Non Max tow Sport S

[Phidelt83]

I have the tow package (NOT max tow) on my Sport S. I don’t have any trailers to tug around and won’t use the bed for any heavy duty stuff- just the typical home owners project, honey-do list, and maybe dirt bikes when my kids are a bit older.
I really want to lift or level it some to possibly allow for a tire size of up to 35’s. Love that look. If nothing else I would like to take out the factory rake. My question is, without having max tow would it even be smart to run 35’s or would the Gladiator struggle too much and would I take such a MPG hit that I’d regret it? Thoughts?

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[WXman]

Max Tow option doesn't affect running 35s. There's such a small difference between 3.73 and 4.10 axle gears that you cannot even detect it on the tachometer. So, in practical terms every Gladiator trim level will respond to 35" tires the same way.

I'll tell you this, I have a small 2" level kit, 35" tires, and a winch bumper. My MPGs during this winter have been running around 15.5 and when it's REALLY cold like it is today I'm down into the 14s. In 100% stock condition I'd be seeing 18s right now. So yes, it is a significant difference and at current fuel prices that's going to amount to almost $50/month extra fuel costs for folks in some parts of the U.S.

As the old saying goes, "You gotta' pay if you wanna' play."

There are times that I strongly consider returning my truck to stock bumper/aero and stock wheels/tires. But dang... it just looks so good like this. Sigh...

 

[arosen1997]

I have the tow package (NOT max tow) on my Sport S. I don’t have any trailers to tug around and won’t use the bed for any heavy duty stuff- just the typical home owners project, honey-do list, and maybe dirt bikes when my kids are a bit older.
I really want to lift or level it some to possibly allow for a tire size of up to 35’s. Love that look. If nothing else I would like to take out the factory rake. My question is, without having max tow would it even be smart to run 35’s or would the Gladiator struggle too much and would I take such a MPG hit that I’d regret it? Thoughts?

I have a non-max tow sport-s,
I have 35x12.50r17 Yokohama Geolandar X-ATs, Teraflex 1.5 inch leveling kit and have trimmed the front air dams. I didn't notice any difference between the stock wheels and tires and my new ones. I'm getting roughly 16.5 MPG just puttering around town but I have a feeling the good mileage I'm seeing has alot to do with how flat being this close to the coast is.
If you want to fit 35s the Teraflex kit is only 100$ and it was a pretty easy and straightforward install.

 

[Phidelt83]

Max Tow option doesn't affect running 35s. There's such a small difference between 3.73 and 4.10 axle gears that you cannot even detect it on the tachometer. So, in practical terms every Gladiator trim level will respond to 35" tires the same way.

I'll tell you this, I have a small 2" level kit, 35" tires, and a winch bumper. My MPGs during this winter have been running around 15.5 and when it's REALLY cold like it is today I'm down into the 14s. In 100% stock condition I'd be seeing 18s right now. So yes, it is a significant difference and at current fuel prices that's going to amount to almost $50/month extra fuel costs for folks in some parts of the U.S.

As the old saying goes, "You gotta' pay if you wanna' play."

There are times that I strongly consider returning my truck to stock bumper/aero and stock wheels/tires. But dang... it just looks so good like this. Sigh...

Thank you for the reply! Which leveling kit did you go with and would you recommend it? Would love to see a pic of your rig

 

[Phidelt83]

I have a non-max tow sport-s,
I have 35x12.50r17 Yokohama Geolandar X-ATs, Teraflex 1.5 inch leveling kit and have trimmed the front air dams. I didn't notice any difference between the stock wheels and tires and my new ones. I'm getting roughly 16.5 MPG just puttering around town but I have a feeling the good mileage I'm seeing has alot to do with how flat being this close to the coast is.
If you want to fit 35s the Teraflex kit is only 100$ and it was a pretty easy and straightforward install.

Good to know...I live near the coast also in flat Florida. I miss the elevation changes but I suppose in this case the lack of hills is a good thing! Would like to see what your setup looks like if you don’t mind showing it off!

 

[arosen1997]

Okay! Wheels and tires installed. Honestly from what I'd read on here I thought I'd notice WAYYYY bigger of a difference between the stock tires and these running 3.73s. Maybe it's just how flat the area is. Anyway, Firestone mounted the tires for me, only charged $120 for all 4, which seems like a fair price. My one complaint is that they filled the damn things to almost 50 PSI cold. I have no clue what they were thinking, but whatever easy fix. Sitting at 35 right now and rides great.

Good to know...I live near the coast also in flat Florida. I miss the elevation changes but I suppose in this case the lack of hills is a good thing! Would like to see what your setup looks like if you don’t mind showing it off!

 

[WXman]

Thank you for the reply! Which leveling kit did you go with and would you recommend it? Would love to see a pic of your rig

I bought the 1.5" Daystar leveling kit. It has poly spacers instead of steel for less noise and slightly better ride. I also reused the factory spacer to get a total of 2.0". It also has very beefy shock extension brackets.

I didn't need to do anything to the rear, but I chose to install 0.75" Daystar spacers back there anyhow.

