I'd say that depends more on terrain. The requirements for mud, sand or rocks are different. With a rear locker and a long wheel base, a larger tire can be pushed onto a ledge. A small tire may not have the belly clearance to get over that same ledge, even locked..
Someone did math wrong on the TJ to JL wheel conversion. A Stock TJ Dana 30 front is 60.5" wheel mount to wheel mount. You added 2.5 inches of spacer, but JL wheels are 6.2" backspace. So, my math says 60.5 plus 2.5 (spacers) plus 2.6 (1.3 out to 6.2 inches in on a 7.5" wheel x 2) get to 65.6...
Just a set of RCVs for a JL is $1300ish. Not including tires or wheels, you are looking at $5k minimum for something you can wheel hard, unless someone figures out a way to reuse the factory shocks.
With an IFS that's locked, I would overbuild the front as much as you can. 37's are big...
Which Dana 44 are you talking about? If its the new one in the JLs, Gladiators and the new Bronco, it handles 37s perfectly fine when wheeling it in the rocks. If you are talking JK or older, sure. These Advanteks are NOT the same as a Dana 44.
Having driven in WV, spring for the lockers and gears, you might actually get better mileage. Less downshifting up hill and the ability to stay in higher gears without lugging the engine..
I wouldn't consider height as the only factor in that equation. Roll stiffness may be more important. The compliance required for offroad work makes for less precise handling. I'd guess that the squatch/badlands bilsteins out of their bypass zone are stiffer than the black diamonds, so during...
I HATE the squatch wheels, and with 285s, the wide flares may look extra silly.. I'd pocket the $2500, buy some wheels your wife likes and if I needed the extra 100 rpm, thats what 9th gear is for..
If you're going 2.7, the 35s shouldn't be awful on 4.46's and there is always the 305/70r17 to...
Those figures are with an actual size of 32.1 (I run the same 285/70 KO2s on my wrangler)
If you get a closer to actual size 33" (Cooper, Nitto, Toyo are all a little bigger in real life) RPMs drop to about 2170 at 70mph
You may be money ahead to NOT squatch it at all, you'll already have the...
Not sure if you are asking about squatch or not, but here's what the calculator shows:
2200 rpm (+/- 20rpm) for the 4.70 gears and 2100 rpm (+/- 20rpm) for the 4.46's
17s offer more sidewall for a fixed tire height and are available in more sizes (and for less money)
20s are because the full size truck likes them, and when there are 3.5-4million of them sold a year, tire manufacturers take notice.
18s ONLY advantage is if you want tall and narrow, there is a...
The difference in tire size is negligible. Specs say the 285/70 is an inch taller, it isn't. I went through both sizes on my wrangler, the width is noticeable, but the 285's were only about 3/8ths of an inch taller. The 4 door with its longer wheelbase will be less roll over prone in...
If you want the look of a more tucked in outer edge, buy a wheel that's a half inch narrower, but has the same backspacing. The squatch wheels are 8.5" wide, so buy an 8" wide wheel and stick a 35x12.50 or 315/70 on it..