33's

chemguy · **Posted:** Tue Jan 31, 2006 12:33 am

Has anybody experimented with 33's. For some reason, it looks like can fit 33's without over extending my cv angles. Someone did this once, but I cannot remember who it was.

Rock Lizard · **Posted:** Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:02 am

I bet I can make them fit:

chemguy · **Posted:** Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:13 am

HAHAHA! I had something similar in mind, only not quite as extreme. :lol:

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Tue Jan 31, 2006 8:46 am

Be sure you have enough room in your trash can for the front diff before wheeling on them. :shock:

rlruss · **Joined:** Sat Jul 09, 2005 10:49 am **Posts:** 21

That's a good one JJ. I might add that since it is aluminum please recycle!

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Tue Jan 31, 2006 11:51 am

Yeah you could probably get $20 for it at a recycling center.

Ed · **Posted:** Wed Feb 01, 2006 7:54 pm

Are you really more likely to break the front diff just because you've got bigger tyres?

As I understand it the diff breaks where the input shaft goes in because when the driveline's spinning and suddenly locks up (because the tyres grip, or hit the ground if you're airbourne) the torque at the input shaft is more than the diff can handle.

Putting bigger tyres on isn't going to change the torque that's being applied at the input shaft because that's governed by the engine. With bigger tyres you're going to get more grip so you're less likely to spin them and they're heavier so you're less likely to get airbourne. Like putting on diff locks, which also reduce your chances of spinning the wheels, fitting bigger tyres should make it less likely that you'll break the diff.

Or are there other circumstances in which the front diff's broken that I'm not aware of?

opo · **Posted:** Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:00 pm

Ed,

The front differential on the KJ seems to be very weak. Few members of the board have reported diff breakages. It seems that the housing is weak.

Octavio

Edwin · **Posted:** Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:17 pm

Rock Lizard wrote:

I bet I can make them fit:

Hell yea! That's my favorite tool. :lol:

chemguy · **Posted:** Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:10 pm

How about this?

Ed · **Posted:** Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:14 pm

opo wrote:

The front differential on the KJ seems to be very weak. Few members of the board have reported diff breakages. It seems that the housing is weak.

Well, I don't know about "very weak".

There are (according to the members list) 1647 members and I think there have been maybe 3 or 4 breakages reported. All of which have been in similar circumstances; the wheels have been spinning and suddenly grabbed, or the truck's been airbourne which amounts to the same spin/grab scenario. And in all cases, unless someone wants to tell me different, the case has broken around the input shaft.

So it's not "very weak" or there would be loads more breaking. One particular member of our club wheels his KJ very hard. He's gone through a couple of transfer cases, front axles, rear axles, rear diffs and a new engine. And his front diff casing is still intract. Presumably because he hasn't hit the exact specific set of circumstances which will cause the front casing to fail.

Assuming that the input shaft is the weak point in the front diff it's (possibly) easy enough to reinforce with the "Eddo's Band Aid" steel collar.

As I say, if someone wants to talk about the front diff casing failing in a different way to the descriptions I've seen then I'm all ears. Maybe we can get steel reinforcments made up for any other weak points too.

But this is getting off-topic, so I'll shut up!

Eddo · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1214

Just my two cents. I definitely think the front diff is not a highlight, but gets a worst rap that it deserves. Some people have wheeled their KJs quite hard without failure, and some just seem to break by themselves. So maybe they have poor quality control and a handful seem to break, or maybe it is a design flaw. Either way, other Jeeps have had similar problems. People always say that put 33s on and it will blow the first time out. However people wheel with 32s and 31s with no problems. Would about an extra 5-6% in diameter and a few extra pounds make that great of a difference. I don't know.

I'm sure if I busted my tomorrow I would be complaining to no end. But all in all it doesnt seem that bad. At least when it is not me.

Cards81fan · **Posted:** Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:38 am

Skinny pedal does more damage than an extra inch and a half does.

Skipperb · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:09 am

I have 265/75 on mine and I go to Coal Creek and Tellco and have been in some bad places but I go slow
11 hours to go 55 miles and only worry about the sway bar at full lock .went in a large mud hole and hit a log some one had put in it .though that was the front. stop me dead in the middle. makes you think about it.

33's

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