4" Build on my '08.... Finally

mks913 · **Posted:** Thu May 26, 2016 4:55 pm

So I've had my KK for 5 years now, loved it to death and treated it right but now that my note is paid off, I took the plunge and grabbed JBA's 4" Lift (Silver Package). Thankfully I have access to a friends shop where me and Team Janky Productions (we try our best!) can get this work done but where I'm struggling right now is with tires. I'm lazy af so after a quick search and not easily finding an answer I decided to put it to you good people to help me figure this one out. I love the stock two tone 16" wheels that I have and will be ordering a 5th for my spare, but am completely lost on what tire size to go with. I've seen several opinions and options out there that I just can't wrap my head around. I know I'll be going with an AT tire (hopefully just sizing up the Hankook DynaPro AT-M's I currently run) and I'm not looking for an overly wide stance and trying to avoid rubbing (but willing to do a little trimming) at the same time. JBA lists an LT235/85/r16 as a recommended size on their site (I believe that's roughly a 32" tire) and was wondering if anyone else is running that with the same 4" lift or something alternative?

I'm looking forward to showing the old girl off after I get this work completed. Thanks in advance for your input folks!

lfhoward · **Posted:** Thu May 26, 2016 6:47 pm

I have a 4" JBA lift and mine is running 245/75R16 Goodyear Duratracs, load range C. They are a 30.5 inch tire. I think 32's will kill your power and mpg without regearing, but these 30.5's are doable. I think they look good and perform great, so I don't ever plan to go bigger. I have more than 50,000 miles on them and I would say I still have more than 50% tread left. These things are tough. The PA Game Commission and the US Forest Service use Duratracs on their trucks too, which is saying something in my opinion. I love the '08 two tone rims too!

Here's a great article on A/T tires.
http://expeditionportal.com/where-the-rubber-meets-the-road/

If Duratracs are too aggressive for you, check out Cooper Discoverer A/T3's. I had those on my Jeep earlier (stock size), and they were really good both on and off road. They are the favorite over on Expedition Portal.

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Thu May 26, 2016 11:41 pm

If you step up to 32s (235/85-16 or the wider and in my opinion better looking 265/75-16) you're gonna want to regear to 4.10s or 4.56s depending on where you live and how much you tow. Other wise stick to the 245/75-16 or wider 265/70-16. Personally I think the 265/70-16 looks a little bigger than the 245, but my opinion might be skewed a little since my friend has an 1-1.5" less lift than me.

mks913 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 12, 2016 6:08 pm

Thanks for the input folks. I'm super slow at responding to social media / forum stuff so if I ask a question and don't get a thanks out there quickly, know this is why.

Lift is going on Thursday and tires shortly after. I've decided on a 265/75/16 (31.6) Hankook Dynapro AT-M (I just love them and they've been good to me so far). I've been doing some calculations on RPM's at highway speeds and from some basic (and most likely flawed) maths it looks like I may be at the top end of the power band but should be ok. I'll update this once I know but thankfully a set of 4.10 gears isn't hard to get a hold of so if I do run into issues, should be a quick fix. Of course that's neglecting the front axle... Any thoughts there?

Pics incoming around this time next week. Thanks again for the advice!

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 12, 2016 8:19 pm

You need to regear front and rear axles at the same time. Rear is easy to find, 4.10s for a chrysler 8.25 (some sites may have it as a C8.25), the front is a dana 30, they use the same gears as a Sport or Sahara JK/JKU Wrangler front Dana 30.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jul 13, 2016 2:06 am

mks913 wrote:

Thanks for the input folks. I'm super slow at responding to social media / forum stuff so if I ask a question and don't get a thanks out there quickly, know this is why.

Lift is going on Thursday and tires shortly after. I've decided on a 265/75/16 (31.6) Hankook Dynapro AT-M (I just love them and they've been good to me so far). I've been doing some calculations on RPM's at highway speeds and from some basic (and most likely flawed) maths it looks like I may be at the top end of the power band but should be ok. I'll update this once I know but thankfully a set of 4.10 gears isn't hard to get a hold of so if I do run into issues, should be a quick fix. Of course that's neglecting the front axle... Any thoughts there?

Pics incoming around this time next week. Thanks again for the advice!

Its not a matter if you run into issues by not regearing its you will run into issues
power loss, running hotter, way less MPGs etc
A lot of us have went down this path so we do know what we are talking about when it comes to tire sizes and regearing

JeepNCrowd · **Posted:** Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:20 am

Just for your visual comparison.

245/75R16 (30.5") Duratracs on the JBA 4"

235/85R16 (31.8") Goodyear Kevlar MTRs on the same JBA 4" lift.

mks913 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2016 8:27 am

I'm in total agreement with you here Tom, y'all certainly know what you're talking about. So the question now is... 4.10 or 4.56. And I'm throwing on a set of G2 1.25" spacers today as the new tires go on. Got it back with the suspension on yesterday and it's more beautiful than I could have pictured. I've owned this Jeep for over 5 years and this has been my goal since month one. She's coming together quite nicely.

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Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 2:20 am

mks913 wrote:

I'm in total agreement with you here Tom, y'all certainly know what you're talking about. So the question now is... 4.10 or 4.56. And I'm throwing on a set of G2 1.25" spacers today as the new tires go on. Got it back with the suspension on yesterday and it's more beautiful than I could have pictured. I've owned this Jeep for over 5 years and this has been my goal since month one. She's coming together quite nicely.

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Where do you live? Do you tow a lot? It basically goes like this, 4.10s with 32s will put you basically back to stock RPMs, but won't make up for the additional weight of the Jeep and larger tires (and tires gain weight exponentially...). 4.56s will put you at higher than stock RPMs (which effectively gives you more power), but makes up for the additional weight.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:26 am

Actually it was worked out a few years back, 4.10s and 32s is marginal not back to stock exactly with 32s I think it comes out to about 4.23-4.25 BUT of course there isn't any such gearing for us. So with going just a bit lower, then added weight etc 4.56s it is no matter if you live in the mountains or in Florida

mks913 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:52 pm

I live in the North Georgia foothills area and what we've come down on is 4.56 with all the hills we have around here, plus the added weight I foresee in the near future. Here's a question for those that have done it, does the front and rear need a carrier for the 4.56? Pretty sure the rear doesn't having been at 3.73 but not sure about the front. Could help me price this out if I knew. Oh and here's some pics for you folks... very happy I went 265 and 1.25" spacers.

Picked her up like this... certainly needing tires!

Nekkid at the tire shop...

Hot darn!

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tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 7:28 pm

Front does not need a carrier just install new gears

RenegadeKC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:36 pm

Fellow Georgia KK owner here! Warner Robins! Here in August, my wife and I are planning on heading up to North Georgia to hit up Bell, Trey, and Dodd.

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 22, 2016 12:13 am

No new carriers at all. Looks really good btw. I really want my 32s

mks913 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 22, 2016 7:24 pm

Thanks Tom and BMX for the gearing info. Those hankooks are amazingly priced. Listed at 170 for the LT265's, talked the guy at Discount down to 150.

Renegade: Trey is one of my all time favorites. Y'all have fun up there. Very happy I live 20 min from some good FS roads. Easy way to break the old new girl in.

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Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:10 am

So what are you measuring from the center of the hub to the fender front and rear?

4" Build on my '08.... Finally

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