Baystate Jeepers

There are a million ways to go. If you are going to events on the 28th or May 11, come talk with me. (white JKU with a red Aruba plate and no spare on the back). I've made my own front spring spacers, so the cost is wrenching time plus zero dollars. I am running OEM 17" alloys with 295-70-17 Dick Cepec Extreme Country (probably not a good choice for a daily driver, though). These are about 34". There are (free) ways to deal with some of the potential rubbing. I just got 1.5" spacers (Talk with Ken....he has some left overs for sale very cheap). I just cut the lip of my front fenders, where rubbing can occur with a disconnected front sway when really articulated and turning. It still looks stock.....I just cut the lip where rubbing was going on last weekend.

If you're wheeling, your wheels are going to get scratched up. No, really.....they will. Mark makes a really good suggestion to just buy steel wheels. A dented wheel on the trail is fixed with a hammer. Watch Craigslist for the OEM 16" take offs and get spacers. Heck....black plasti dip is cheap. You could keep what you've got for the street and use aggressive tires just for trail runs. It's what I do.

On the tire size choice, those are really narrow. I've got similar 235-80-16 (on 16" steel oem wheels) for snow tires, specifically to be narrow. I don't think you want that for the trails.

Talk to everyone and look at rigs at events. I am far from an expert, but I observe, ask, observe and then tend to build stuff rather than buy if I can. Getting a 1" front spring spacer will even out a JKU so the "jeep rake" goes away. That's with a stock front bumper and no winch. I expect if I add a bumper and winch, I'll have to raise the front 1/2 to 1 inch more just to keep the height where it is.

Hi Steve. It’s your neighbor from Winchester. I too was looking for that balance between pavement and trail without breaking the bank. 33’s was my limit as I didn’t want to regear and do other necessary upgrades. I chose a hybrid tire that is a cross between an AT and an MT tire: Mickey Thompson ATZ P3, 285/70/17 which are very close to a true 33. They look more like a mud tire and have been super on the trail. They also handle well on the streets and are relatively quiet. I saved by going with inexpensive wheels that complement my jeep well. Everyone is correct ... I scratched my stock wheels every outing so I wasn’t going to spend on lot on new wheels. For lift, I wanted a spring lift and shocks that would also ride well for a DD so I went with the Rancho 2” progressive spring with adjustable RS9000 shocks. (5) Wheels, tires, TPMS sensors, mount and lift w/shocks grand total was under $2,000. My schedule limited me to only a couple of outings last year, but so far I am pleased with the outcome and fits the balance I was looking for. I was gun shy after my first 101 as well but found you just have to take the plunge. The more you get out there and wheel, the more experience you will gain and that will then help you decided how crazy you want to go and what upgrades you want to do first. Not sure if you are attending the run on the 28th. If you are still unsure about your jeep, you are welcome to ride with me and try my jeep. Since you’re next door, I can even pick you up if you don’t plan on taking Zaku II.

MDSRACING398 wrote:you should check out Offroad Elements, they are now next to a tire place and can mount/balance what they sell and these guys actually wheel and support local offroad events. Great people and really competitive pricing. I've actually received hand written thank yous for shopping there from the shop! Talk about customer service! They know what does and doesn't work on a Jeep.

Cool, thanks for the advice! I'll check them out this week.

smarshall wrote:

BlackKnight wrote:I'm currently running 2.25" spacers in my Stock JKU, tires/rims are take-offs that I picked up from a club member, I'm running 315/70r17s (Converts to 34.5"/12.4"x17) with only a 2-inch leveling kit (front only). the spacers keep them off the struts and sway bars. I do rub, but only on fenders. I'm not going to be on a trail however till I put the 2.5-inch lift in (already in the garage) and I want to get Flat fenders ASAP to also give some extra room.

Hitting up club members for used rims/tires is not a bad idea! I am not very picky about rim style as long as they are black and hold tires on them. Have you re-geared to accommodate the 34.5" tires?

No regearing yet, I'm in an automatic and have noticed only a little lag on acceleration, and the shift points and Speedo are off, but going to get a programmer to correct that.

Eventually, I'm re-gearing and locking the front and rear but that may be a couple more seasons away as I want to move the front from a D30 to a D44 at least.

