Tire/axle ?

#1
Anyone know how big of tire I can go with on stock JK rims? I will be ordering the RC 2.5" lift. I'm looking into tires and I'd like to get 35" KM2 but I think I'm going to have to get new rims too if I did that.

Also, I know the JK D30 is supposed to be stronger than the one in the TJ but I'm still weary of running a 35" tire on it. Would I be ok with that size? Would mostly be mall crawling and running trails and such around here although I would like to make a trip with y'all to Gulches sometime.

Should I just go with the 33" tire for now until I changed the axles?

When changing the axle, would it be better for me to buy a brand new D60 or find a used one? I don't know a lot when it comes to all that stuff and I've seen some people beef up their D30's but isn't that like the same money as if I were to just swap them?
 
#2
i think Giles ran 35s with his 2.5" lift.. Dont jk's have d44 rear? i run 35s on my xj d30 .. just gotta know what not to do.
you can beef up the axles to chromoly.
all depends on how much $ you wanna spend
 
#3
JK has D44 rear and D30 up front. I have an auto and I'm not planning on doing gears right now since mine came with 3.73 from the factory.

Don't really know what beefing it up with chromoly is or how much it is. I just know that it isn't cheap lol.
 
#7
Do not buy a new axle if you ever wanna do an axle swap period. I have $2500 in my front that I built and I don't have to many bling parts. A new 60 can easily double that.
 
#8
I definitely will not be upgrading my stock axle at all.

I'm just going to spend a little more on the lift than I was going to at first and spend a little less on the tires by getting 33's. Just makes a lot more sense right now for me to get 33's than to go up to 35's.

I was going to get the RC spacer lift but now I'm thinking about getting the 2.5" coil lift with shocks. I'd really like to get the FT or RK lift but that's way too much for right now and for a 2.5" lift. I will eventually get a RK lift though just 3 grand for a lift is a little absurd right now
 
#9
Do not buy a new axle if you ever wanna do an axle swap period. I have $2500 in my front that I built and I don't have to many bling parts. A new 60 can easily double that.
I dont think you can even get a basic new 60 for double that. ****sretardedashell


Edit: damn i was trying to beat the system but it still star'd it. wonder if i can say ma**** or ****head
 
#10
I dont think you can even get a basic new 60 for double that. ****sretardedashell


Edit: damn i was trying to beat the system but it still star'd it. wonder if i can say ma**** or ****head
Yea, I posted that and then when and looked at Currie to see how much they are. Looks like a rear is about 1,500 and the front is around 4,000 from what I saw. But that seems really odd to me
 
#11
Anyone know how big of tire I can go with on stock JK rims? I will be ordering the RC 2.5" lift. I'm looking into tires and I'd like to get 35" KM2 but I think I'm going to have to get new rims too if I did that.

Also, I know the JK D30 is supposed to be stronger than the one in the TJ but I'm still weary of running a 35" tire on it. Would I be ok with that size? Would mostly be mall crawling and running trails and such around here although I would like to make a trip with y'all to Gulches sometime.

Should I just go with the 33" tire for now until I changed the axles?

When changing the axle, would it be better for me to buy a brand new D60 or find a used one? I don't know a lot when it comes to all that stuff and I've seen some people beef up their D30's but isn't that like the same money as if I were to just swap them?
Well the only thing that limits tire size on stock rims in the width. I'm running 37/12.5/17s on stock jk moabs but have to use 1.5" spacers due to factory wheels lack of sufficient backspacing. Not sure what the width is of your factory rims but the moabs are 7.5" wide, if yours are any narrower I would advise against going with a 12.5" wide tire.

Not sure which RC list you are looking at but I'm not a huge fan of RC. Due to the lack of reviews on the TJ progressive rate springs and AEV progressive rates being back ordered, I pulled the trigger on the RC springs. Needless to say they sagged bag in a week just sitting on the rig in my driveway. The softer rate on the ends of the springs pushed inside of the springs, so I utilized their 90 day return policy and got my money back. Remember that a JKU is a bit heavier than a TJ, even my fat betty TJ, so I for see bad sagging.

As mentioned above your limiting for tire size is going to be your stock gear ratio. I was running 35s with my stock 4.10s and it sucked bad even with performance upgrades. Granted mine is an auto, which sucks anyway, but I think it would still suck just as bad with a manual.

