Jeep ZJ (Grand Cherokee) Tire/ Suspention question

[Kactapuss]

I have a 97 Jeep Grand cherokee Tsi. I need new tires and i really want to get into off roading. I Am wondering wether anyone has any suggestions of some inexpensive off road tires that could fit my stock rims (anybody know the rim specs?). Links to online places would be appreciated. One site i found, www.quadratec.com, seems to have some inexpensive tires, The TrXus M/T, and the Baja Claw M/T.  If i want to run 31" tires, what is the recomended suspention lift.... i believe the stock tires are 28" (please correct me if im worng). Also i have a side question, What does the TSI stand for? thanks in advance

-matt

 

[PaulW]

30" tires will fit on a ZJ Stock.  Some slight rubbing may occur depending upon which brands you run.  I put geostar radial at's 30x9.50r15's on my stock 87 xj with no rubbing.  If I ran a MT of Beefy AT, then the side lugs may have rubbed on my control arms.  I paid $89 apiece from town fair tire, and am pretty happy with them so far.  As far as 31's a 3" lift should be used for enough clearance.

 

[tennis203]

http://nagca.com/home.php
www.rubiconexpress.com
www.rustysoffroad.com
www.jeepforum.com
www.jeepsunlimited.com
www.pirate4x4.com
www.rockkrawler.com
www.claytonoffroad.com
www.ntwonline.com

Theres a few links right there... Those could keep me busy for a few days.  I'd suggest getting your tires from www.ntwonline.com because they simply are the cheapest 95% of the time with great customer serivce.  I would suggest the Pro Comp mud tire, BFGs mud tire, or the TrXuS mud terrian in a 31 inch tire and 3 inches of lift.  Let me know if you want to see my beast in person and we could do some offroading!  Always looks to bring in some newbies into the 4wheeling community!

 

[graves14]

well seeing as how this is for a zj u could always throw in a 2" BB.  Its just 4 poly spacers that go on teh coils that will give u plenty of room for 31's.  as for tires id say go for at's if its ur dd good on and offroad performance.  BFGoodrich AT's come highly recomended and i think tehre even may be a set for sale on this site or on CTjeep.org.....check it out

 

[Kactapuss]

I am not planning on any hardcore offroading yet, 1/2 of it is the looks. From what i can gather, 3" lift will be totally safe for 31" tires, and that i could get by with a 2" if i am ready for some rubbing in extreme situations. If i were to do this i think i would do some 2" body spacers. Now i have another question, if i were to put 31" tires on a 2" body lifted jeep, are there anyother thinks i would need to change? breake lines, speedometer, gearing, gas mileage? thanks alot
and im located in southwestern CT (new canaan). thanks again

 

[PaulW]

I am not planning on any hardcore offroading yet, 1/2 of it is the looks. From what i can gather, 3" lift will be totally safe for 31" tires, and that i could get by with a 2" if i am ready for some rubbing in extreme situations. If i were to do this i think i would do some 2" body spacers. Now i have another question, if i were to put 31" tires on a 2" body lifted jeep, are there anyother thinks i would need to change? breake lines, speedometer, gearing, gas mileage? thanks alot
and im located in southwestern CT (new canaan). thanks again

Your ZJ has a unibody frame.  Body lifts can't happen because of that fact.  The easiest/cheapest way is to do the coil spring spaces.  Brake lines may have to be "unbolted" for extra length.  Longer shocks will be needed.  Expect your speedo to be off about 5 mph on the highway (reads slower), and your gas mileage will drop about 4-6 mpg depending upon driving habbets.

 

[Kactapuss]

so for coil spring spacers i do need longer shocks. Is there an alternitave to buying new aftermarket shocks? such as using stock shocks from a longer travel vehicle that i might be able to procure at a junkyard? all of this is very helpful to me, thanks alot guys.

-matt

 

[Kactapuss]

another question? what needs to be done to get the correct spedometer reading? thanks