Getting into this late but here goes. First , the street tires you had on are just that. Dont hold that against yourself. There will be advantages to going to a 17" wheel from 18". When you have the same size tire on a smaller wheel it has more sidewall to flex over thing and helps them grip. If you were struggling to get over thing , as in clearance , thats lift. A combination of the two is hard to deal with all day. The biggest struggle will be wanting to do more and keeping it street. A 2 door has a big advantage over a 4 door when it comes to getting over things. I was spotting at the 101 and the biggest issue I see , and I have no knowledge on how a auto is on the trail, is stabbing the gas. When thats done the weight of the vehicle goes to the rear and the front no longer wants to continue turning. Add a locker and that multiply s. Being steady or smooth is what I was saying all day. Getting taller tires will help clear items. Getting a more aggressive tire will help overall. But that alone starts changing how it will ride ,start,stop,and sound on the street. Good luck with your decision . FjR68

smarshall wrote:Hitting up club members for used rims/tires is not a bad idea! I am not very picky about rim style as long as they are black and hold tires on them. Have you re-geared to accommodate the 34.5" tires?

Nope, haven't done any re-gearing, Still running the stock ratios. Because I'm in an Auto, I haven't much noticed the acceleration issues. But I certainly noticed the MPG drop (Hovering around 13-14 MPG).

Just my opinion and it aint worth much these Days.
1) Wheel spacers suk ! End of story
2) Budget lift is the cheapest way to go to get what you want.
3) No matter what AT tire you buy , you really wont be happy with in the woods.
4) My favorite solution to this question , Another set of wheels and tires to go on when you want to wheel. You wont burn them out on the street. You can still have your chrome wheels at the mall/work and they will work way so much better in the woods.
5) When you find out how hard you want to wheel , then buy the right backspace wheel , tire combo. A complete lift kit is way much better than a pieced together as its made to work together. Buy then you will be on the trails seeing what werks and what you like . Im to cheap to buy anything so you dont have to listen to me. FjR68

Frank wrote: 3) No matter what AT tire you buy , you really wont be happy with in the woods.

I'll have to disagree with you on this one

I ran 31" General Grabber AT2 tires on my TJ for a couple years, it handled every terrain except for the deep mud with ease. Yes they packed with mud/dirt and we're not as good as a mud terrain, but for a daily driver they were awesome. Only pulled winch a couple times. Even got 45k miles on them before upgrading size. They still had enough tread to go another 10-15k.

I run mud terrains now, but it's a toy/wheeler and won't see daily duty again so I can go with a more aggressive tread pattern.

BlackNBlue-ISH wrote:

Frank wrote: 3) No matter what AT tire you buy , you really wont be happy with in the woods.

I'll have to disagree with you on this one

I ran 31" General Grabber AT2 tires on my TJ for a couple years, it handled every terrain except for the deep mud with ease. Yes they packed with mud/dirt and we're not as good as a mud terrain, but for a daily driver they were awesome. Only pulled winch a couple times. Even got 45k miles on them before upgrading size. They still had enough tread to go another 10-15k.

I run mud terrains now, but it's a toy/wheeler and won't see daily duty again so I can go with a more aggressive tread pattern.

I Agree with Ish, been running on General AT2's now for about 3-4 years. Never had any issues in non deep mud, and because it's my DD I love them even more as I don't hear the slap of the lugs against the pavement that you sometimes hear on MTs (Sometimes referred to as the Buzz).

Without an argument guys. You both said not as good , just like i did . Bob , AT2s must work great except I was talking about on a trail ! FjR68

Frank wrote:Without an argument guys. You both said not as good , just like i did . Bob , AT2s must work great except I was talking about on a trail ! FjR68

...and they can work amazing on a trail.

So tell me , why you aint you runnin them anymore ? FjR68

Frank wrote:So tell me , why you aint you runnin them anymore ? FjR68

Neither of us said that all terrains are better then mud terrains off road. We were just stating that all terrains can be great tires for most of what we do off road. Most people in this club drive their jeeps daily, let’s say 90% of their vehicles life is spent on road. When off road, AT’s work 90% of the time while on road AT’s are good in 100% of situations. Mud terrains are good 100% of the time off road but are only good 60% off the time on road.

I run mud terrains because I have a second vehicle that I drive daily. My jeep is used primarily as a wheeling vehicle or pleasure around town, then put away for winter. The tires are loud and have zero features that work in the winter weather.

This ends my portion of this discussion.

Everything is a compromise and it's a different analysis for everyone.

Otherwise we'd all run the same tires.


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If yall go back to my post it flat out says (4) Another set of wheels . It didnt say anything about commuting , I said you wont be happy . Not they aint gonna work. The reason you went to MTs was to boost your off road capability , yes/no ? This post was asking for opinions , everyones got one, yours is wrong. FjR68