Looking for 15" wheels? Whats our choices?

About the only body mod I want to make is fill the holes in the fenders for turn signals, and relocate some JK signals in the grill for that Old School CJ look.
I know this is an older thread, but I just had to comment, as this is exactly what I'm considering doing, and for the very same reason! :)
 
So, I have an idea that I might want a certain style of rim, but am faced with the dilemma that most of them are no wider than 7". Now, I see that @billiebob is running 7" wide YJ rims, but it appears that his fender flares are wider than stock...or am I mistaken? I would be maintaining my factory flares that are on my Sahara. The backspacing ranges anywhere from 3.75" to 4.50", depending which ones I get. I don't want to end up with something that resembles “a football player wearing ballet slippers” (Anyone who knows their Pontiacs will recognize immediately where that quote came from), so I'll try for the shallower backspacing. Aesthetics aside, would I have anything to be concerned about regarding handling on pavement, or issues when off-road? I would be running 31"X10.50" (on 15" rims). When it comes to airing down, I've read that the 8" rims will hold the bead better than 10" rims, so is it safe to surmise that 7" rims would share that same benefit, or would it be approaching a point where now the rim is actually too narrow, and create a problem with breaking the bead? Maybe the 1" difference in width is negligible, and there won't be any issues one way or the other, but I figured this is the place to get some good feedback on the subject. Also, it's an old enough thread that I figured no one would be too upset if I D.B. Cooper'd it... ;)
 
@billiebob has the AEV highline fenders on his rig, which has a wider flare than stock. I wouldn't go any wider than a 10.50 wide tire on a 7" rim. 3.75"-4.00" BS would be ideal.
Thanks for the tip, @bobthetj03. I'm thinking that if I truly wanted wider tires for anything more aggressive off-road, I'd just mount them on the set of Canyons that I have.
 
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My jeep came with Canyons and fit 31x1050x15 tires nicely. They are an 8" wide wheel. If it wasn't for their crappy back spacing, I'd probably still have them on my jeep.
P1040408.JPG
 
Meaning it's too deep? We ran 'em on my wife's '96 XJ 2-door for a couple of years. Love the look.

Yeah, at 5.5" of BS they tend to rub on control arms when you go bigger. I kick myself every day wishing I would have stuck with 31's.
 
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I've read that sort of statement so many times on this forum that I think I can safely say I'll draw the line at 31"......okay, maaaybe 32"...... :rolleyes:

It's a slippery slope my friend. I've been thru the gambit.

First 31's, Then 32's,
P1050281.JPG

And now 33's,
20151116_154437.jpg

If you haven't noticed, I'm a picture whore, lol!
 
The HighLine is "maybe" out of production but AEV still sells the HighLine hood in fiberglass. The rest of the changes can be done at home. I've seen a few threads from guys who did their own. Unfortunately the flares are also out of production so flares would have to be home grown too.

AEV raises the fendertop 2" by cutting and splicing in a 3" piece of steel. The big gain is a triangle they cut out of the fender, wheel well to the firewall. The result is a huge wheel well.

Heres STOCK vs HighLine. Both pictures are STOCK suspension, NO lift. You can see how far back the wheel well moved.
HighLine.jpg


STOCK.jpg


Winking.jpg
 
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The HighLine is "maybe" out of production but AEV still sells the HighLine hood in fiberglass. The rest of the changes can be done at home. I've seen a few threads from guys who did their own. Unfortunately the flares are also out of production so flares would have to be home grown too.

AEV raises the fendertop 2" by cutting and splicing in a 3" piece of steel. The big gain is a triangle they cut out of the fender, wheel well to the firewall. The result is a huge wheel well.

Heres STOCK vs HighLine. Both pictures are STOCK suspension, NO lift. You can see how far back the wheel well moved.View attachment 26924

View attachment 26925

View attachment 26925

View attachment 26927
AEV has fully discontinued all products for the TJ, to include the fiberglass hood/highline/brute kit. They offer no support to anyone who has purchased their products in the event of a failure/breakage requiring custom fabrication & unique solutions. It truly is quite disappointing & encourages myself to fully support the companies that I believe will stand by the TJ for quite some time.
 
It truly is quite disappointing & encourages myself to fully support the companies that I believe will stand by the TJ for quite some time.
yes, I feel for all the guys dumping $70K on the JK based Brute Double Cab in a few years when AEV quits that product.

Unfortunately AEV is an excellent engineering company with zero marketing skills. The exact opposite of TeraFlex. A great marketing plan with questionable engineering. They should buy each other out.
 
So, I have an idea that I might want a certain style of rim, but am faced with the dilemma that most of them are no wider than 7". Now, I see that @billiebob is running 7" wide YJ rims, but it appears that his fender flares are wider than stock...or am I mistaken? I would be maintaining my factory flares that are on my Sahara. The backspacing ranges anywhere from 3.75" to 4.50", depending which ones I get. I don't want to end up with something that resembles “a football player wearing ballet slippers” (Anyone who knows their Pontiacs will recognize immediately where that quote came from), so I'll try for the shallower backspacing. Aesthetics aside, would I have anything to be concerned about regarding handling on pavement, or issues when off-road? I would be running 31"X10.50" (on 15" rims). When it comes to airing down, I've read that the 8" rims will hold the bead better than 10" rims, so is it safe to surmise that 7" rims would share that same benefit, or would it be approaching a point where now the rim is actually too narrow, and create a problem with breaking the bead? Maybe the 1" difference in width is negligible, and there won't be any issues one way or the other, but I figured this is the place to get some good feedback on the subject. Also, it's an old enough thread that I figured no one would be too upset if I D.B. Cooper'd it... ;)
You can easily run a 10.5” tire on a 15x7 wheel, and you could probably run up to an 11.5” wide, which would hold the bead better, like the 15x8 wheels do with a 12.5” tire. Just get good backspacing, around 4. I love these Rubicon’s from Quadratec

https://www.quadratec.com/p/quadrat...MI1Ia6iNGN2AIVVp7ACh15RAAjEAQYASABEgIUtPD_BwE
 
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I like those in the gunmetal gray, for sure. And apparently, so do others, as they're "out of stock" for now.
Looking forward to the reveal of your 15x7’s!