Are we killing our JKs?
12-21-2007 | 06:05 AM
#13
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 348
Likes: 0
From: Michigan
All things being equal, a Jeep with bigger than stock tires will wear out faster than one with stock smaller tires.
Every car I have owned has been sold or towed to the salvage yard with plenty to good parts despite my abuse. There were just a few failures, often major, that prompted me to get rid of them. As long as you are willing to pay to fix those failures you aren't killing anything.
I do suspect that many people that want the "look" and go big, or maybe only off road once or twice a year, don't realize the real cost of this sport. With a often driven daily driver that wears big tires and sucks gas the additional cost per year could be thousands. Add additional maintenance and repair and it can be an expensive hobby. As they say "if you play, you pay".
Every car I have owned has been sold or towed to the salvage yard with plenty to good parts despite my abuse. There were just a few failures, often major, that prompted me to get rid of them. As long as you are willing to pay to fix those failures you aren't killing anything.
I do suspect that many people that want the "look" and go big, or maybe only off road once or twice a year, don't realize the real cost of this sport. With a often driven daily driver that wears big tires and sucks gas the additional cost per year could be thousands. Add additional maintenance and repair and it can be an expensive hobby. As they say "if you play, you pay".
12-21-2007 | 06:49 AM
#15
JK Newbie
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
The biggest "wear" item will be ball joints and the unitized wheel bearing assy. Axle shafts and their ujoints really only come into play when in 4wd. I have personally driven D30 fronts with 37" rubber with no failures. I have also seen guys that have no clue how to drive totally explode much bigger parts with same tires. If you have a loose connection between your brain and right foot, all bets are off. 
The larger tires are often accompanied by different offset wheels, this changes the loading of these mentioned components and WILL cause them to wear out faster. Will they go out in 3 miles? No. will they go 100K probably not, there is no exact science as to when a ball joint or wheel bearing will need replacing. It's a maintenance issue and one that must be dealt wth when the time comes. Think of it as an oil change, not fun but a fact of life. The bonus is in all my years working on Jeeps I have yet to see a catastrophic failure. If you are paying attention your Jeep will tell you when it needs some TLC. When the time comes deal with it.
Bob
The larger tires are often accompanied by different offset wheels, this changes the loading of these mentioned components and WILL cause them to wear out faster. Will they go out in 3 miles? No. will they go 100K probably not, there is no exact science as to when a ball joint or wheel bearing will need replacing. It's a maintenance issue and one that must be dealt wth when the time comes. Think of it as an oil change, not fun but a fact of life. The bonus is in all my years working on Jeeps I have yet to see a catastrophic failure. If you are paying attention your Jeep will tell you when it needs some TLC. When the time comes deal with it.
Bob
12-21-2007 | 07:01 AM
#16
JK Freak
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 654
Likes: 0
From: Louisiana
The biggest "wear" item will be ball joints and the unitized wheel bearing assy. Axle shafts and their ujoints really only come into play when in 4wd. I have personally driven D30 fronts with 37" rubber with no failures. I have also seen guys that have no clue how to drive totally explode much bigger parts with same tires. If you have a loose connection between your brain and right foot, all bets are off.
The larger tires are often accompanied by different offset wheels, this changes the loading of these mentioned components and WILL cause them to wear out faster. Will they go out in 3 miles? No. will they go 100K probably not, there is no exact science as to when a ball joint or wheel bearing will need replacing. It's a maintenance issue and one that must be dealt wth when the time comes. Think of it as an oil change, not fun but a fact of life. The bonus is in all my years working on Jeeps I have yet to see a catastrophic failure. If you are paying attention your Jeep will tell you when it needs some TLC. When the time comes deal with it.
Bob
The larger tires are often accompanied by different offset wheels, this changes the loading of these mentioned components and WILL cause them to wear out faster. Will they go out in 3 miles? No. will they go 100K probably not, there is no exact science as to when a ball joint or wheel bearing will need replacing. It's a maintenance issue and one that must be dealt wth when the time comes. Think of it as an oil change, not fun but a fact of life. The bonus is in all my years working on Jeeps I have yet to see a catastrophic failure. If you are paying attention your Jeep will tell you when it needs some TLC. When the time comes deal with it.
Bob
Very well stated BOB !!
