Good evening everyone! I hope everyone's CV's, U-Joints and transmissions are doing well!
ANYWAYS. This is a rather short post with a few pro's and con's I have noticed about driving my 4R daily with 35" tires.
FIRST! I will say that I LOVE 35's. They look good. Sound good. Feel good. Now it did take me a bit of work to feasible fit and moderately wheel my rig without rubbing or binding. And no- I don't have a transfer case drop.
My Parts List to Run 35's.
1. Rancho RS9000XL 3" QuickLift (Bought from 4Wheel Parts)
2. 2.5" Delrin BL
3. Steering shaft extension
4. Light Racing UCA's
5. Supreme Suspensions 1.5" Spacer Lift (front and rear)
6. Trimmed approximately 3" off my front fenders and 1.5" off my rear fenders
7. Custom front bumper (kept ripping my stock one off)
8. Spidertrax 1.5" Hubcentric Wheel Spacers
9. Cooper MTP Pro 35x12.6x17
PROS:
1. Contact patch size when aired down to 10psi
2. Lots of sidewall before you get close to your wheel.
3. They hum nicely whilst on the highway.
4. With the V8, I can happily cruise at 90 and still accel to the fuel cutoff.
5. Flood waters, Mud, Rocks, Snow, Gravel are no issue
6. Better center of gravity (can be debated, but feels more stable)
7. A few extra inches of lift from the tires themselves
8. Great door dingers for people who don't pay attention.
9. When at 30 psi, I feel as if the ride is smoother than when I had 31's at same PSI.
10. Chicks dig it.
CONS:
1. MPG- mine dropped from 17.5 mpg to 13mgp
2. They can stress out the steering box.
3. Alignment shops have a hard time aligning them
4. Price- I picked up all four of my tires new for $1,250. Before military disc. It was $1500.
5. They are wide. They do experience some issues in the snow on streets because they are really wide.
6. Sprung Weight- you're adding quite a bit of weight to all 4 corners. Check your bushings and CV's
7. They can strain your transmission. They are a bit of weight to tow- I know my vehicle has the tow package so I have the extra cooler, but be sure to keep an eye on your fluid state and level.
8. They can REALLY work your brakes. Luckily with the Sport package, I have the larger brakes and discs on all 4 corners. Especially up here in the mountains, it's not easy to glaze pads quickly.
9. Drone. They CAN drone on the highway, but I usually listen to music, so thats not a HUGE deal.
10. Jacking. I keep a large piece of wood in the back of my rig to be able to use my bottle jack on the stock jacking points. I have sliders, but too many people like to walk away with highlifts.
I think the work it took to run these tires are totally worth it. The thumbs up and photos taken at stoplights are worth every busted knuckle. Now, I personally had to overcome the mindset of "I CANNOT MESS UP MY BABY!", and it was difficult, but it passed when I cut my fenders. DO you have to cut your fenders to run 35"s? Probably not. I cut mine because I realized that when I'm at full compression on a side, they wheel would rub, so I chopped it- problem solved.
Do you need to lift your truck 7" to run 35's? NO. I have seen a few on here and on YouTube that claimed to be running a 3" with wheel spacers. I just wanted to challenge of trying to keep my rig looking proportionate. Unfortunately, without undoing my work, 33's look like tricycle wheels and I can't slip back into the known safe zone of tire size. 37"? No. I don't feel like my transmission, suspension, or engine would like that much without a regear- I'll pass.
I feel that if you can safely run this size of tire without a huge center of gravity issue, or rub during daily driving, go for it! They are sweet to have, sweet to talk about, and its fun looking over the roofs of Jeeps
If you are going to run them- the best of luck to you! I know you'll probably be hesitant, nervous, and will most likely question the decision- but if you dot your I's and cross your T's, you should have a blast and not worry.
Happy wheeling everyone!
-Seth