I vote 15" wheels and some 35x1250x15 tires. You'll get the better load range (C) tire. You'll be hard pressed to find anything other than a load "E" tire in a 16". Keep the Ridge Grapplers for the new jeep, and sell off the 17's.
Family's First LJ - 2006 Rubicon Build
- Thread starter techster82
- Start date
What you're saying makes sense as there isn't a tire I've looked at in the two sizes I mentioned that is anything but load E. The problem is I really don't like the look of a 35x12.50R15 on the TJ/LJ. The first set I ran when I got my TJ last year was 35x12.50R15 KO2s on Mammoth Boulder rims. The tires just had so much sidewall they kind of looked like balloons. Honestly I think 16" is the perfect rim size on a lifted LJ for 35s.
The wife told me a little while ago that she wanted the Ridge Grapplers for her Jeep so if thats the case I probably won't invest in a 17" rim/tire setup at this time. I'm currently leaning towards a set of five Dick Cepek Extreme Country 315/75R16s for around $980 after $100 rebate. For rims I'm leaning towards the Mammoth Boulders (AEV Pintler Knockoffs) in Charcoal 16x8s. That puts me into a set of five for around $1600.
The backspacing on the 16" Boulders is 4.5" whereas the 15" Boulders are 3.7". I ran the 15" Boulder with 35s and had no rubbing with a similar lift but will the 4.5" backspacing of the 16" wheel give me problems?
I get what you are saying about the balloon look of a 35 on a 15" wheel. The Boulders are a good looking wheel. @Starrs tried going with those wheels, but couldn't get a vendor to ship them without getting damage. Not sure why. With the 4.50" BS, you might get a little rubbing on the sway bar at full lock. I suppose you could adjust your stops to fix that.
Starrs
TJ Guru
Go pintlers. Silver with yellow centers. 35” KM2s to complete the look. That’s the only way to go 
Chason
Member
She's so pretty! I got my LJR for 17k flat but it had 114k. I'm extremely jealous of the red cause I wanted red but couldn't find one clean enough so it's yellow for me.
Go pintlers. Silver with yellow centers. 35” KM2s to complete the look. That’s the only way to go
That setup is bookmarked on my laptop so don’t tempt me! I’m actually running 34” (metric) KM2s on the TJ and really have no complaints.
How’s running the JK Pintlers with spacer/adapters working for folks?
Starrs
TJ Guru
I wouldn’t know but I’m tempted to throw those on mine all the time! Which tire size gives you 34”? I know the 35s run around that size. What size lift do you run on your tj with that current tire size?
So I took a brake this evening from stressing out over wheel/tire choices to open a couple of boxes of parts that came in today. The first one was my JKS adjustable rear track bar. Pretty straightforward there and hopefully it works well for my setup. The next box was a lot bigger and heavier and had my latest refurb project.
It was late so I haven't spent a great deal of time with it but I'll decide in the next day or so whether I can blast some of the areas and refinish it myself with a paint/coating or if I'll take it in to a powdercoat shop and have them refinish it. Because of its size I'm worried that powdercoating might be more than I'm comfortable spending at this point in the build. Either way I'm anxious to bring her back image wise.
Maybe @Chris or @Starrs can help me out with what size round LED lights to purchase for it. Now back to looking at rim/tire setups!
It was late so I haven't spent a great deal of time with it but I'll decide in the next day or so whether I can blast some of the areas and refinish it myself with a paint/coating or if I'll take it in to a powdercoat shop and have them refinish it. Because of its size I'm worried that powdercoating might be more than I'm comfortable spending at this point in the build. Either way I'm anxious to bring her back image wise.
Maybe @Chris or @Starrs can help me out with what size round LED lights to purchase for it. Now back to looking at rim/tire setups!
Starrs
TJ Guru
The guy I bought mine from had it powdercoated before he shipped it to me and it was done very well. Looked very good.
I'm going to at the very least take it by the powdercoat shop to get a price. I'm toying with having my Savvy aluminum control arms coated as well so I'll most likely throw this in the truck and try to run by tomorrow or the next day. At some point a previous owner drilled two holes to the left of the license plate area and my OCD has me wanting to get those welded up as well.
