Anyone run tractor tires on their KJ?

[CrazyDrei]

So Santa dropped off a set of tractor tires that I plan on mounting on my Liberty pickup truck.

Has anyone actually run tractor tires on their Liberty?
What size did you go with?
How did they drive?

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Got me some Titan High Traction Lug tires which I'll be mounting next week.

Everyday I walk past them I wonder what I really got myself into this time.

 

[lfhoward]

Can’t say that I have!

Will those things even work on pavement? Handling would be dicey! Of course if you’re building an off road only rig, they could be pretty unstoppable. Where do you see yourself going with these?

 

[CrazyDrei]

Can’t say that I have!

Will those things even work on pavement? Handling would be dicey! Of course if you’re building an off road only rig, they could be pretty unstoppable. Where do you see yourself going with these?

Yes these tires can not go over 20mph, and will not see pavement. My Liberty is more of a yard truck/side by side UTV than a SUV and will spend the rest of it's life hauling stuff in my yard and maybe get out on an ATV trail here or there.

I have a lot of mud and snow in my yard and tired of the Liberty getting stuck just about every time I get out on the current tires it has. This might be a slight overkill but if it will keep me from getting stuck it will be worth it.

 

[sota]

you're a crazy man, but i'm intrigued enough to want to see where this is going.

 

[tommudd]

Have seen a few KJs on facebook that did for a short time
I ran 30 inch tall ones on my 68 Bronco back in the late 70s
Had a set of pull type 3 bottom plows that I used to plow the corn field with
6 cylinder, 3 on the tree, 4.10 gears, in low range I could start it out and get out walk around as it went out through the field
better than sitting on a tractor with no radio etc LOL

 

[CrazyDrei]

Have seen a few KJs on facebook that did for a short time
I ran 30 inch tall ones on my 68 Bronco back in the late 70s
Had a set of pull type 3 bottom plows that I used to plow the corn field with
6 cylinder, 3 on the tree, 4.10 gears, in low range I could start it out and get out walk around as it went out through the field
better than sitting on a tractor with no radio etc LOL

Interesting, I have not been able to find anything about AG tires on a KJ.

Do you know why they were run for a short time? I can speculate the strain on drive train and excessive wight of the tires or possibly the impossibly harsh 5mph ride on anything harder than knee deep mud?

I am a little nervous about my new 33" tractor tires for the KJ with nothing more than a 2" eBay level. This one might take some creativity to fit.

 

[tommudd]

Couple of the people were running skid steer tires, so yes heavy tires to begin with and lots wider than most so lots of rubbing when trying to turn
One ran a couple of runs and tore out his front diff so of course then he Hated Jeeps due to them being built so bad
And yes harsh ride is what I remember when I ran them, but I was young and foolish ( 20-22 years old ) and it looked cool plus the old Bronco would just dig in and go anywhere
Never ran it anywhere but on the farm with them on
Had 12-15s for street use , yes was before radial tires etc

Good luck with, spacer lift and 33s

 

[CrazyDrei]

Couple of the people were running skid steer tires, so yes heavy tires to begin with and lots wider than most so lots of rubbing when trying to turn
One ran a couple of runs and tore out his front diff so of course then he Hated Jeeps due to them being built so bad
And yes harsh ride is what I remember when I ran them, but I was young and foolish ( 20-22 years old ) and it looked cool plus the old Bronco would just dig in and go anywhere
Never ran it anywhere but on the farm with them on
Had 12-15s for street use , yes was before radial tires etc

Good luck with, spacer lift and 33s

Haha, tearing out a front diff due to poor life choices is no reason to hate jeeps.

Good to hear that they dig in a go anywhere, thats exactly what I need in my yard. Don't care too much for suspension articulation or clearance unless I get anther 22" snow storm, just need to not spin tires in loam or mud.

My KJ will never see pavement or get out of 4x4 low, lots of yard/farm use and maybe an ATV trail or two if I am brave enough.

Getting one tire mounted and mocked up this week, lift this weekend and hopefully all 4 on before February.

 

[CrazyDrei]

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So the tires are in, mounted and bolted onto the Liberty.

