I plan on getting new tires. Either 32s or 33s. Obviously the 33s will make my xj more of a dog than the 32s will. But my question is how much worse will it be. Will I regret not getting the bigger ones?

 

I used 33s on stock 3.05 gears (5 speed tranny) and it was doable. I basically never used 5th gear, and had to down shift on all but the smallest hills. Gas mileage was pretty terrible. I have 4.56s now and everything is a lot better.

Can you do it? Yeah. Is it that bad? No. Would I want to keep it that way long term? No.

If you have an auto I've heard it's very wise to invest in a transmission cooler with large tires and stock gears.

 

Just gear the axles... I wouldn't own a Jeep with more than 31's on stock gears. 31's and stock gears is bad enough as it is...

 

Mine is tolerable with 33x9.5s on stock gears. Not great on the road, but not too bad. I'm going to 4.88's once I find a good 8.8 at a reasonable price though.