To go 37's or not?

[faststang1]

Just recently I notice I been hitting my axles more or draging ass end of my jeep.Im building a dana44 with RCV's and air locker 5.13's gears.I sitting on 35's.I got full cage which I need to post pics).So long story short would moving up to 37 be a big diff? Also should I stay 15's or 17's rims.
lets hear ur thoughts!!!!!!!

[SirFuego]

What you lose in ground clearance in the front diff after the swap, you'll probably gain back with the 37s and of course you would gain about an inch in the back. Which hubs are you planning to go with up front -- slugs or lockouts?

To me it would just come down to whether the diff dragging has prevented you from conquering certain obstacles and whether it was avoidable with a better line or not. If it's not stopping you, then there isn't much reason to switch to 37s. Even if it was stopping you, was it because of the lip on the 8.8? When I was on 35s, the strength of my front HP30 was more of a limiting factor than tire size, IMO. There were a few obstacles that I think I could have made it with more skinny pedal if I felt my front axle would hold up. The obstacles where I did break my axle were do-able with my tire size, but just over-stressed the axle. Then again, the type of wheeling I do is probably a lot different than what you are used to, so the stresses are possibly a lot different.

As for 15s vs. 17s, it's probably up to you. If I needed to buy new wheels (i.e. switching to a new bolt pattern), I would go with 17s. But if my bolt pattern wasn't changing, I would just stick with the same wheels I had before. 17s will be more stable (less tire roll) and gives you the option for stickies if you so wish.

Also, 37s are about borderline for regular power steering, so you might want to take that into consideration. Heck, I wish I had hydro assist when I was on 35s.

[Jeep Whore]

if you do decide to get them there is a huge price difference in tires for 15" rims and 17" rims. if you don't care about cash then depends on the rim you want/ like.

[IndyZJ]

x2 on what Fuego said. I doubt the inch of ground clearance would be worth it, but if it's holding you up, go for it. Or you could figure out a way to smooth out the bottom of the pumpkin so it's not a sharp lip, probably for a ton less money and work in the long run.

Your setup would be about bullet proof on 35s other than an occassional front hub if you run them. On 37s, things like steering, hubs, front R&P, and the rear end would enter the marginal range.

[SB406]

IMO, it really depends what tires you're looking at, and what you're running. Some measure out dissapointingly short. Some provide more traction than others, pushing parts to the limit. If it was me, I wouldn't have a problem running 37's on D44 RCV's. I'd run lockout hubs for a fuse and hammer down.

15's vs 17's is one of those debates that if you search long enough, eventually you'll find the answer you want to hear.
I've run both with DIY beadlocks and my personal opinion is that I liked my 15's a lot more than my 17's. I ran tires flat & flopping on my 15's and never had one come off the inner bead I ran 33" TSL's, 35" boggers, & 38" TSL's on these rims with the same good results. My current rims are 17's with 39.5 TSL's. If the pressure gets below 10 psi, the fronts will burp until they're flat. They work well, and I have on board air but the burping is annoying.
If you see a D60 in your future, I've run both sizes with 1 ton brakes on my Chevy 60, so that isn't even a valid point to me. To run 15's with Chevy D60 calipers, you have to do some grinding. Not a big deal. If you want to run Ford stuff, 17's are probably the way to go.

That brings up another point. What lug pattern are you going to run? My personal opinion is to buy a set of 8 lug wheels and be done forever. If you go 1 ton, it's 1 less thing to buy. You can change the D44 over to 8 lug with Chevy 3/4 ton stuff. As a matter of fact, I have a 3/4 ton Chevy axle sitting on my trailer to be take apart right now...

[faststang1]

Im doing slugs with 5x5.5 lug pattern so I swap with my bronco
I think smoothing out the diff to make them slide over rocks needs to be done and I think 37's is to going to be my ticket on some of the trails I been doing.As for 15 vs 17's.It seems to be about the same as far a pricing gose with 37's.Im going with beadlocks.Tire I plan to are 37x12.50's irok radials or truxs MT's.... hydro assist is in the plans to!!

Also 15's on 37, seem like they would fold alot when running 10psi? but not sure cause never ran bigger than 35's

Thanks for the input so far