Larger Tires vs. More Wheel Uptravel

[hum-vee4us]

For very rocky and rutty terrain, which one would be more important: 315/70R17 tires at the expense of a small loss of wheel uptravel, say 10mm per wheel and the need to use a limiter, or 285/70R17 tires but with slightly more wheel uptravel, the 10mm per wheel?

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[BR0NCO]

For very rocky and rutty terrain, which one would be more important: 315/70R17 tires at the expense of a small loss of wheel uptravel, say 10mm per wheel and the need to use a limiter, or 285/70R17 tires but with slightly more wheel uptravel, the 10mm per wheel?

It’s always been ground clearence wiTh the wheeling I do, got to keep the belly from dragging. Flex mostly just looks cool, if a tire is barely touching the ground it’s not going to give you any more traction than one that’s in the air

 

[indio22]

I would go with 33s max on the 2 door Bronco for flex and stability. Based on my experience wheeling out west in the Rockies and Moab, I don't want to be too high up in the air when it comes to off-camber trails and tipping over. Maybe 35s on the longer wheelbase 4 door. Also some people like big fat 35s for certain muddy trails where they want floatation. Pick your poison there are advantages/disadvantages either way - clearance/flex/stability. On-pavement I'd prefer 33 or smaller all terrain tires. I have 33" mud terrain tires on my TJ, and they stink for daily driving compared to the 31" all terrains on my CJ.

 

[NateL]

For loss of less then 1/2” of travel.... I’d go with the 35’s for ground clearance

 

[frinesi2]

I'm gonna go with the big ones, Bob.


(actually I'll probably get the 33s but ...)

 

[THEMANatwar]

With the 35s and massive extreme world ending loss of 10mm I don't think you'd even get over a pebal

 

[Gamecock]

For very rocky and rutty terrain, which one would be more important: 315/70R17 tires at the expense of a small loss of wheel uptravel, say 10mm per wheel and the need to use a limiter, or 285/70R17 tires but with slightly more wheel uptravel, the 10mm per wheel?

The 35s would have a much bigger overall positive effect on capability than that little bit of uptravel and 33s.

 

[rkj__]

For most wheeling I've done on rocky and rutted trails, 2" larger tires would be more beneficial than an additional 10mm of suspension travel.

The one exception would be sand dunes. On the dunes, I'd take the additional suspension travel over the larger tires. One might argue the wider tires would provide better flotation, but I had no issues with 265/75s aired down on sand.

 

[zaki]

The 35s make the Bronco look amazing.
I want that look. I am not going to take my $50k gorgeous toy scraping against rocks and over boulders. I will stick to paved roads and easy trails and 10 mm of extra wheel travel is meaningless to me.

It seems to me that the looks of both the 2 and the 4 dr just go to another level with the Sasquatch’s 35s and lift.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

I cast my vote for take the larger wheels, but it really depends on the terrain of the trail. If you're rock crawling, flex may come into play more, but that's for older rigs.

In modern times, even Land Rover has managed to be highly capable even in times where there are no lockers; the traction control is that good it does the work.

Serious rock crawling in your newly purchased vehicle is ballsy, but that's where you're likely to show off flex.

Think you'll get more pleasing feelings with bigger tires which can give you lift, but has more application in normal trail running or at the beach or desert.

 

[King Luis]

I cast my vote for take the larger wheels, but it really depends on the terrain of the trail. If you're rock crawling, flex may come into play more, but that's for older rigs.

In modern times, even Land Rover has managed to be highly capable even in times where there are no lockers; the traction control is that good it does the work.

Serious rock crawling in your newly purchased vehicle is ballsy, but that's where you're likely to show off flex.

Think you'll get more pleasing feelings with bigger tires which can give you lift, but has more application in normal trail running or at the beach or desert.

i agree. larger tires would be better suited for at speed type of off roading, trails, beach, etc where the wheel travel is better suited for crawling. but you lose a bit of the height gained.

but the Land Rover does have centre and rear lockers. they are computer controlled and lock and unlock as needed.

 

[Squatch]

My preference:

Large tires with the least amount of suspension/body lift possible to have the lowest center of gravity possible.

Short wheelbase for the best breakover angle; larger tires also help with that.

Personally, I'll probably go with that 37s setup we've seen and skip a roof rack to avoid raising the COG.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

i agree. larger tires would be better suited for at speed type of off roading, trails, beach, etc where the wheel travel is better suited for crawling. but you lose a bit of the height gained.

but the Land Rover does have centre and rear lockers. they are computer controlled and lock and unlock as needed.

Some of the Landies do indeed, but not all or at least not the LR3 and LR4. Even without the lockers they couldn't do everything, but they can do a lot of capable crawling.

Could you clarify the loss of hight gained comment? You mean with greater articulation and smaller tires?

 

[kodiakisland]

How about I'll take door #3.

Why are those my only choices? I'll take both the tires I want and the suspension travel I want.

I get many people just want to buy what is offered and don't want details, but I do. I want to know the difference in the suspensions to make a better informed decision. Actual details, not just some numbers. How are the two suspensions different?

What I imagine I will end up doing is getting the BD and doing the suspension myself, they way I want it set up, because like I said, I want both and I can have both.

We need details. All this talk with no details. How is anyone supposed to make an informed decision. Someone get us some real details on the differences.

That said, my tire choice to begin with will be either 285/75/17s or 295/70/17s and I will get a suspension that allows full articulation. I'm also not averse to trimming wheelwells on a new vehicle if need be. I'll look at King and Fox for progressive valving.

 

[jtzako]

Up-travel isnt really the thing you need so much. You need ground clearance and droop. For the fronts it wont be noticeable since they are IFS. For the rear the up travel on the offside could slightly impact the droop on the other, but it wont be much. 10mm is less than half an inch, that isnt going to be an issue.

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