blackie27

I'm looking to upgrade my tires but am not sure about the "language" of tires. I have a stock sport S and am thinking I want to go with 33" tires. I would like to have 4.5in back spacing and will probably go to discount tires. I'm assuming 33" is ok with the stock lift, and then eventually I will put a lift on my Jeep after the tires are installed. I see the tires are organized by numbers like 270 70R 16 or something like that. I get the last number for the rim (going to buy new rims too, hopefully black wth 8 holes). Anyone know what dimensions I should be looking for and maybe recommendations? I need my tires for snow, off roading, and street for travel.

resharp001

You'll see most tires listed in metric measurements, which some stick with, and others that go with a standard measurement. I'm a standard guy myself. This site helps explain the metric versions to you:

Understanding Tire Sizes | Just Tires

The standard is a bit more straightforward to me. If what you want is only in metric, you can use a little converter like this to help you:

https://tiresize.com/converter/

You have a 5x5 bolt pattern on your jeep. Most wheels you look at are going to have 5 holes. Not sure if this is what you mean when you say "hopefully with 8 holes". You might find some that have 10 holes which are basically compatible with more than one bolt pattern.....but you're still only going to use 5 of them as you only have 5 lugs. I'd shoot for 4.5" BS on a 17" wheel. A 15" or 16" wheel will eliminate any big brake upgrade that you might desire in the future.

blackie27

Would it be really bad on gas mileage and stability of the car on the highway or with towing to have 35s?

resharp001

Well, it's definitely a can't have your cake and eat it too type thing. Larger the tire, the bigger bite out of fuel economy it's going to take. The more rubber hitting the ground, the more resistance. Also, the bigger the tire, more more effort it's taking to turn it.

As far as stability on the highway or towing, if your caster is correct, the tire size alone isn't going to make it unstable. What will get you though is gearing. I can't recall what gears you have. If you have 3.21 gears, a 35 is gonna be a drag. With 3.73 or 4.10's, 35s are manageable as a daily driver, but probably a bit of a drag to tow with in the mountains. When picking a tire, definitely consider your gearing and be honest with yourself about budget, build plans, and the jeep's use. If you are going to have the jeep for a long time, and want bigger tires, the upfront cost of a regear would be worth it over the long ownership of the vehicle. Unfortunately, once you start modding....even simple things like tires and wheels, it's never as simple as you want things to be.

blackie27

I believe mine is 3.73 but I would probably look to upgrade to 4.10 in the future. I drive I70 a lot for snowboarding and don't do a ton of off-roading. Maybe go like 5-10 times a year. But 33s with a lift should allow me to do a lot, (with the proper suspension and whatnot) and 35s on I70 regularly may not be idealistic.

resharp001

33s would be more tolerable with 3.73 gearing, if they suited your general use. Regearing from 3.73 to 4.10 would be hard to justify from a cost perspective. You just wouldn't notice that much of a difference for the $1500 +/- outlay. Usually you'll need to move 2 gear sets to notice a real difference. You should be able to pull your build sheet and confirm the gearing you have. I'd probably say if 33s would allow you to keep stock gearing for a while, then they'd definitely be a more budget friendly choice. If you get in to regearing....then I'd say just get the tire size you really want and gear around that. You shouldn't notice a big difference in handling between the two.

blackie27

Sounds good. I was told that changing the gearing up to 4.10 might make towing uphill better but that does sound pretty costly.

Any recommendations on tire brand? I've heard about some with Kevlar

resharp001

Well, technically ANY lower gearing is going to help it tow better, but when you're forking out $1500 or so to regear, it's a cost vs. incremental improvement type thing. For that kind of money, you want to see something significantly different, not wonder if what you're feeling is just a placebo effect.

Edit - I'll leave tire recommendations to someone else. I'm an MT guy myself, but don't think MT's make much sense for your use or winters. There should be some good suggestions for AT tires, and might possibly look at some hybrids like the Nitto Ridge Grappler.

dahreno

BTW, one usually doesn't just pick backspacing, it's decided by the amount of clearance you need when selecting bigger/wider tires.

rob_engineer

Don't forget- if you change tire diameter you will need to reprogram the jeeps computer. Maybe you have an unlimited budget, but doing larger tires, different wheels, gearing change, and reprogram all at once is going to cost many thousands of dollars. Too rich for my blood.