Howdy from Haverhill

Jeep newbie here, just bought a 2013 JKU Moab. I am the guy in the black Moab waving back at you if I see a fellow Jeeper!

-bill

Hi Bill from Haverhill.
I'm Mark from Haverhill.
I am the guy driving a white TJ with 33s and a grey chicken stuck to the front bumper at the winch fair lead.
Sometimes driving a green TJ with wrangler stickers on both sides of the hood.
Congratulations, I hope your new jeep serves you well.
Welcome to the forum!
Mark,,

Haha wow I looked at your Avatar pic and it took me a minute to find your Jeep! Good stuff. I am not sure I have it in me to try that kind of off-roading but eventually I imagine I will be out there. I am hopefully getting my 33"s on this weekend!

Don't the JKU models come with 32s on them from the factory? I'm not sure myself.
33s are not very big as far as a rig like you have .
But if you want some insight or info about what size tires you can and can not put on a stock rig like yours,
you might want to contact Shaun aka Dongalonga on this forum
He has a 2 door and has done a bit of home work as to what will fit w/o issues.
There are a few others here with the 4 door models also.
It doesn't hurt to ask them what they have and their experiences with tire sizes and recommendations.
I think that you can't PM him until you have accumulated 10 or more postings.

For some reason Jeep decided to put skinny tires on the Moab. You would think a special edition model would have aggressive tires but no such luck. The Goodyear Silent Armors are about 31.5" stock.

If you are sure that you want to live with 33s until they wear out then go for the 33s.
You might think that they look kind of small after you put them on though.
Another member wayne07jk also has a 4 door with upgraded tire size on his rig but he has a lift.
Your rig has plenty of power to push a good sized tire with out it being very noticeable if at all.

We've got the stock Rubi/Islander/Mountain tires on ours (255/75/17 BFG MTs) and they're *awesome*. They've got a bit of noise on road, but nothing compared to most mud-terrains.

Just added more aggressive tires give you a huge advantage. Don't worry about getting too large yet. Run 32s on stock suspension gives you plenty of capability with wonderful road-manners.

If you do want to upgrade because you're worried about clearance, just get some armor. It'll still be useful even if you decide to lift it later.

Also, welcome!

NSJ is a great group of people of various rig levels and wheeling comfort levels, so don't worry about feeling pressured to push it too hard too soon. We try and make sure we keep certain runs stocker friendly!

Great! There seems to be a crap-ton of 4x4 groups for the area and I am actually surprised by that. It's a good thing though! I am going with some 33" tires, (selling my 5x245/75R17 GY Silent Armors cheap btw) and from all of my research I should be ok on-road but off-road I may get some rubbing on stock suspension and wheels.

In the near future I may be looking to get a lift done. Anyone recommend a good shop in our area that does them and won't bend me over?

I dunno, I personally like tall and skinny. Don't let people tell you fat tires are the only thing that's capable. You get some good bite with skinny tires and 32x9.5 is a good size (it's what I run on the YJ), and despite their looks the GY Silent Armors have *really* good reviews for off-road.

(Heck, I wish I was local, I'd buy them off you for our JK, ha ha)

In terms of the lift, we've got a thread on here with places people like ("Approved Vendors List", I think?), but if you're comfortable turning a wrench, or would like to learn, there's plenty of local guys here who would love to help you install it.

Way more rewarding that way! (And will only cost you a couple pizzas, ha ha)

Hey Bill!

Welcome to the forum! I suggest Photobucket (free account) to post any photos if you'd like.

Best,

Ryan

Hey there Bill. Welcome! Maybe we'll catch up at a run.