bwhntr

im new to jeep ive run down my first set of tires I have a 18 willy jk I bought 2" level kit 1.5" body lift and 1.5" wheel spacer want to run the stock 17" wheels just don't know if i should go 33 or 35 its a daily driver with some fun on the weekends thanks in advance

TheDirtman

35's, what gears do you have?

Lynn Snyder

they are stock

TheDirtman

You could have 3.21 or 3.73 stock. IF you have 3.21 you will not like 35's

Lynn Snyder

3:73 on willys

resharp001

If you've no plans to regear, scrap the body lift, throw 33s on and go have a blast. the appearance of 3.5" lift and 33s gonna look bit odd IMO. If you really want 35s, just pick one that runs on the smaller side. It's bearable with 3.73 gearing, but the power, less stress on all steering components, and the cost savings with 33s would be decent consideration if it can still get an appearance you're happy with and fulfill your use.

Lynn Snyder

So I'm running big mud terrain 255 75 r17 you think the 285 75 r17 will be all right i believe they are a inch wider and 2in taller

hivoltagedriver

That is basically a 33x10.50x17 tire. Those should be fine.

Why the body lift?

Dat

Everybody has different ideas and types of trails, but for me even with the old short bed Chev 4wd trucks, 1980 and back to early 70's models, 33's did everything needed in this area, I ran some 35's on them but a 33 did it just as well,

now saying that, this little 2 dr jk goes places even easier than they did still running the factory size 255/75 17's, so I would say that 33's will still do most everything you need, but then again, that's my opinion for this area

Niteshooter

35's might be a bit wide for your stock wheels. Even wide 33's might be at the limits. Personally I too would go 33's as 35's may give you quite a performance drop, you are lucky that you have the 3.73 gearing as 35's may really have impacted your performance with 3.12 gears. Also sounds like you are going for appearance vs off road performance so if that's the case wide 33's will probably do the trick. But not sure if you will find that the level kit and body lift will look a bit weird with 33's.

I run the Mopar 2" lift kit with 35's on my 11 JK and though it looks great the 3.8L with stock 3.12 gearing just doesn't have the power to pull 6th gear on the highway. Also didn't look right with the stock wheels and skinny 265/70 18's so wound up with new wheels and 35's. More than anything the tire width makes things look more balanced. I put the original JK wheels and tires on my JKU and even stock I'm not thrilled with the look. Deeper dished wheels and wider tires IMHO would look better on it and once I wear out these tires I will do that. I just can't justify shelving a set of brand new tires at the moment (they came on my used JK).

JK has 315/70 17 BFG KO2's they are actually 34.5" high and 12.70" wide on a 9.5" rim, ride is good though the tread pattern makes the Jeep react very quickly to steering inputs. Some might call them a bit squirrelly, after installing them I upgraded my steering stabilizer.

The JKU General Grabbers in a 265/70 18 size, 32.6" high and 10.7" wide. Pretty much a street tire, track straight on the highway and quiet. They came on the JK and didn't need the steering stabilizer upgrade. The take away from this is that the 2" of width make a really big visual difference along with the not so dished stock wheels. Yeah I'm old school so dished mag wheels are the look I go for.

I get why you are going wheel spacers, it should make the stance look better though I have to admit I am not a fan of these. I would rather save my money and put it towards wheels and tires. Actually I think I would have skipped the body and level lifts and put all that into nicer wheels and 33" tires.

The 2" difference in tire height doesn't really look that noticeable does it. The 2" Mopar lift does although again not a huge difference eh.