Sport S, no lift w/ 34.4 x 12.7 Nitto Ridge Grappler -- thoughts on aesthetic and ride

[spinnell]

New to the forum -- thanks in advance for the help.

I have just under 1K miles on new Gladiator Sport S (no Max Tow).

First major modification can be seen here:
> Centerline Full Jacket 17x9 -12mm wheels
> 34.4 x 12.7 Nitto Ridge Grappler tires

No rubbing whatsoever though haven't taken off pavement.
Ride quality overall ok (more stable than stock but feeling the addl. surface area obviously), road noise surprisingly quiet (not much noisier stock tires).

Curious to get two points of view:
1. how would lift change the ride quality on pavement and what would people recommend (spacer .vs lift, etc)
2. what do you think of the overall look w/ out the lift?

Thanks.

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[SPACEMAN5000]

I'm in the same boat, except mines max tow. Planning on the mopar lift eventually but its gonna be a few months before I can convince the wife.

 

[Shackleton]

I’m lurking for Rubi take offs and maybe spacers On my max tow sport s. I don’t see myself going off-road other than the beach and maybe fire roads etc. not really looking to break the bank or drastically change the road manners of Sandi. I’m very impressed with how well the stock set up does on the highway. I found myself cruising without a care this morning and when I looked down I was at 84 mph. Newly paved road but that is pretty good to not realize you are going that fast. I dialed it back once I saw the speedometer.

 

[spinnell]

I’m lurking for Rubi take offs and maybe spacers On my max tow sport s. I don’t see myself going off-road other than the beach and maybe fire roads etc. not really looking to break the bank or drastically change the road manners of Sandi. I’m very impressed with how well the stock set up does on the highway. I found myself cruising without a care this morning and when I looked down I was at 84 mph. Newly paved road but that is pretty good to not realize you are going that fast. I dialed it back once I saw the speedometer.

i found the stock tires a bit jumpy to be honest. The new setup feels less jumpy but you definitely feel much more of the variability in the pavement. Also had no issue running high-speed w/ this configuration.

 

[Deleted member 24880]

I think it looks good. I ran the same for a while then added the TerraFlex spacer lift to the front. I love it but find myself wanting a 2-2.5” lift now just because. My truck has done great at everything I have tried so far.

 

[spinnell]

I think it looks good. I ran the same for a while then added the TerraFlex spacer lift to the front. I love it but find myself wanting a 2-2.5” lift now just because. My truck has done great at everything I have tried so far.

Looks awesome -- wheel color almost looks color matched to the car. I might also add the spacer in front - does a nice job of leveling the vehicle. Thanks for the post.

 

[AmishMike]

For on road, you should be good. Off road might have some rubbing problems, search the forums and there will be answers about 35"s on stock suspension. Remember that most 35"s are only 34+ tall. A lot of Rubicon suspensions pop up in the Members Marketplace if that is the avenue you are going. I think mine rides good as a stock Rubi.
Look at this picture from last weekend, your 34.4"s might have taken out the right front fender. Maybe not, there are better experts here than me.

 

[FLUndertaker]

What is the advertised size of the tires?

 

[Jeeperjamie]

I added the lift and tires first 4 days of ownership and then added front Rubicon take off springs and shocks all around. Love the Ride quality of mine. I also got a Max Tow. I'm a fan of lifting them with bigger tires, just my preference. I always think they look a little odd with the bigger tires and no lift. Also think they look odd with stock tires and lift as well. Here's mine sitting on 315 70 17 BFG KO2S with Rubicon front take off springs and ReadyLift 2.5" SST lift Kit

 

[STL Gladiator]

I added the lift and tires first 4 days of ownership and then added front Rubicon take off springs and shocks all around. Love the Ride quality of mine. I also got a Max Tow. I'm a fan of lifting them with bigger tires, just my preference. I always think they look a little odd with the bigger tires and no lift. Also think they look odd with stock tires and lift as well. Here's mine sitting on 315 70 17 BFG KO2S with Rubicon front take off springs and ReadyLift 2.5" SST lift Kit

Looks good...I know you're a big fan of the KO2s. as am I but I am having a hard time deciding between these in a 37 for my JTR or Milestars or the Coopers AT3 XLTs. What are you thoughts?

 

[JTpoor]

Very happy w my set up. Found Rubicon takeoffs here in the forum and paired them w the Daystar 1 1/2” leveling kit up front and a Daystar 3/4” in back. Rides great on 37’s and will be more than sufficient for the mild trails that I have done. All in total cost for new suspension, spacers and shocks about $450

 

[Gvsukids]

)
2. what do you think of the overall look w/ out the lift?

Thanks.

Looks a little tight.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Looks good...I know you're a big fan of the KO2s. as am I but I am having a hard time deciding between these in a 37 for my JTR or Milestars or the Coopers AT3 XLTs. What are you thoughts?

Honestly I've never ran milestars but I have coopers before. Coopers ATS is a great tire and performance wise is pretty close to the KO2s. The reason I personally will stick to KO2s is because I daily drive mine and you want get he mileage out of the Coopers that you will get out of KO2s. I'll get almost 50,000 miles out of these 315's on mine which sucks because I can't go to 37's like I want to until they wear out. When I ran the Coopers on my JKU I got about 36,000 miles out them, 48,000 out of the KO2s, same size 35's. I just prefer what works best for me and I like to get the most mileage possible out of my tires. I have almost 13,000 miles currently on my 315 70 17's on my JT and they show very little wear at all. They seem to be holding up better on the JT than they did on my JKU but that could be because I'm running 41lbs of air in them and I ran between 27-30lbs on the JKU.

When these on mine wear out it will be 37 12.5 17's BFG KO2S on mine. I'm not even considering another tire. If they are still making them that's what will be on mine.

 

[STL Gladiator]

New to the forum -- thanks in advance for the help.

I have just under 1K miles on new Gladiator Sport S (no Max Tow).

First major modification can be seen here:
> Centerline Full Jacket 17x9 -12mm wheels
> 34.4 x 12.7 Nitto Ridge Grappler tires

No rubbing whatsoever though haven't taken off pavement.
Ride quality overall ok (more stable than stock but feeling the addl. surface area obviously), road noise surprisingly quiet (not much noisier stock tires).

Curious to get two points of view:
1. how would lift change the ride quality on pavement and what would people recommend (spacer .vs lift, etc)
2. what do you think of the overall look w/ out the lift?

Thanks.

I think the looks are up to you....but I like a little more space between the fender and tire. I also don't care for nose dive or rake. Heres a pic of the 2020 max tow I had on a spacer lift. it road decent but I think it was on the hairy edge of needing some caster adjustment.

My lift had iron rock Offroad spacers with shock extensions, Rubi Fox shocks and stock max tow springs, I also added Teraflex .5 spacer at some point to even it out and a synergy front track bar to get rid of some of the steering slop. Oddly, the rear was still inline and even side to side with 2 inches of lift so I kept the stock track bar. 33 in tires...didn't get chance to bigger.

.

 

[Deleted member 24880]

I added the lift and tires first 4 days of ownership and then added front Rubicon take off springs and shocks all around. Love the Ride quality of mine. I also got a Max Tow. I'm a fan of lifting them with bigger tires, just my preference. I always think they look a little odd with the bigger tires and no lift. Also think they look odd with stock tires and lift as well. Here's mine sitting on 315 70 17 BFG KO2S with Rubicon front take off springs and ReadyLift 2.5" SST lift Kit

What your thoughts on that SST kit so far?

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