As for axle swaps, remember you have to use the wheel speed sensors for the jeep PCM to function correctly. There are a few companies that have cracked the code on getting the speed sensors to work on junkyard axles but the kits come with a nice price tag. River Raider was around the first to develop a retro fit kit and I know that Chase and crew at ECGS are working on developing a solution. They already have figured out the WJ system and build a rear 60 that works with the WJs speed sensors and are supposedly close to developing a swap for the front. If you are looking for some factory axles that already have the gears swapped, I would check out JKO and look for take offs.
 
#12
Well the only thing that limits tire size on stock rims in the width. I'm running 37/12.5/17s on stock jk moabs but have to use 1.5" spacers due to factory wheels lack of sufficient backspacing. Not sure what the width is of your factory rims but the moabs are 7.5" wide, if yours are any narrower I would advise against going with a 12.5" wide tire.

Not sure which RC list you are looking at but I'm not a huge fan of RC. Due to the lack of reviews on the TJ progressive rate springs and AEV progressive rates being back ordered, I pulled the trigger on the RC springs. Needless to say they sagged bag in a week just sitting on the rig in my driveway. The softer rate on the ends of the springs pushed inside of the springs, so I utilized their 90 day return policy and got my money back. Remember that a JKU is a bit heavier than a TJ, even my fat betty TJ, so I for see bad sagging.

As mentioned above your limiting for tire size is going to be your stock gear ratio. I was running 35s with my stock 4.10s and it sucked bad even with performance upgrades. Granted mine is an auto, which sucks anyway, but I think it would still suck just as bad with a manual.

As for axle swaps, remember you have to use the wheel speed sensors for the jeep PCM to function correctly. There are a few companies that have cracked the code on getting the speed sensors to work on junkyard axles but the kits come with a nice price tag. River Raider was around the first to develop a retro fit kit and I know that Chase and crew at ECGS are working on developing a solution. They already have figured out the WJ system and build a rear 60 that works with the WJs speed sensors and are supposedly close to developing a swap for the front. If you are looking for some factory axles that already have the gears swapped, I would check out JKO and look for take offs.
I think my stock wheels are 7.5" wide also.

I was looking at the RC 2.5" kit with springs and shocks but was also thinking about the spacer one and the one with springs and no shocks. I know the Sport shocks aren't that good and I can get Rubi shocks for about $200 so I figured I'd save a little money by getting the 2.5" lift with springs and shocks. I get a 10% discount so it takes the price down to just under $300 and I was going to talk to them about it more and try and get a bigger discount. Doesn't seem right to me that JKO members get a 10% discount and military only gets a 10% discount also.

I have a 2dr also so the sagging if they did wouldn't be as bad. I'm pretty sure that for now I'm going to go with 33's. How do you think it would be with them and 3.73 gears on a 2dr auto? I know I had a 97 before that was a 4 banger so it had 4.10 in it and it wasn't that bad with 32's on it.

I have no clue what to do for axles right now. I know it's not going to happen anytime soon but something I will be looking into a lot. Seems kinda pointless to me to spend money on the stock axles if they won't be as strong as a D60 still. I have also heard some stuff about putting in an 8.8 out of an Explorer being a good swap.
 
#13
Do you have any problems running wheel spacers? I think Jk rims are what 7in backspacing so some 1.25 spacers could give ya more what 5.75 and get you away from rubbing. I think though, you can only get 1.5 spacer not real sure.
Onething Ive read is that too much BS can affect your unit bearings and ball joints on JKs. That being said I wouldnt run 3.75 bs rim. How true it is, Im not sure as I dont own a Jk, I can only go by what I read.

I dont see why you couldnt run 35s on stock axles. I think you can but it all depends on how deep you are with throttle. If not abused I think the D30 would hold up fine especially with what your planning.

I have a Tj with the 5speed I dont like 33s with 4.10s. Not enough power for me, Im going to be swapping to 4.88s maybe next year. So Jk with auto and 3.73 na, I wouldnt go with 35s.
 
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#14
No problems with the wheel spacers thus far. Yeah it is a widely known fact that JK ball joints suck and have an short life span on 35s or above and wheeling. I plan on get getting a new set of wheels for the JK but don't want to dump the coin on hutchinsons if I end up switching axles, but who knows.

