Tire recommendations/guidance

Hello guys, I'm back here again looking for some more guidance. I finally got the 20 year old leafs off my YJ and replaced them with some heavy duty replacement ones from Crown Auto. Combined with a small shackle lift I've gained myself two inches of ride height and a ton more wheel well clearance. As I described it to my parents yesterday, "It's like driving a friggin Cadillac now."

As the topic title says, I'm looking for some recommendations/guidance for what type of tires I should move up to in the future. The ones I have on there now are 235/75/15 (~29") Goodyear Wrangler ATs. The tread is still good to great on them and they've performed well both on road and trails. However I'm looking to gain a little more ground clearance and gain better traction in off road areas with a more aggressive pattern.

My big conundrum is this: I believe I've gained enough clearance for 31s, however if I go with said 31s I'm concerned what little major flexing I do will create a rubbing issue, mostly in the rear. I'm not concerned about on road use with the 31s as there shouldn't be any real issues there, it's more on the trails where I'd like to use my newly-gained flexing ability to its full potential. I'll also admit that I'd like 31s because I feel it would give the Jeep a nice aggressive look and stance that I've wanted for 2 and half years, but I want her to be able to do more than mall crawl moving forward.

I'm not in a big rush to upgrade, but I'd appreciate any input you guys have. I've done some research into YJs with two inch lifts with 31s and all that, but you guys wheel a lot harder than I really have so your knowledge is desired. And if anyone happens to have a decent set of 31s they'd be willing to let me test mount on the thing or even buy, let me know.

Did you install extended bump stops? If not then your tires are still basically going to rub somewhere when flexing / full compression, no matter what else you have done.
The extensions on YJs mount on the front and rear axle housings, they attach at the u bolts that hold the leafs on, they are metal brackets.

If you remove the front and rear track bars and install longer shocks and sway bar links it will flex/droop so much more and easier, that is what you want!
You should modify steering stops (very easy to do) so your tires do not rub on leafs when at full turn.

If you install the bump stop extensions you should not have any rubbing issues when flexing.
BDS makes some nice ones. This is a picture of one of them, on the left at u bolts, pic is of one on the rear axle.(not my jeep)

I have a 91 yj with 3 1/2 in bds lift with 31s without track bars and it flexes great, rides great and handles fine.
I may have some bump stop extensions. I'll have to look.

Yeah I realized a little too late that bump stops would have been a good thing to invest in before having the lift put on. Live and learn. If you do have some I would certainly be interested in them.

Removing the track bars was something I was pondering over though because I've heard of plenty of YJ guys doing that while still being able to use it as an every day vehicle, which is what's most important to me. Do the 31s look a little small with that 3.5 inch lift on there?

I'll get a pic asap.

3 1/2 " BDS Lift Springs with Boomerang Shackles , 31" Tires

Psh...bumpstops.

My bumpstops are when my sagging rear end bottoms out at the end of shock travel.

(....get bumpstops. )

I'd have a look at 32" tires, at that point you get a wider footprint of 12.50" wide (generally speaking, metric runs very close) rather than the ~10" wide tire that you'll see at a 31"

Will do on the bumpstops. Your YJ has a nice stance to it Mark, very clean. Much like you Geoff (at least from what I remember in your build thread) I'll be mostly using my Jeep (for now) to light trail and go to/from campsites, with the occasional wheeling trip with the club and so forth.

From doing a few measurements, 32s are not entirely out of the question. A little work and trimming in the rear with a different flare and I could make it happen. The problem is that I'd like to use the wheels that I have now because of the offset they have, but I believe they're only 7 inches wide which is really pushing it with 12.5s. I have no intention of going bigger than that though because the four horsemen under the hood and the axles will be done in no time.

Geoff--do you happen know if it's possible to get the BFGs you have in that size with a 15" wheel? I know when we talked awhile back you said yours measure out to ~32", and I really like that they aren't overly wide. I think for my wheels they'd have to be something like 255/85/15. I'll look online as well and see if I can find any in that size.

I wanted as skinny and tall as possible, so mine are about 32x9.5, which you can only get with 16s in the BFG ATs, but you can get 32x10.5 on 15s, I think. You'll have to browse the site to see.

If i'm not mistaken, most 32s are approx 11-11 1/2 wide.
Ideally you want rim width to be no more than 4 inches difference between it and tire, give or take.
32s would be a good choice for that.
You probably have 3 1/2 -4 inch back space on those 7 inch rims, that's ok.
32s are probably more readily available, more choices in tread pattern and load ranges too.
If you are mostly going to use on street / trail, BFG all terrains extra load tires usually last a long time if alignment is good and you rotate them and monitor air pressure.

I'll have to shop around and see if I can find anything because BFG's website seems to only show 32/11.5. Can you guys recommend some bump stops for me? I'm not sure what I should be looking for when I'm buying them in terms of material, size, etc.

THOOPY3 wrote:I'll have to shop around and see if I can find anything because BFG's website seems to only show 32/11.5. Can you guys recommend some bump stops for me? I'm not sure what I should be looking for when I'm buying them in terms of material, size, etc.

Anything bumpy and stoppy should work. Some people use hockey pucks on the cheap end. Daystar makes good ones... they're basically just rubber/poly bricks.

I checked out the Daystar 1" extended set and they seem reasonably priced so I'll probably invest in those.

Geoff, was there a tire shop around here that you bought your BFGs from? Your stance is really the look and functionality I'm going for so I'm thinking I may pick up a set of 16s and go from there.

I also just picked up a set of TJ rear flares so look for that mod to be happening soon, hopefully sometime within the next few weeks as long as the weather permits. If anyone has a garage they're willing to let me use there's definitely a 12 pack in it for you...