32 wides or 32 narrows

E2 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:18 am

Okay I'm lifted and wondering who else, IF ANYONE, has tried to fit 265/75r16? The width is what I wonder about with all the flexing and turning

E2 · **Posted:** Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:12 pm

Alrightly then....

I fitted a 265/75r16 a/t Yokoman 31.9" tall had a finger clearance at the pinch weld. The 265/75r16 a/t are 31.7" would be a better fit gives about .5" clearance at that point. The 265 will rub more in the plastic on the inside of the front bumper on turns.

I also fitted a 235/75r16 Firestone 31.7" to see if the narrower tire would clear the pinch weld more. Well the 31.7" looks better than the 31.9 yoko as it does not look over powering large for the wheel well at this height. Not sure if the width helps clear the pinch weld more. I am sure the 265 being wider would get it closer to the pinch at full turn versus where the 235s do at almost full turn. Hard to say I did not try them on back to back and the shop did not have 265s BFG the 31.7"

Here is the pictures of the 235s (please keep in mind this is a test for height not looks as these are not A/Ts)

BELOW IS THE STOCK TIRE>>>

E2 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:12 pm

If they both fit other than the 265s rubbing more what are reasons to have a narrow tires versus wider?

Jeepin_it_real · **Posted:** Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:51 pm

well for me since i live on Long Island NY and since there isnt much wheeling here, we basically go on the Beach on sand a lot. On the sand a wider wheel is preferable, airing down also helps with the issue of giving you a wider footprint. Having a wider tire ( for instance if you have the same tread) will also have more traction on a regular driving surface. More rubber on the ground the more traction. My father for instance plows snow, and if he had to choose a tire he would choose the narrow, he feels that it cuts through the snow better giving him better traction where as the wider wheel floats more on top. A wider tire depending on your offset will also make it harder to tuck your wheel, so you must be aware of your fenders etc, ( this also has to do with rubbing issues). Finally it really comes down to looks. I like the wider tire look but some people think it looks bad. either way let us know what you decide to do :rockon:

DirtyKK · **Posted:** Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:19 pm

I agree with Jeepin. Wider tires for sand and mud. Really there is like an inch difference between the two sizes so either of should do fine off road. Definitely narrow for cutting through deep snow though.

stumpjumper_09 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:02 am

last year when I did the mud bog I was walking all over the guys with wider tires. Just my :2cents:

E2 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:39 am

stumpjumper_09 wrote:

last year when I did the mud bog I was walking all over the guys with wider tires. Just my :2cents:

Oh I like your :2cents:

This topic is very interesting to me. So many people have so many ideas of what they like and why not something they may or may have not tried. So I asked Tom from 4x4 Training. He prefers 10.5 or a 12" but has no problems with a 9.5".

Advantages of 235/85r16:
1. Weights less = more torque/ power & better mpg
2. Narrow = better to cut thru snow to solid surface. (Not much of that in Cali)
3. Narrower = less rubbing

Advantages o 265/75r16:
1. Wider = better to distribute the weight of truck. So good in sand (Desert has some sand in the river beds but not something I have not done in my stock tires)
2. Wider = May give a slightly wider stance. 3/4" on both sides.

Disadvantages 235/85r16: (31.7" x 9.5")
1. Narrower = not the best in sand. (But that is what buddies are for...)
2.

Disadvantages 265/75r16: (31.7" x 10.5")
1. Weight = 6# heavier means less power/torque & less mpg
2. Wider = More drag so less mpg
3. Wider = More that can and shall rub.
4.

Please chime in your thoughts and your reasoning and for what types of off road trails.
Mountains?
Rock Crawling?
Desert?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:33 am

Unless your running 44"+ tires with gobs of ground clearance narrow tires have zero advantage over wide tires on any surface besides deep mud(which requires the 1st part of the sentence).

For 31"-32" your do not have alot of ground clearance so you do not want to cut through the mud and find the hard surface underneath,which narrow tires do,as you then will be dragging the body threw the mud which equals you being stuck.You'll get father with wider tires in the 31"-32" sizes in mud from the "floating" they give you which keeps you on top of the mud.

stumpjumper_09 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:04 am

tjkj2002 wrote:

Unless your running 44"+ tires with gobs of ground clearance narrow tires have zero advantage over wide tires on any surface besides deep mud(which requires the 1st part of the sentence).

