Wheels and Tires, Power and a couple other n00b questions...

J

jugghead23

New member
Hey all, haven't been on here in a while.
Picked up a nice, well maintained 98 SE with only 40k miles last May mostly for driving to/from the beach...in fact, the toughest conditions its ever going to see is the occasional snow storm and maybe a little sand at the beach. It's totally stock in every way. The only Anyway, I wanted to spend a little to improve it this spring...appearence and power maybe.

My wife just asked me if I'd like wheels/tires for my birthday in March (currently has super-stock SE style rims, even had a donut spare until I threw a cheapie full size just before winter)

So my question is, what are the biggest tires and wheels that I can put on a stock non-lifted SE WITHOUT adding a lift or needing to re-gear. And please speak in lamens terms if you could

I really like the look of the black wheels either by Cragar or AR but I also wanted to put a beefier, tougher looking tire. I plan on replacing the top as well and getting the tinted windows in the back...I think it'll look very good Chili-Pepper red, tinted windows and black rims.

Also, being that this little 4-banger barely has much get up and go as it is, I'd like to improve this a little if I can. I understand one of the quickest, cheapest means of improving power is adding a after market cold air intake.. Is there anything else I can do?

My basic goal for this jeep is to have a fun second car that is nice to look at as well pull it up on the beach once in a while. One of the reasons I don't really want to lift or re-gear is because I'm thinking I'll only have this jeep until spring of 2005 and I might start looking for a 6-cyl sport or sahara.

Thanks in advance for any help!

-Geoff
 

I believe the biggest tires you could fit under a stocker are 31s but it would be tight! I would go with the same size tires but just go for the more aggressive ones, with some side tread to help you in the sand... that way you still have some clearance. It would be different if you wanted to put a body lift on it, then I would go with the 31s. The 4 banger can handle the 31s since you have 4.11 ratio, you may see a slight decrease in power... There are some recent posts about the cold air intake or conical intakes, i think it mentions removing the air restrictor too. Those are the easiest ways to get the power your looking for.
 
ok, let me rephrase then...
How about what are the biggest tires I can put on under a stock jeep WITHOUT having to worring about rubbing. 31s sound like they'd be pushing it...maybe 30s?

Correct me if I'm wrong, the stock tires are probably 27s? The wheels are 15/7?

I am in NJ and I believe if I go too wide on the tires, there might be an issue with the flares not covering them.

Browsing the Quadretec catalog, it seems the smallest MT Baja Claws are 31s, the smallest Dick Cepeck Radial F-C IIs are 31s.

The MT Baha Radial does seem to come in a 30 x 9.50..how about those? They're not as pretty as the Claws or the Dick Cepeck but then again, those other two look way more aggressive than I probably need for my very limited off-roading.
 
i had 31's on my jeep and if you don't disco you don't have to worry about rubbing. that is if you go with aftermarket rims with more offset. i went with a 15x8 rim. as far as inspection goes just keep your old tires and rims and switch them back on when it's time to go. :wink:
 

please excuse my ignorance... "don't disco"?

sorry, told ya I was a n00b
 
just my opinion but if you're doing mostly highway driving i would stay away from steel belted tires. i'd go with radials because steel belted tires are known to have bad on raod manners.
 
Ok, but the tires say "Polyester/Fiberglass Belted"..

Like I said, I'm fairly clueless, however this jeep is my second car so when I say highway driving, that means probably < 5k miles a year.

There is the Baja Radial MTX but its not much to look at, but anything would be better than the sh*tty car tires that are on the jeep right now.
 

i'm not sure about those tires but hopefully someone else can chime in on that. sorry.
 
frankiefire702 said:
just my opinion but if you're doing mostly highway driving i would stay away from steel belted tires. i'd go with radials because steel belted tires are known to have bad on raod manners.
Click to expand...

huh?? steel belted are excellent on the highway.. Most street tires are steel belted, radials are steel belted radials, same thing... now, BIAS i would avoid on the highway.... alot of the more agressive offroad tires are BIAS....
 
