[zjrog]

I was wondering what the outcome of this was for the OP?

Might I suggest... The smaller a tire is in diameter, equals a tire that won't roll as far per revolution as a larger diameter tire. As mentioned this wil effect your effective final gear ratios. A shorter tire will be perceived as making the Jeep more "quick", but will also use more fuel as the engine needs to spin faster to maintain speed. Keeping the stock/OEM size will keep your speedo correct as well.

Conversely, moving to a taller tire (within limits) will slow the engine down. A taller tire might also be a wider tire so you might actually INCREASE rolling resistance. AND! Don't always assume an alloy wheel is lighter. Especially on a Jeep.

So I had to make a trade-off. MY Jeep spends more time on the road than the trail. Fact of life. Sure, I WANTED bigger tires, but settled for the 31" sizes. A good tradeoff for how I drive on the highway and on the trails. (besides, my 4 banger Ford Ranger 4x4 on 33" tires for now, 35s in its future, will crawl better than my Jeep, just not as comfortable)

I'll even make a suggestion for a tire. Well, size at least. It will be a bit tight of a fit for stock Cherokee. I know there are sizes for duals out there, in a bout a 235/85-15. Perhaps there is a similar 225 tire. They are made for higher pressures anyway, and can be had in a road tread and traction tread. They will be a bit pricey though. But you will get a taller tire, with a relatively narrow tread (YES ,m I know 235 is wider than 225...), with high pressure ratings and lower rolling resistance. I believe that will work pretty well, as your Jeep is a lot lighter than 1 tron trucks and loads these tires are designed for. I'll be honest that I SERIOUSLY considered just these sorts of tires for my Jeep, but chose a regular 31" tire in All Terrain tread for what I do.

One last thing. My daughter drives a 1990 Cherokee. No lift, and I have it riding on 235/75-15s, with 3.55 gears and steel wheels. The Jeep is bright yellow, stands out, so she drives very conservatively (sometimes I'm a pretty smart Dad!!!). Over the course of the summer, she was getting 23-26 MPG. Depending on where she went and how much was highway... The WORST she got all summer was 19...