For 31"-32" your do not have alot of ground clearance so you do not want to cut through the mud and find the hard surface underneath,which narrow tires do,as you then will be dragging the body threw the mud which equals you being stuck.You'll get father with wider tires in the 31"-32" sizes in mud from the "floating" they give you which keeps you on top of the mud.

stumpjumper_09 wrote:

last year when I did the mud bog I was walking all over the guys with wider tires. Just my :2cents:

either I'm just that much better of a driver than these flat landers or there is a hole in your theory

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:56 am

stumpjumper_09 wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

Unless your running 44"+ tires with gobs of ground clearance narrow tires have zero advantage over wide tires on any surface besides deep mud(which requires the 1st part of the sentence).

For 31"-32" your do not have alot of ground clearance so you do not want to cut through the mud and find the hard surface underneath,which narrow tires do,as you then will be dragging the body threw the mud which equals you being stuck.You'll get father with wider tires in the 31"-32" sizes in mud from the "floating" they give you which keeps you on top of the mud.

stumpjumper_09 wrote:

last year when I did the mud bog I was walking all over the guys with wider tires. Just my :2cents:

either I'm just that much better of a driver than these flat landers or there is a hole in your theory

That is comparing the same tire,1 that is wide and 1 that is narrow.Some tires no matter what suck in the mud(any "P" tire and all AT tires).You can't compare a BFG mall crawler tire against a Interco Bogger since the bogger is a dedicated mud tire and the AT is not.

clacker · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:22 am

for that size tire, i think the narrow will conform to rocks and hard surfaces better than the wide tire because a wider tire doesnt allow much contortion because of that difference in size of the tire compared to the wheel size. the taller the tire, the more it can contort off of the canter of the wheel, and the wider it is, the less flexible it is. HONESTLY, in your case, i would say that narrow tire would be better because it will give you overall better performance: better MPGs, better fit, will look better (i dont like fat tires stickin out from under the body unless its a 36"+ tire

), and will probally crawl better. the ONLY advantage i can see u getting out of that wide tire is that it will not sink as fast in sand and in mud. But keep in mind that the REAL make-or-break for sand and mud is a tire with the proper tread.
:2cents:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:30 am

clacker wrote:

for that size tire, i think the narrow will conform to rocks and hard surfaces better than the wide tire because a wider tire doesnt allow much contortion because of that difference in size of the tire compared to the wheel size. the taller the tire, the more it can contort off of the canter of the wheel, and the wider it is, the less flexible it is. HONESTLY, in your case, i would say that narrow tire would be better because it will give you overall better performance: better MPGs, better fit, will look better (i dont like fat tires stickin out from under the body unless its a 36"+ tire

), and will probally crawl better. the ONLY advantage i can see u getting out of that wide tire is that it will not sink as fast in sand and in mud. But keep in mind that the REAL make-or-break for sand and mud is a tire with the proper tread.
:2cents:

Actually wider tires "wrap" around rocks better then a narrow tire when aired down.Narrow tires on rocks have a greater chance of popping off the bead(unless beadlocks are used) and prone to sidewall damage when aired done on rocks.Just look at the tire sizes used in pro rock crawlers,most are 14.50"+ wide tires.

Jeepin_it_real · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:37 am

tjkj2002 wrote:

clacker wrote:

for that size tire, i think the narrow will conform to rocks and hard surfaces better than the wide tire because a wider tire doesnt allow much contortion because of that difference in size of the tire compared to the wheel size. the taller the tire, the more it can contort off of the canter of the wheel, and the wider it is, the less flexible it is. HONESTLY, in your case, i would say that narrow tire would be better because it will give you overall better performance: better MPGs, better fit, will look better (i dont like fat tires stickin out from under the body unless its a 36"+ tire

), and will probally crawl better. the ONLY advantage i can see u getting out of that wide tire is that it will not sink as fast in sand and in mud. But keep in mind that the REAL make-or-break for sand and mud is a tire with the proper tread.
:2cents:

Actually wider tires "wrap" around rocks better then a narrow tire when aired down.Narrow tires on rocks have a greater chance of popping off the bead(unless beadlocks are used) and prone to sidewall damage when aired done on rocks.Just look at the tire sizes used in pro rock crawlers,most are 14.50"+ wide tires.

agreed... wider tires are better for rock crawling... the only thing narrow tires are good for as far as i kno is snow and better MPGs... the reason why wider tires are better crawlers is the wider footprint when sligtly aired down they mold much better to rocks and since they are wide the weight of the vehicle is more spread out... i do agree thattread makes a big difference in the sand but part of the reason why when you go on sand that you air down is so that you are wider having a wider tire helps this.

