wales19

So hey guys, whats up? im new on here, and fairly green when it comes to anything with an automobile, so sorry if anything sounds stupid or if i dont have a ton of knowledge on the subjct. Alright, here goes-

So I have a tar baby, and 2k cherokee sport, auto, 4.0 blah blah, and ive just started to put some money into it. my wheels had a touch of rust on em, so i had them sanded down and gravel guarded, as well as the rockers, and im going to do the roof at some point because of a little rust as well. Ive got to thinking, my jeep would look very nice with some skinnier tires on it, like a smaller wall. Now i found a nice little pair of tires, some 225/60-16s, and i am just wondering if anyone has tried to put this size of tire on a xj before? or if it will even work? i am thinking very serious about it, if i can get the right tire weight rating. it sounds like if i can get that right, it wil work. but maybe i'm wrong?

so thanks for listening to my small rant and question. if its a stupid q, let me know. like i said, im pretty green and just getting into doing a little modding for my XJ. my ultimate goal is to have a nice gas sipping highway cruising tar baby.

93XJLI

im all about skinny tires. do some reading on tire contact patch and you'll see why. lightly modded XJs are usually 3500-3800lbs... not enough to warrant a 12.50 really. i felt that my old XJ on 33x10.5s always climbed better than similarly built ones on wider rubber. and you only need a load range C still.. D would be a bit stiff.

my current XJ is ~4850lbs... so a load range D 12.50 tire is what i'm running.

BstrdXJ

Small sidewalls are a NO-GO.
Bigger wheels is a NO-GO.

Unless you're all about mall crawling, go ahead.


Smaller wheels = less rotating mass. More rotating mass decreases torque to the wheels.

Smaller sidewalls = less space between the wheel ground and the wheel. More space = more comfort, and offroad ability.


237x75r15 is great 29" tire. 31x105r15 is a great 31".

You might wanna go back to stock XJ wheel of 15". Tires are cheaper that way anyway.

93XJLI

big wheels rock. modern offroad tires are strong enough so you dont need balloons in between your wheels and terra firma.

XJmike0122

Sounds like he wants low profile tires with bigger wheels. People do it just not much on here. No matter the combination bigger will be worse on gas.

Jamison

225/60-16 is a 26.5" tall tire. The stock tire is a 29" tall tire. You are going to rev your motor higher at cruising speed. It will not be "sipping" gas unless you are driving slower....

dogger15

x2 On the skinny vs fat tires.

wales19

i do want a lower profile tire, and hoping to get about the same mpg. i do drive it real slow, to try and get as much out of a gallon as i can. im not really about that 4x4 stuff, i enjoy it and like the passion a ton of people on here have for it, but i dont want to run my own vehicle so something breaks and i have to replace it, you could call me tight with cash. but thanks for the replys, i might just try what i was talking about, because it is a tar baby. pics will come soon, and im very curious as to what the off-road community will think of it. im sure alot of it will not be good haha, but thats alright, as long as i enjoy my vehicle, right?

Rogue4x4

Wheeling racist.....LOL

Tsaani97xj

If you are doing this for street driving there is nothing wrong with it. A shorter tire will act like taller gears. It will take off easier and accelerate faster at the cost of higher revs at highway speeds. It will throw your speedometer off slightly. You can use a gps device and figure out what the difference is. I am sure there is more detailed info out there if you search. I would look at gear ratio vs tire size.

wales19

lol @ the wheeling racist, thats funny. and i forgot about the speedo issue. im sure thats something my local jeep dealer can fix.. buuuut it will be such a ***** having it done everytime i switch from summers/ winters and back and forth. i appreciate you pointing that out, it would have went right over my head unitl i put the wheels on. looks like im sticking to my good ol 15s.

wales19

maybe just try and find a nice pair of directionals. now, would anyone have any advice on what tire to get? 225/75-15's, pref. bfgoodies, pirelli or yokos

wales19

and anyone whos commented on this, go on over to my build page. i have 2 pics of my haggard *** 'rokee, let me know what you think. like i said, i love feedback

salad

From your profile pic looks like you are stock. If you're into fuel economy more than wheeling get some 235/75R15s and go with it. There are a lot of options at this size. Aluminum rims are a little lighter too. Kill the rear sway bar and get some front discos if you still have stock suspension.

JeremyXJ

I have 17" rims on my XJ, but I'm running 31" tires. If you want to run a lower profile tire, you'll need a larger diameter wheel (like 17's). There are a lot of larger diameter wheels to choose from. As long as you stick with aluminum, they should weigh about the same as your stock steelies. As long as you keep your overall tire height close to the stock size, your speedometer won't be off enough to worry about.