suspension/tire selection

[matt2271]

i have a 84 CJ7 with 1" spring lift and a 1" shackle lift in the rear with 31" tires. im thinking of going with 33s. question is whats a good combination of lift and tires that would work decent on the street as well as the trail. not looking for to extreme, most of my off roading is dirt roads and trails. not looking to rock crawl or deep mud bogging. Pics of what you have would help to. Thank you

 

[Lumpy Grits]

WELCOME
33's will rub a bunch with that set-up. OEM rear brakes don't do much to stop 33's either.
Go with 32's.
BTW-What is your R&P ratio? If it's like 2:73 or 3:31 you don't want much bigger than those 31's
Also-Hope your run'n 1 piece axles in that rear mod 20 axle.
I have 33's in the picture to the left--
LG

 

[matt2271]

i have 2:73 with an automatic. roughly how much extra lift would 33s take? Would a couple inch body lift give enough clearance?

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Do not recommend 33's w/2:73 R&P.
Would NOT go any bigger than 31 or 32 at the most till you get some real gears installed.
LG

 

[Torxhead]

With 2:73 gearing, you should stick with the 31s. I don't think you will find anyone on this forum that will go anywhere over 1" on the body lift. A 4" lift will work with a 33" tire, add the body lift to take it in the dirt. 31s are a great tire, if you have one that is designed for off road use.

 

[Old Dog]

Here's a pic of mine on 33's with a 4" spring and a 1" body lift.

I agree with the rest of the guys.
With 2:73's & an auto stay with the 31's or the jeep will be a real dog.
For 33's you really need a 4" spring lift to not rub. And at least 3:73 gears IMO

 

[CJAKE7]

I have 33s with 3:31 r&p and a double hockey puck body lift. I have a T-5 Transmission & AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l . All this was in place when I purchased it. Heres the lowdown:

-anytime I'm off road, the fenders are scraping
- 5th gear is useless even on highway
- I have to ride the clutch pretty good to get her moving
-towing a trailer is misery
- she does not stop very quickly at all

I am going with 31s as soon as they are available in the BFG AT KO2s. Bigger is not better, unless your plans for your CJ are all show and no go(or you have the money/plans to do everything required to make it safe & usable with 33s).

Just my two cents of spending years trying to figure out how to improve my situation with out laying out another 2-3 grand.

 

[hondo]

i have 33x12.5 and 3.54s and i think a 4 inch lift. the lift is about right, it does rub but not bad. the gearing is terrible smoke the clutch getting going uphill. towing any weight drags it down a lot and going thru rocks smokes the clutch bad. i can't imagine how anybody could live with higher gears. i will be going with 3.73s T-18 wide ratio and Dana 300 when i can

 

[Hedgehog]

Even if you have the 33's already, it is far less expensive to get a new set of tires than it would be to regear your diff. That is unless you plan on doing the regearing yourself, even then it's not an inexpensive chore. There are so many reasons to go with 31" tires. You will feel more seat of the pants power, your clutch will last much longer, it will be easier to get into and out of, you won't loose any real ground clearance, your CJ will handle better, and your stock factory brakes will handle the stopping load better.

As I read your OP it sounds like you have a small shackle lift in the rear, but nothing in the front. Is there a reason for that? I remember seeing rear shackle lifts in the '60's on hot rods. Looked cool, ruined already sketchy handling, girl friends hated the big ones, generally they didn't last long. You are better off with a nice even ride height. Of course a 1" shackle lift = 1/2" lift. You can get more than that by adding a few pounds of air to the rear tires.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

I have 33s with 3:31 r&p and a double hockey puck body lift. I have a T-5 Transmission & AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l . All this was in place when I purchased it. Heres the lowdown:

-anytime I'm off road, the fenders are scraping
- 5th gear is useless even on highway
- I have to ride the clutch pretty good to get her moving
-towing a trailer is misery
- she does not stop very quickly at all

I am going with 31s as soon as they are available in the BFG AT KO2s. Bigger is not better, unless your plans for your CJ are all show and no go(or you have the money/plans to do everything required to make it safe & usable with 33s).

Just my two cents of spending years trying to figure out how to improve my situation with out laying out another 2-3 grand.

That torque load is kill'n your T-5 also.
LG

 

[Torxhead]

That torque load is kill'n your T-5 also.
LG

That high gear ratio from the 3:31s and the 33" tires is hard on the clutch too.

 

[007]

I agree with LG and the rest on 33's, but the only problem you'll have with 32's is that it really limits your options as fewer and fewer brands are selling 32's and should you ever need to replace one it may be even tougher to find a match.

One thing to remember too is that not all tires measure out to what they're marked as. I've seen 31's measure right at 30 or a touch over and others (like mine) measure right at 31". Same can be said of any tire, including 33's. Point is a true 31 can potentially be only an inch off from a "short" 33 and is usually quite a bit less expensive.

I have Firestone Destination MT's and I love the look, and it would look better with the net 2" lift you have.