Few wheeling updates. Taken her out quite a bit this summer. I love these tires. I ordered a set of 40's for my other rig. They were definitely loud, but I have about 2500 miles on them and they have mellowed a bit. I have a 1400 mile road trip coming up next week which will put them about due for a rotation. Hoping that helps quiet them down more. Top perch has some annoyances with bump steer even after getting alignment adjusted a couple times. Nothing that you wouldn't expect on any other rig with 37's, but enough to bother you after a stock truck. How it looks though... it's worth it.
Really the whole reason behind going to 37's was for a Moab trip. I try and go every year, usually taking a dedicated off road rig. The pinch welds were definitely worrying me a bit, so I hammered all of them down. I sprayed flexseal in the liners which I have found, works just as well as bed liner, at a quarter the price. Only issue is it's not UV resistant, so it will fade to a rather flat black especially as close to the sun as I am. Still looks great in the wheel wells though 5 months later. Took a few hours to cut/hammer them all in. I am not thrilled with how the front's would look without a liner covering them. Backs look better than factory in my opinion after being painted.
Wheeled the hell out of it in Moab. Destroyed the rear bumper which got in to the bed sides. Scratched the hell out of all four tow hooks. I was really worried about the gas tank, as it hangs a little bit below the frame. I slid on the plastic skid plate a couple times, but didn't seem to bother it at all. I high centered on the side steps a few times, they are made of aluminum, who knew? Chipped a few pieces off of them, but honestly they work pretty damn well as sliders after you rub all the lining off of them!
F***ing wheel wells didn't rub at all. Everything else did! I would love to say it's because of all the work I did grinding and hammering, but I'm not totally convinced they would have rubbed. After the first couple obstacles I had someone come up to me and ask what I had done to the rear suspension. When I replied nothing he was astonished. He said "That whole 37 drops below the bed on one side and is completely tucked on the other". Front didn't rub anything at all, even the stock liner. Rear caught the metal bar that supports the bed side, only on the passenger side oddly though. Tire caught the very bottom inside corner of the plastic fender flare on both sides too. That made a rather loud Gatling gun sound that followed us around all week.
Dunes were a different story.
Since I didn't bother to do anything about it... the Gatling gun sound proceeded to follow us around everywhere. Jumping, the front rubbed the fender liner and flare pretty bad. You could clearly see where the tire made contact around the whole inside. I have 50k miles on the factory shocks, I'm sure fresh shocks would have taken the impact a bit better. Pictures are from the third big jump of the day as well.
Overall... I love everything about the 37's. I wish I would have taken the rear bumper off before going to Moab. The bump steer, slightly worse ride, and even the loud tires. It's all worth it to know how much better it looks and how capable it is off road. Winter projects are fixing the bed sides, tube rear bumper, and some higher fenders. Unless of course I test drive a new 17 and completely fall in love...
