteer ball joints when I put on the 37's. I had 70k miles of trouble free daily driving and bashing it offroad with those balljoints. I'll be putting on another set of dynatrac balljoints when I go to 37s on my JT.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

I have 37's on my Base Sports Max Tow, haven't had any issues with rubbing. Personally I wouldn't have went 20" on your wheels and would of kept a 17 or 18 and went more tire less wheel. If you have 3.73 gears and go 37 your going be averaging about 14 to 15 mpg on your gas especially with the 20's on there. Mine has about 3-1/4 inches of lift total and I'm running my stock wheels. I had 35's on mine for a year and then found some used to 37's that had about 75% life left on them for $500. I figured I'd do that and make sure that's what I wanted before I spent the money on a new set. If your set on 37's your probably not going to be happy with 35's but be prepared for the performance hit once you go to 37's, it's going to be a dog with 3.73 gears. Pictures of mine for reference

On 35's

On 37's

I was getting around 18.7 average MPGs on the 35's and I'm getting around 17.2 average MPGs on the 37's. Keep in mind I have 4.10 gears as well. Your going to get less with either size with 3.73 gears.

As far as upgrading ball joints or anything like that, I ran 37's and 35's on my JKU with the stock ball joints and I got 121,000 miles out of them before I needed to change them out. Probably 40,000 miles of that was on 37's and the rest on 35's. I'll keep my stock ones on the jeep and see what happens with the JT but I've been told they are stouter than the JKs were. If I get 100,000+ out of these I'll put stock ones back on when they were out.

Sponsored