I have a 2012 2dr Sport. I am leaning toward 33" Mickey Thompson MTZs or All Terrains. I drive highway local about 90% of the time and 10% for trails. I'm looking to keep my stock MOAB 17" Wheels. Anyone have any suggestions as far as wheels, tires, wheelspacers? Also I'm not leaning toward a lift kit, Jeep dealership gave me a problem about some other mods I did saying that it would void my warranty.

 

33s look good on a two door. A 2" budget boost along with some 1.5" spidertrax wheel spacers rill round out your Jk very nicely. However, the MB72's and 33's from Discount tire direct will eliminate the need for spacers while allowing you to sell your factory tires and wheels netting you an overall less expensive set up. Check out JHolder93's set up

 

Can't find Jholder93. I will look into the mb72 and some 33"s, Mickey Thompson, Goodyear or BF Goodrich? Still up in the air between tires.

 

Looks aside, there is not much off-road performance difference in 2" of diameter, and 35s get more complicated because of gearing, clearance, and the ability of the stock axles to handle the additional forces.

 

I wanted to second this statement.

OP stated he wanted to stay away from a lift for warranty purposes, so I thought I would share my experiences going to a 35" tire with no lift.

I started off with some 305/70/17s (basically 34") that I picked up cheap on Craigs. I did fender trim and 1.5" spidertrax spacers and I was good to go (also had to trim or lose front airdam). I have had no clearance issues at all with those, so the 33" are going to be similar. I was able to run Rubi rails at stock length with no problem, didn't have to trim the pinch seam and could fit the spare on the stock tire carrier with no rattles or concern about the tailgate.

For me, that size is the "sweet spot" for running a zero-lift setup. Plus, I think they looked great.





As you can see, even at full stuff I had no clearance issues (pic is from when I had literally a ton of bricks in the rear)



There is a downside to this tire size... Tire availability. The new Wranger MT-Rs are white-letter only in this size (at least, when I checked about a year ago), and it is less common than a 33" or a 35". So, when those tires reached end-of-life, I decided to step up to a 35" Wrangler MT/R. After all, what difference could an increase in 1" diameter bring, right?

Well, a LOT of work as it turns out.

My front was good to go, no real work needed. However, to get the rears to fit without rubbing, I needed to do the following:

• Trim Rubi Rails 2" - no big deal, a sawzall and one hours work
• Trim Pinch Seam front and rear - um, do I want to be cutting into my body panels?
• Couldn't fit spare on stock tire carrier, had to get relocation bracket. OK, only $35 or so, but now my tailgate rattles something fierce. Will need to get a tire carrier, one is on order. Looking at about five bills here at a minimum!
• Trimming pinch seams STILL didn't get me the clearance I needed in the rear fenderwell, so I got adjustable upper and lower rear control arms and relocated axle back 1" rearward. That was another five bills minimum!
• Because I lengthened wheelbase, now I need to relocate rear frame mount trackbar bracket, relocate the rear swaybar and do something about the rear bumper. I will need to do surgery on existing frame mount for the rear track bar and fab up a mount, drill more holes in frame to relocate sway bar, possibly do a muffler relocate because the sway bar may interfere, and I ditched rear bumper altogether (did Evo D-Ring mounts in the frame rails).

Now, I was willing to cut and trim what is needed to get to 35" on no lift, and I don't necessarily regret the work required to get here because I like working the jeep. However if I was not capable of doing to work or was on a limited budget, I would have DEFINITELY stayed at 34" or below! And I don't think it's all that different from a "looks" perspecitve, either.

This is what she looks like on 35" MT/Rs...

Before I ditched rear bumper:



After I removed bumper and installed Evo D-Ring brackets:



EDIT: Oh yeah, Axles and Gearing... forgot to talk about those! When I went to the 305's, I basically lost 5th and 6th gear (I am at 6000' so not unexpected). Now that I am at 35" tires, I will need to beef up axles and regear if I have ANY hope of making it up some of these mountain passes. I bought spare Rubi axles to build up, but all that just adds to cost of going to 35" tires.

OP, stick with 33"s unless you are willing to go to this level of involvement.

BTW, lifting instead brings about it's own set of issues... driveshaft lifespan, front trackbar issues, deathwobble, etc. That path may be better explored, and the problems may not manifest themselves as readily, but it does bring issues nontheless.

 

Don't run 35's if you don't want to get a lift

I would price out running 33's on your stock wheels with spacers vs going to 15 or 16 inch wheels... sometimes the prices for 33x12.5x17 to 33x12.5x16 or 33x12.5x15 can be more than the price of buying new wheels...

 

32's are the largest OE size. So 33's could void your warranty too. Also, for me at least, 33's would be barely tolerable without regearing. 35's definitely require new gearset's.