Hello, I have a 2 wheel drive xj, 2" lift with a Sparten locker in the rear. For the past year and a half I have camped in the western US full time.
I pull a small 4'x6' trailer and am presently running on General grabber 235/75/r15 at2 tires. I would like to put larger mud tires on the rear as 75% of my driving is on gravel or dirt-sand roads. Either 30s or 31s preferably 31s. Looking at wild peak or federal couragia.
would this affect the xj or be hard to steer? I'm 67 and drive like a grandpa, mostly drive back roads and 55 is top speed. Finances are limited as im on disability, thats why i would only get 2 at this point.

 

Being yours is a 2wd it should be ok to run a larger tire in the rear and it should not change the steering at all , It may change the feel of the xj as you drive it .

 

Is there an advantage of having the larger tires on there for the style of driving you do? Are you just looking for better traction with the mud tires?
Your speedometer will be off, so you'll also need a new speedo gear (unless you dont care about exact speed or the fact that the total mileage on your jeep will increase slower), and you will lose just a slight amount of torque at the rear tires. That may be a good thing though in the sand or mud so it doesn't bury itself with the trailer weight.
I think it would look kind of cool though....

 

being 2wd there wont be any mechanical issues (besides the speedo as stated)