Personally, I'd go with 31in Buckshot Mudders or the Wild Country M/T. I've seen both of these tires hold up well on and off-road. My father has 31s with no lift and aftermarket rims and has no rubbing, and since you only plan on mild wheeling i see no problem with that setup.
 

graewulf said:
frankiefire702 said:
just my opinion but if you're doing mostly highway driving i would stay away from steel belted tires. i'd go with radials because steel belted tires are known to have bad on raod manners.
Click to expand...

huh?? steel belted are excellent on the highway.. Most street tires are steel belted, radials are steel belted radials, same thing... now, BIAS i would avoid on the highway.... alot of the more agressive offroad tires are BIAS....
Click to expand...
sorry about that. i was thinking bias ply. now i'm giving out bad information to the poor guy. :oops:
 
Nerf Bars and/or Light Bar

As to tires you might check out Mastercraft if you can find a local dealer. They seem to be kind of hit and miss on availibility (sp?) but i really like them. I have the Courser MT's. They seem to do pretty good in the mud, they look great, and from what i hear they seem to last pretty good. The only people ive heard complain about how long they last have them on 1ton diesel pickups, and they arent made for that heavy of a vehicle. Personally i only have about 5k on mine right now, but they look like new. Again, i dont know if they're availible in your area tho.

Nathan
 
There is a custom car place by me, and the guy that works there always has his sick TJ Sport (big tires, nice wheels, lifted, winch etc) parked outside.

I've just decided to go talk to this guy and see what he knows (and possibly what he can sell me) for my pitiful stock SE. I just paid for my wedding so I have some $$ to burn...I hope to get it looking/acting the way I want by the time we get our first 70 degree day here in NJ.

Hopefully he'll know his sh*t and help me transform my jeep into what I hope it can be. There are a number of things I'd like to do, some things that are no doubt over my head..so I think my best bet is to enlist the help of someone who knows.

Just in case any of you people might be that guy, it's a yellow/black sport near Rahway NJ off St. Georges Ave.

Thanks everyone for their help and suggestions

Someone on another post suggested the tire/wheel packages from DesertRat.com they seem to have some things that I'm looking for.
 

if you want your tires to look tough, then get some BF Goodrich Mud Terrains, but i do lots of offroading( sand,mud, hills) andi just have some average all terrain tires... you would be surprised whata jeep can do...
whatver you do though, make sure do get tires that have a hard rubber compound, some mud terrains are really soft and if you are barely doing any offroading, then you will probably wear them out on the streets.
 
I just wanted to add a few comments, since I too have the SE, what I have done on my TJ. I did the 2" coil spacer lift and new shocks (really cheap and worth it) and I'm running 32" BFG All Terrains. I have some pictures up (not great pics though) over at http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=416619

My TJ runs fine around town and on the highway, yet good enough for my needs offroad.

Where in NJ are you? Im here in Central Jersey. Thats AMAZING you know of Roadrunners. I believe his name is Rob. I've bought a number of things there. I've had so-so experinces there with the other members of staff (they sold me the wrong tire carrier and the wrong steering stabilzer...). I do however, trust the owner. GREAT guy and I believe he knows his stuff pretty well.

I live right off St. Georges Ave. in Clark. About 10 minutes from Roadrunners. Let me know if you EVER need install help or want to do some muddin (us SE's gotta stay together)! Give my an AIM at RRosenwald if you wanna chat

-Rob
 
If you want to keep the stock suspension, I would definately go with 31" tires. BFG Mud terrains or All terrains will last a long time. The AT's will have slightly better street manners and the MT's will perform better offroad. Both are pretty aggressive looking (MT's moreso). Both will be excellent in the snow.

a 31x10.50x15 will fit on a stock 15x7 rim and you wont have any rubbing issues on a stock TJ.

Congrats on the Jeep purchase!!!
 

cherokee hybrib???

Ok, I've done some more research and now I need to re-open this thread with a few more questions.

First off, thanks to Rob for his help..

Here is what I've decided to do.
Add a 2" Skyjacker Spacer Lift
After looking at tires, I was convinced that I wanted the MT Baja Belted 31s but later found a few things on the internet about how these tires were "BIAS Ply" and didn't wear very well on the road at all. Since I'm only going to be doing a little off road I decided to look for another tire.

Then I decided that the BFG All-Terrains were probably perfect for me...that is until I read a little further and apparently these tires cannot be used with the wheels that I'm positive I want.

The wheels I want are the Cragar Series 352 Black "D" Window Street Lock
http://www.quadratec.com/cgi-bin/sg...2&UREQC=3&UREQD=4&FNM=00&UID=2004012119452314

It says in the listing "Will not fit tires w/ RIM PROTECTORS!
(BFGoodrich® All-Terrain T/A® KO Tires)"

Ugh, so now I either have to pick a different tire or try to find similar wheels that will work with the BFG tires.

Suggestions? I thought maybe the MT Baja Radial MTX http://www.quadratec.com/cgi-bin/sg...2&UREQC=3&UREQD=4&FNM=00&UID=2004012119452314 but I'm honestly not feeling them. Plus I can't find anywhere a review on this tire and if it will do well on the highway.

Thanks again for everyone's help.
 
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