 

[MadMax]

If you take into account the theoretical drop in gear ration from adding bigger heavier tires, there is a difference. There was a chart that showed the theoretical drop in gear ration depending on bigger tire size but have no clue where it's at or the time to go look it up for you. I don't think you'll have a problem running 35's with 3.73, just maybe a little more sluggish on the launch than a 4.10 gears.

 

[MadMax]

Max Tow option doesn't affect running 35s. There's such a small difference between 3.73 and 4.10 axle gears that you cannot even detect it on the tachometer. So, in practical terms every Gladiator trim level will respond to 35" tires the same way.

I'll tell you this, I have a small 2" level kit, 35" tires, and a winch bumper. My MPGs during this winter have been running around 15.5 and when it's REALLY cold like it is today I'm down into the 14s. In 100% stock condition I'd be seeing 18s right now. So yes, it is a significant difference and at current fuel prices that's going to amount to almost $50/month extra fuel costs for folks in some parts of the U.S.

As the old saying goes, "You gotta' pay if you wanna' play."

There are times that I strongly consider returning my truck to stock bumper/aero and stock wheels/tires. But dang... it just looks so good like this. Sigh...

If you take into account the theoretical drop in gear ratio from adding bigger heavier tires, there is a difference. There was a chart that showed the theoretical drop in gear ration depending on bigger tire size but have no clue where it's at or the time to go look it up to post here. I don't think he'll have a problem running 35's with 3.73, just maybe a little more sluggish on the launch than a 4.10 gears.

 

[Phidelt83]

Nic

I bought the 1.5" Daystar leveling kit. It has poly spacers instead of steel for less noise and slightly better ride. I also reused the factory spacer to get a total of 2.0". It also has very beefy shock extension brackets.

I didn't need to do anything to the rear, but I chose to install 0.75" Daystar spacers back there anyhow.

Nice looking Jeep, dude. So did you opt to keep the factory shocks? If so, have you noticed any difference in ride quality? I’ve been eyeballing the day star stuff (specifically the 2” space lift) and plan to keep the factory shocks. I’ve been reading mixed reviews on the Daystar stuff but it seems like an economical solution

 

[WXman]

Nic

Nice looking Jeep, dude. So did you opt to keep the factory shocks? If so, have you noticed any difference in ride quality? I’ve been eyeballing the day star stuff (specifically the 2” space lift) and plan to keep the factory shocks. I’ve been reading mixed reviews on the Daystar stuff but it seems like an economical solution

Yes I never replace shocks or any other parts that I don't need to. After all, I just paid for those. The ride quality is fine. I'm happy with it and I've flexed the truck completely out on the trails with no issues.

 

[MarineHawk]

Max Tow option doesn't affect running 35s. There's such a small difference between 3.73 and 4.10 axle gears that you cannot even detect it on the tachometer.

It's almost a 10% difference (9.92%).

With my current set-up--35" tires and 4.10:1 gears, I'm doing 2,000 rpm at 70 mph in 8th gear. If I switched to 3.73 gears, I would be doing about 1,800 rpm at the same speed. I'm not saying that's completely unworkable, but I think I could/would notice it in the tach and in the auto-trans shifting habits, especially going uphill at highway speeds.

 

[WXman]

It's almost a 10% difference (9.92%).

With my current set-up--35" tires and 4.10:1 gears, I'm doing 2,000 rpm at 70 mph in 8th gear. If I switched to 3.73 gears, I would be doing about 1,800 rpm at the same speed. I'm not saying that's completely unworkable, but I think I could/would notice it in the tach and in the auto-trans shifting habits, especially going uphill at highway speeds.

Yep in other threads we've done the math. Works out to about 150 RPM which like I said isn't even detectable on these tachs. 150 RPM isn't enough to cause a downshift. It's virtually nothing.

Now, from a standing start the difference is greater due to gear multiplication. But, nobody stays in 1-4th gear for very long.

 

[MarineHawk]

Yep in other threads we've done the math. Works out to about 150 RPM which like I said isn't even detectable on these tachs. 150 RPM isn't enough to cause a downshift. It's virtually nothing.

I dunno. 4.10 / 3.73 = 1.0992 = 9.92% difference.

9.92% of 2,000 rpm = 198.4 rpm ≠ 150 rpm. As set up now, I'm in 8th gear 50%+ of the time when doing 65-70 mph on relatively flat highways. I think if you raised my rear gearing by 10%, that would drop down to nearly 0% in 8th gear at the same speeds.

 

[Deleted member 24880]

I have the tow package (NOT max tow) on my Sport S. I don’t have any trailers to tug around and won’t use the bed for any heavy duty stuff- just the typical home owners project, honey-do list, and maybe dirt bikes when my kids are a bit older.
I really want to lift or level it some to possibly allow for a tire size of up to 35’s. Love that look. If nothing else I would like to take out the factory rake. My question is, without having max tow would it even be smart to run 35’s or would the Gladiator struggle too much and would I take such a MPG hit that I’d regret it? Thoughts?

I have the exact truck and setup your are referring to. It does not struggle at all and tows my 12’ open trailer just fine. I get around 15mpg since adding the 35s and TeraFkex level kit. Was only getting 17mpg with the stock wheels and tires. I don’t regret it at all. Just my opinion but if that is what you want. Go for it.

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