There is a huge difference between the TJ/XJ/YJ 4.0 and the JK 3.8. In my, and quite a few others, opinion the 3.8 is a piece of crap and completely lacks the torque that the 4.0 had, gets worse fuel economy, and is more suited for a boat anchor. I was completely happy with 36/37s, 4.56s and the 4.0/NV3550 in my 00TJ. The 5.38s and 37s, along with the viper TB, made the JK bearable but it still just lacks and this is exemplified by the auto.
 
#15
I'm certain I'm going to go with 33's for now.

Now, I know I can build a D30 to be as strong or stronger than a D60 but what is the price difference? Am I going to be spending a lot more money on the 30 than if I were to just have but 60's in?
 
#16
I'm certain I'm going to go with 33's for now.

Now, I know I can build a D30 to be as strong or stronger than a D60 but what is the price difference? Am I going to be spending a lot more money on the 30 than if I were to just have but 60's in?
I think you meant to say "can't" instead of "can" in the post above.

What size tires do you eventually want to run and how hard and often are you going to wheel it? If you only plan on with 37s and wheeling it once in a blue moon then I see no point in dumping money into 60s unless your pockets are just deep. If your plan is for 40s or larger and plan on wheeling it I would go with 60s. A set of rock jocks or pro-rocks are going to set you back around $10-14k depending on how you set them up. The front is obviously the most expensive due to steering stuff and a rock jock front with arb, gears, 1ton knuckles, etc is going to be around $7k where a pro-rock 44 front with arb, shafts, reid knuckles, etc is going to be around $5k.

Also as to the 8.8 into a JK comment above; I'm don't think that the abs wheel sensors can be adapted to an 8.8 as the factory abs 8.8s use a tone ring on the carrier and not on the shafts as far as I know.
 
#17
My next door neighbor has been running 35's on his stock JK Rubicon Unlimited wheels with wheel spacers for over a year now and has no issues. He isn't hard on the jeep but insn't afraid to get on it when needed. We did a 1K mile round trip through Black Mt OHV, Gold mt OHV, and Windrock OHV and it handled it all with no problems.
 
#18
I think you meant to say "can't" instead of "can" in the post above.

What size tires do you eventually want to run and how hard and often are you going to wheel it? If you only plan on with 37s and wheeling it once in a blue moon then I see no point in dumping money into 60s unless your pockets are just deep. If your plan is for 40s or larger and plan on wheeling it I would go with 60s. A set of rock jocks or pro-rocks are going to set you back around $10-14k depending on how you set them up. The front is obviously the most expensive due to steering stuff and a rock jock front with arb, gears, 1ton knuckles, etc is going to be around $7k where a pro-rock 44 front with arb, shafts, reid knuckles, etc is going to be around $5k.

Also as to the 8.8 into a JK comment above; I'm don't think that the abs wheel sensors can be adapted to an 8.8 as the factory abs 8.8s use a tone ring on the carrier and not on the shafts as far as I know.
You are right. I was thinking I could make a D44 just as strong or stronger than a stock D60. Most likely will not be going over 37's and that won't be any time in the near future so I'm going to cancel the 60 thoughts as I won't need it. So now I get to decide if I want to build the D30 or swap to a D44.
 
#19
You are right. I was thinking I could make a D44 just as strong or stronger than a stock D60. Most likely will not be going over 37's and that won't be any time in the near future so I'm going to cancel the 60 thoughts as I won't need it. So now I get to decide if I want to build the D30 or swap to a D44.
I'd swap in a 44 before I would dump money into a d30
 
#20
Just keep a look out on different websites and see if you cant find a D44 rubi jk axle. I dont see why you couldnt run that yea I know they have their weak points but with some gussets/ sleeves/ dynatrac ball joints, that should be a fine axle for ya. Id mainly do the gussets and sleeves then upgrade the balljoints as they wore out (they are 599 from dynatrac ouch). That should be able to get 35s easy with no problems, now 37s could be no problem but it all depends on your right foot.
The Jk axle from what I read is a stout little axle and we all know that it has its down side also. Much like my rubi 44s, people like to talk trash about those. I dont see a problem with those either. Could they be better? Well of course they could but all axles could be better. HEH D60s could be better as in a lower price.
 
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