E2 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 3:11 pm

Jeepin_it_real wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

clacker wrote:

for that size tire, i think the narrow will conform to rocks and hard surfaces better than the wide tire because a wider tire doesnt allow much contortion because of that difference in size of the tire compared to the wheel size. the taller the tire, the more it can contort off of the canter of the wheel, and the wider it is, the less flexible it is. HONESTLY, in your case, i would say that narrow tire would be better because it will give you overall better performance: better MPGs, better fit, will look better (i dont like fat tires stickin out from under the body unless its a 36"+ tire

), and will probally crawl better. the ONLY advantage i can see u getting out of that wide tire is that it will not sink as fast in sand and in mud. But keep in mind that the REAL make-or-break for sand and mud is a tire with the proper tread.
:2cents:

Actually wider tires "wrap" around rocks better then a narrow tire when aired down.Narrow tires on rocks have a greater chance of popping off the bead(unless beadlocks are used) and prone to sidewall damage when aired done on rocks.Just look at the tire sizes used in pro rock crawlers,most are 14.50"+ wide tires.

agreed... wider tires are better for rock crawling... the only thing narrow tires are good for as far as i kno is snow and better MPGs... the reason why wider tires are better crawlers is the wider footprint when sligtly aired down they mold much better to rocks and since they are wide the weight of the vehicle is more spread out... i do agree thattread makes a big difference in the sand but part of the reason why when you go on sand that you air down is so that you are wider having a wider tire helps this.

All very good comments. You guys rock and this forum provided to us rocks. After review of comments, some review of various youtube 4x4 videos. It seems like we are all correct.

Narrower tires maybe better in mpg due to less weight and less drag from being narrower. They work great in deep snow unless its so deep your truck sinks and you have no clearance! Less rub

Wider tires better in sand. (For mud maybe but true Mud tires are for mud!) Wider tires have more area for more tracksion. In loose area and on rocks. Heavier and wider less torque and mpg but noticable between the two tires? Will be noticeable between the 29.3" to 31.7" not that much because it is 1" wider.

This tire height 31.7" comes in these two widths 9.5 & 10.5 mostly seen are the 10.5" For off-roading a better choice as this is the lower end width normally seen. 245/75r16 are 9.8" x 30.7" (muds) and the newer stock rubicons are now 255/75r17 10" x 32" (KM the only size KM's) I would say 10" would be the narrowest one would want to go with a 32" tire. The 31.7" x 9.4" that was was looking at was so that I would not have too much rubbing, but seems like the 9.4" is just shy of 10" enough that loss of tracksion would make it harder to my rig to get up and over items, even being lighter. I don't think it is not that much lighter, right? Well I think I am going to try the 265/75r16 I may have some major issues of rubbing the pinch weld that might force me to decide to if I want to bend over the pinch weld or if the narrower tires will not rub enough so I do not have to fold over the pinch weld.

E2 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:20 pm

I am putting my order in tomorrow for 265/75r16 BFG A/T's for a Saturday install and alignment. I really hope it does this is not the wrong decision. After countless hours and help from everyone. It seems like for this truck the 235/85r16 are the choice, but not the choice for offroading but also not bad. I think 10" would be great, but this size 31.7" in BFG A/Ts come either 9.4" or 10.5" (The new rubicons come with the only KM size tire a breed between the KM2's and ther Muds its a 255/75r16 32" x 10" I know that for sure a 32" tire won't fit. The 31.9 I tried had only a just enough room. So I also figure if worst case the 265/75r16 are not working it will be easier to sell those on craigslist then the odd size. I watch several offroad youtibe videos and saw one club that had a cherrkee lifted with 32 or 33" tires that were mud and very narrow. They were going thru a mountain trail that had areas where there was an change in elevation by some burried crop croppings. All got over it with a few issues the narrow mud tire (also being rounded) caused this jeep issues to get any tracksion he tried several times and spun tires and even one time his front slid sideways a few feet across the rocks. He made it but with more challeges.

FINAL COMMENTS???????????

DirtyKK · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:57 pm

Don't be such a vag and get rid of that pinch weld. :lol:

But really what do you have against doing it?

Jeepin_it_real · **Posted:** Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:01 pm

the pinch weld is a pretty strong point of the jeep... bending/cutting it ( if done incorrectly) can ruin the strength of the truck. so it is something to be careful about... its not like its just sheet metal like whats on your door... it's a big'ol piece of steel lol. Digger please chime in with the horror stories :dead:

32 wides or 32 narrows

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