33's or 35's??????

[Rich A]

I have a 1994 80 Series. I have the 3" OME and 16" rims. I want new 17" rims, thinking about 315/70,R17
From what I hear the 35" tire will fit my rig. Concern: rubbing and less articulation. Powertrain strain / loss of power up highway hills. Toyota mechanic says the rig would best function with 33's. Many other 80 Series owners say go with 35" because you'll wish you did later. I do dessert overland trips & Eastern Sierra with small rocks and slate for instance. I am thinking of getting the KM3 tires. I have KO2's on my 4Runner and love them.
Thoughts?

 

[rhinodave]

Hi Rich, I am also torn between 33" or 35", got a 17 jeep jku, and I am just starting my build. I am putting a 2.5" aev lift on and I am leaning towards 35" nitto ridge grapplers. But with the bigger tire, I think I will have to regear, currently running stock 3.21 gearing. I like the idea of having a little more ground clearance. Good luck with decision, I don't think you can go wrong with either choice

 

[Overland California]

What axles are you running? Any plans for a regear? You're only going to get a 1" difference in ground clearance between the two, but the rubbing at full lock/bump could cause more headaches than you want. Regearing can be spendy and usually is the best time to throw in a locker (even more money).

I looked it up and online says stock tire size was 275/70R16 or roughly a 31" tall tire. 35's loaded and off road may be pushing it on stock gears, driveline, etc.

I'd say go 35's, cry once, but also do it just once. If you don't want to open up a can of expensive worms, stick with the 33's.

 

[rhinodave]

It's a jku sport, so everything is stock. Was going to go rubicon route but with money I saved, I figured I can gradually make upgrades over time and still come under cost of Rubi. Going to go with 35's and do a regear and rear locker. I'm building more of a overland vehicle than hard core rock crawler, but still want it to be capable of handling tough stuff. My decision now is whether to go with air locker or e-locker? Any advice

 

[MazeVX]

It's a jku sport, so everything is stock. Was going to go rubicon route but with money I saved, I figured I can gradually make upgrades over time and still come under cost of Rubi. Going to go with 35's and do a regear and rear locker. I'm building more of a overland vehicle than hard core rock crawler, but still want it to be capable of handling tough stuff. My decision now is whether to go with air locker or e-locker? Any advice

So was my decision, I run 285/70r17 without lift and I don't feel like I would need 35" anytime.
For the thread starter, go with 33" nearly everyone I know is saying you don't really need bigger tires. Even Ronny Dahl Andrew St. Pierre white and many jeep guys say you don't really need it. So I go with them and say stay 33".

 

[Dave_McNaughton]

I used to run 33's on my jku Rubicon. I went to moab twice and did fine on lots of trails. Having 35s would have let me go a few places I couldn't go with my 33s. For most thing I.think 35 is biggest you need to go...ofcourse I ignored my own advice and went to 37s. I did that for rock crawling purposes though. Remember bigger tire hurts fuel and affects brakes as well as all drive train.

 

[DividedSky]

I forget which vid it was in, but Michael (OB#1) said, "If you are debating 35's, DONT... Just DO IT"
(or something along those lines)

 

[brien]

Why not just split the different and go with 34"? I run 285/75/17 (33.9") on my JKU and love them. I'm too lazy to figure out what the equivalent 34" tire would be for 16" rims though

 

[MazeVX]

N

Why not just split the different and go with 34"? I run 285/75/17 (33.9") on my JKU and love them. I'm too lazy to figure out what the equivalent 34" tire would be for 16" rims though

Not a bad idea you can even go one step more by choosing the same size for 18"rim nearly a 35" but a lot narrower.