Any thoughts on running different diameter tires front and back? Say 1/2" difference?

 

[duderz7]

Horrible idea on a 4x4, but you don't strike me as a guy who shys away from horrible ideas. rubbing a bit while turning?

 

[Doing10to20]

Horrible idea on a 4x4, but you don't strike me as a guy who shys away from horrible ideas. rubbing a bit while turning?

Why is it horrible?

 

[duderz7]

A 4x4 is usually designed to have all 4 tires spinning at the same speed while in 4 wheel drive. If some of them are a different size you'll either have constant slippage or something broken.

 

[CrazyDrei]

A 4x4 is usually designed to have all 4 tires spinning at the same speed while in 4 wheel drive. If some of them are a different size you'll either have constant slippage or something broken.

duderz7,

Yes you are absolutely correct, however if that was 100% true all of our 4x4s would be broken on the side of the road right now. I am willing to bet that at least one of anyone's tires is not "exactly" at the same pressure or wear as the others. This brings me to the next question, what is the acceptable tolerance for the difference?

I am not looking for google 2/32s answer because it's pretty much meaningless. What percentage difference is acceptable before it causes serious damage.

I have 1/2 to 3/4" difference between my front and rear 37" tires, ran the rig that way for 6 years and over 170k miles of everything from 75mph highway to 60mph 4x4 high desert washboard to 4x4 low crawling and have not had any issues with diffs, or transfer case.

I also know for a fact that if you have 4.10 gears in the front and 3.73 gears in the rear, in 4x4 low you will snap the rear (faster spinning) axle within 20 feet. Been there done that, now I know.

Lets get back to the Liberty. This is where I am right now:

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33.25" by 9.49" up front and
33.7" by 9.7" in the rear

As far as I know Liberty has open front, center and rear diffs so until I lock the rear the spider gears in the open diffs should have enough of a tolerance for a 1.4% circumference difference. This is no different than having front tire pressure 5psi lower than the rear.

Is my practical experience and calculations missing something that internet experts know of?

 

[duderz7]

I see your points, but why try to do something you know is wrong just because you might get away with it. And I don't know about yours, but my transfer case does not have habe a diff. Meaning at least one front and one rear tire want to spin at the same speed always. Not trying to talk you out of it, you've already made up your mind. But you asked and I answered.

 

[CrazyDrei]

I see your points, but why try to do something you know is wrong just because you might get away with it. And I don't know about yours, but my transfer case does not have habe a diff. Meaning at least one front and one rear tire want to spin at the same speed always. Not trying to talk you out of it, you've already made up your mind. But you asked and I answered.

duderz7,

I have NP231 so no open center diff. I am not familiar with the 231 yet but will once I rip it apart in the near future.

I am more concerned about finding actual tolerances for the parts than hypothetical reasoning.

Completely agree with your point "why try to do something you know is wrong just because you might get away with it." But how is it any different from actually getting away with doing something wrong and not knowing that you are doing it?

 

[CrazyDrei]

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[Aceofspades]

Wow. Impressive lol. Like if a geo tracker and Jeep liberty had a ************ child

 

[CrazyDrei]

Wow. Impressive lol. Like if a geo tracker and Jeep liberty had a bastard child

Aceofspades,

Haha, yep a ******* child it is but it's also a workhorse. It's a poor man's UTV. 33" tractor tires are perfect on the Liberty but they really do destroy the trail, where as regular mud terrains would not even make it.

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Another 1,000 pound load of firewood for smores tonight, kids are having so much fun!

Stay tuned for more shenanigans!

 

[mercdudecbr600]

Oh wow. you have too much fun!

 

[sota]

No rough back of the napkin work done yet, but my gut feeling is, as long as you're not trying to bomb along on tarmac with 4hi or 4lo engaged, you should be fine. Seems to me you're only really using it on really poor condition trails, so slippage is pretty much constant, so you're not really at risk of binding up the driveline. I suspect you have the most stress when turning hard (inside front vs outside rear arc differences) and if you haven't noticed any issues you're probably fine. plus given the style tires you're running, I'd bet even on bare tarmac you're getting enough squirm to give way enough.