Hello,
I just purchased a 4" Rough Country lift kit for my 2008 Jeep Wrangler JK Unlimited X (2wheel drive) and had some general questions about gear ratios and tires.

I plan on getting 33"-35" all terrains, (18" wheels) since this is a daily driver, but I've heard about various problems with lower torque and power with the larger tires. So I'm wondering what tire size would best suit my needs. If I do end up with 35" tires should I change the gears to not lose mpg and power...if so what gears are recommended (i'm new to this gear thing and have no idea what will work best...any suggestions would help out a lot)

Would 33" tires fill out the lift well?

Also, any recommendations on a set of all terrains ( I do a lot of freeway commuting, so noise and driveability are key)

Again, I appreciate any help...I'm a newbie

Thanks,
Andrea

 

Hey Andrea welcome to the site! You are very close to me, I am in Huntington Beach. I will do my best to answer your questions, but keep in mind it is my opinion, you will get a lot of different answers here.

In my opinion for a 4" lift you will want to get 35" tires to fill out the wheel wells. 33" tires with your 4" lift will look too small. I have what is considered a 4.5" lift on mine and my 35's look just right, again 33's would be too small.

If you do end up with the 35" tires and you want to regear I would suggest getting 4.88's if you have a 6spd, and 5.13's if you have an automatic. I have not regeared yet and it is not too bad, not so bad that I am in a hurry to do it, but I do have 4.10 factory gearing. If you have 3.73 you might want to regear right away, and if you have 3.21 gears, you will probably not like driving it without regearing. The good thing is you only have to pay to have your rearend regeared, so it wont be as much as a lot of us pay.

As far as all terrains go, I would highly recommend the BFGoodrich all terrain tires. I had a set on a full size truck and I got a lot of miles out of them. If I was going to get all terrains again I would get them.

I took my Jeep up into the local mountains yesterday and had a blast with it in 2WD. I don't have a front driveshaft yet (I ordered, just waiting) so I didn't have much choice. Your Jeep will be very capable with the lift, tires, and gears.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

HOLD ON! DO NOT ONLY REGEAR THE REAR END! NEVA, NEVA, N E V E R!!!

I think CTIMRUN had a momentary lapse here, unless he does not have a 4WD then neva mind.

OOPS. the OP only has a 2WD. carry on. my "foo-paw"

 

What did I goof up now?

 

You missed the part of it only being 2WD.

 

Oh I think I know. Andrea does not have a 4WD, there is no gears in the front, so regearing only the rearend is the only way to go.

Wouldn't have been the first time, and I am sure it won't be the last! Sometimes i look back at what I did or said and realize I might be losing my mind prematurely....

 

WOW! You guys are QUICK!. I was in the process of post editing and already got two repsonses. My Bad, I apologize! {post embarassed icon here}

 

Thanks Ctimrun,
Valuable info...I appreciate it. Yeah, I got an automatic so I will probably end up regearing in the near future. I was totally unaware of just regearing the back end...again thanks for the insight.

Awesome, Huntington's not that far away...maybe I'll see you cruising around-nice jeep!