thinking of stepping it up from the 35xs12.50 17 toyos to a 38x14.50 km2. my first question is will this be to big for my dana 44 axles? second will i have enough room to flex with my setup (4" tera, 1" spacers in front, 3/4" rear, will be doing the bushwackers flat fenders, 17x9 wheels with 4 5/8 backspacing).

 

You'll need to run wheel spacers

 

14.50's are pretty wide. I am thinking you *may* need wheel spacers as well. Although you could try it out with just your wheels. Although if you do need spacers, your tires are going to stick a mile outside your fenders.

They are also going to be on the heavy side (not quite as heavy as toyo's, but heavy enough). Your front axle certainly won't like them much. The rear can be made to hold up if you don't use lots of skinny pedal.

 

its funny, the 38 km2 is only 1 lb hevier than the 35 toyo. i realy dont want to run a wheel spacer so my second choice was a 37x13.50 Dick Cepek FC2. would i need spacers for these?

 

I don't know how good these are but there are some Yokohama Geolandar MT+ in a 38x13.5x17 that might fit a little better with your setup. They are fairly cheap too for a tire this size. Discount tire has them for $308 per tire. Again... I don't know anything about how good this tire is. I just saw it when I was doing some searching.

I am thinking about going to 38's also. I am thinking about reinforcing my Dana 44s with guessets and sleeves soon after putting these tires on.

I am thinking that with the 38x13.5x17 on a 17x9 wheel with 4.5 backspacing that I may be ok on rubbing? I guess I will find out.

 

the km2 are on the small side and will only be silightly bigger than your toyos now. still, they are a lot of tire and so long as you're easy on the skinny pedal, you should be okay with your dana 44s. if you don't have them already, i'd upgrade your front axle shafts to chromoly. also, as mentioned, you will find it necessary to install wheel spacers and bumpstops.

 

If this is a JK that is used off pavement, the question the OP needs to pose of himself is this: "Are 38s going to take me up and over trails I currently can't manage on 35s?" If the honest answer is, "Yes, I think so," then strive NOT to operate at or near the limit of your driveline's capabilities and upgrade to 1-ton axles and maybe even 1350 drive shafts.

Perhaps it's more a matter of aesthetics as is the case with a percentage of Jeep owners. If so, well, put the biggest tire you can possibly fit on your rig and be willing to spend a portion of your trail time replacing broken axles, u-joints, stub shafts, etc.

 

i realize the 35 do just fine off road but i want to change it up. i realy do not want to run wheel spacers so im just going to go with my second choice (37x13.50 FC2).

 

nothing wrong with wheel spacers. i've been running them for years on all my jeeps. and, even with 13.50 wide tires, i think you're gonna find that you'll still want them. 4.625" of back spacing is a lot for 13.50s

 

so if i go with the km2, would you run a 1" or 1.5" spacer?