Why is picking a tire size so difficult?!

[Geoarch]

I keep 35’s on because they do just fine off road despite what you’ll hear here, and I don’t have to deal with any of the negatives associated with making the jump to 37’s. The negatives of making that jump far outweigh the slight benefits for me.

Although I do a lot of off road and overlanding with my truck, it is also my daily driver. So for me, 35’s have many benefits and a few minor drawbacks. 37‘s OTOH, have a few benefits but many drawbacks.

It comes down to your own specific personal needs.

My personal opinion based on observation is that the vast majority of people go with 37’s just for the aesthetics. Not everyone of course but most I’d bet. I don’t blame them, they look great. But 35’s are a great compromise between performance and aesthetics.

I would agree with George (we both live and wheel in New Mexico). In the Manzano Mtns near me, there are a lot of 2-4 ft rock stairs and waterfalls, that with the MT and 4.10s I have no trouble with. Having said that, If I was to go back to the Rubicon in the Sierras (I did it in the 70s with a CJ-5), and some trails in Moab, I would go 37s and 4.88+. On the majority of trails, 35s with the Mopar lift and 4.10s work fine, and on highway is fine. Most everyone uses their JT as a "daily driver", so compromise is key.

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[Geoarch]

Fwiw- I run BFG KO2 37s on Mopar 2” on my JTR 8 speed

a few things to note:

1. BFG sizes run smaller than advertised
2. The 8 speed auto makes it work on the stock 4.10 gearing of the rubicon
3. We live at 10k feet in elevation
4. Regear would be nice but not mandatory
5. We wheel all the time
6. If you must have the passing pep back then 4.88 or 5.13 would definitely help, we aren’t struggling, but also realize we are pushing a brick with a camper attached
7. Our speedo didn’t need a correction with the 37s (based on the local speed cameras)


pm me if you want more details. Because of of the long wb went 37 and glad we did.

TL/DR

if you do off-roading and need the extra clearance 37
If no, stay with 35

we like KO2

I would agree, although I have 35s, Mopar lift, and stock 4.10s on my JTR MT, and live at 5500 ft in New Mexico, and wheel up to 10,000 ft (Ain't NM and CO grand?). If I went 37s, I would definitely regear. That would cost what, about 2 grand? I have done axle work (in my 30s), but would hire it out in my 70s. One point here, is that for off-road work the MT has a lower 1st and 2nd than the auto, although the torque converter mitigates that somewhat in my experience in auto trans.

 

[jwolfejt]

37's until you can get 1 ton's hydro steering and everything else - then its 40s and beyond. 37s are ideal for JT's 35's for JL's imo (although some may argue 37's are the way to go there as well).

 

[ryanlsmith]

Thank you. I don't understand how people think a "slight dip in performance" and "a slight dip in mpg" should be considered normal.

Wouldn’t call it “normal” - it’s to be expected. Question is whether it’s within a negligible range. Performance didn’t seem to matter too much because let’s be honest: it’s never going to be “quick” (unless you V8 swap). If you’re trying to overtake on the freeway…gears aren’t going to do much for the rolling resistance and wind. MPG is definitely impacted, but it depends how much freeway driving you do and how much you care.

 

[AmishMike]

Stock JTR

315/70/R17 Nitto Trail Grappler M/Ts

Yokohama Geolander A/Ts, my highway tires. Theoretically both 35”tall About 1.5 mpg difference.
It sees some trails but is my work truck, DD, tow vehicle, family truckster. Don’t need a lift or 37s, I do need to be able to get in and out of the truck, so does my 5’2” wife.
Simply roll a set of tires next to it and see which aesthetics you like. Then consider tread carefully as well. My Yokohamas have all but paid for themselves in fuel savings……

 

[Russler]

For what it is worth and that is not much I have the 6 spd manual and I love the look of my Nitto Ridge Grappler 37's but hated them until I regeared to 4:88's! I drove from MN to TX and rarely got into 6th gear and dropped into 4th on many occasions. If we had this discussion over an adult beverage or two I would say go 35's if staying with stock wheels and not regearing. You will always want 37's but driveability on a daily basis will be much better.

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

Bought my '20 JTR about 3 months ago and I've been loving it!! It only has 11k on it, but i'm itching to put on some bigger rubber. It has the 2" mopar lift and the wheel wells are just begging to be stuffed. The Jeep spends 99.9% of it's life on the road as a daily driver and biweekly commutes (200mi round trip) to my cabin up north and ill occasionally pull a 14' tandem trailer with my atv's on it.

I've read some of the popular threads about 35 vs 37 and i keep flip flopping. I don't want to spend the money on regearing yet but yet I don't want to suffer terribly on peppiness, gas mileage, etc. I also want to stick with the factory rims for now as I haven't seen a wheel that i've fallen in love with yet.

As for the tire...i've done the BFG AT and MT on all my past jeeps and i'm over that. I like the more agressive look. The Nitto Ridge Grappler seems like a good happy medium.

So, for those that were in the same situation, what was the one things that finally tipped you one way vs. the other.

I vote jump to 37’s!
Just know that tires are the cheapest part of going to 37” tires. Anything larger than 37” tires and you can likely mall crawl for awhile. But if you wheel (and I’m not talking forest service roads) even with 37” tires you are going to wear down parts quicker than you would think. If you are not ok with replacing ball joints and other suspension/steering joints every??? 30k ish miles… go smaller… and if you are looking at bigger than 37/38’s get open a “axles account” and once you hit 20k you will be set!

 

[AverageOverlander]

I vote jump to 37’s!
Just know that tires are the cheapest part of going to 37” tires. Anything larger than 37” tires and you can likely mall crawl for awhile. But if you wheel (and I’m not talking forest service roads) even with 37” tires you are going to wear down parts quicker than you would think. If you are not ok with replacing ball joints and other suspension/steering joints every??? 30k ish miles… go smaller… and if you are looking at bigger than 37/38’s get open a “axles account” and once you hit 20k you will be set!

Good info, you can tell a lot of people on here just think it’s a cosmetic upgrade like a spoiler, “just re-gear and voila.” My bet is over half of these people doing it because they saw it on fb will be bailing on their trucks within a couple years.

There’s a reason the hardcore guys trailer their rigs to the trail head, even though many of them could drive them there. The closer you get to that type of build, the worse and worse it becomes as a daily driver.

 

[DocMike]

This is why I have HD ball joints and knuckles going in next week. RCV will be next. Then a 2.5 ton drag link....down the black hole I go.....
Wear and tear is real. Check the pic @Waggs took on Holy Cross.

I vote jump to 37’s!
Just know that tires are the cheapest part of going to 37” tires. Anything larger than 37” tires and you can likely mall crawl for awhile. But if you wheel (and I’m not talking forest service roads) even with 37” tires you are going to wear down parts quicker than you would think. If you are not ok with replacing ball joints and other suspension/steering joints every??? 30k ish miles… go smaller… and if you are looking at bigger than 37/38’s get open a “axles account” and once you hit 20k you will be set!

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