Google is telling me that the stock fog lights are 6.5" in diameter so I'll look at 6-7" LED lights as my LJ didn't come from the factory with them already installed. I would like to install factory style switch so that they essentially function like the OEM ones. I've also got a new Smittybilt X2O 10k Synthetic lined winch sitting in the garage that I plan to install on this bumper. Are there any other parts required to make it work or should it bolt right up?
If you come across a matching rear bumper @Starrs how about you let me know first!
Starrs
TJ Guru
All you need is the bolts to mount the winch, and if you want to run another fairlead. Should be goood to go. The rear is super hard to find. It’s honestly fun tho looking for those rare pieces. The rear bumper will be staying with me for a while along with the front. I’ll keep swapping them from jeep to jeep if I have to lol
The rear is damn hard to find, way harder than the front! It took me months to find my rear, but I finally did manage to find one with the help of @JamesAndTheSahara. You'll find one, it will likely just take a while.
Starrs
TJ Guru
These are what I have mounted to mine:
Vision X 4.7" CG2 LED Light Cannon Fog Lights
They are insanely bright, seriously.
You can see photos of my setup below:
I've also got more photos of them in action here:
My review of the Vision X Vortex 7" LED headlights & Vision X 4.7" CG2 Light Cannon LED Fog Lights
So yesterday I got a chance to run by a new powder coat shop I wanted to check out as opposed to the folks I've used before. The previous shop I dealt with did great work but the process to get that work done just didn't cut it for me customer service wise.
I called this new shop a few days before stopping by just to describe what I was looking to have done and get some ballpark figures. I ended up taking in my set of aluminum Savvy control arms to be coated and while I was there I had them look at the Rock Crawler bumper I got. The arms of course were pretty straightforward but after pulling the joints off the end they realized that the tubes weren't hollow (I understand why and its certainly not a problem) but it makes it harder to hang the pieces while they are being coated. Of course they can plug one end but I ended up having to track down four 3/4" bolts and 4 1" bolts to use as hangers. Wouldn't you know that the only place that I could find quickly with what I needed in stock was a Fastenal store. And wouldn't you know that the only bolts they stock that are 3/4" and 1" fine thread are Grade 8 ones. So needless to say I may have bought the most expensive hangers the powder coat shop has ever used.
On to the bumper. When I received it the other day it ended up being a bit rougher than I had hoped. There was a good bit of powder coat chipping around the front edges of the metal due to rust getting underneath or just being weathered. There was also a good bit of rust and chipping on the finish underneath the two rubber bumpers that were mounted on the front (one actually had a good bit of moisture just trapped behind it when i pulled it off). After talking to the guys at the powder coat shop they gave me a price that I thought was really reasonable but I'd still need to have some media blasting done to prep the problem areas. I left there and went around the corner to a blasting place and spoke with a gentleman that was straightforward, honest and fair (all attributes that are getting increasingly hard to find). He recommended blasting all of the problem areas (essentially the front and outside of the bumper) but not really spending a lot of time trying to strip the backside (which really doesn't have any wear that looked problematic). This would keep my cost down and have the service ready to re-powder coat. I headed back with the bumper in tow as I still wanted to have the two random holes on the front welded up before refinishing it.
These are the two holes that my OCD wanted gone:
This morning I ran the bumper to a friend who is a wood/metal craftsman and in just a few minutes the two wholes previously drilled in the front were gone.
From there I took it over to the media blasting shop and it should be ready for the powder coat guys to pick up tomorrow. I'm not in a huge rush to get it back as I've got tons to do before its mounted on the LJ but I am looking forward to seeing it renewed.
I called this new shop a few days before stopping by just to describe what I was looking to have done and get some ballpark figures. I ended up taking in my set of aluminum Savvy control arms to be coated and while I was there I had them look at the Rock Crawler bumper I got. The arms of course were pretty straightforward but after pulling the joints off the end they realized that the tubes weren't hollow (I understand why and its certainly not a problem) but it makes it harder to hang the pieces while they are being coated. Of course they can plug one end but I ended up having to track down four 3/4" bolts and 4 1" bolts to use as hangers. Wouldn't you know that the only place that I could find quickly with what I needed in stock was a Fastenal store. And wouldn't you know that the only bolts they stock that are 3/4" and 1" fine thread are Grade 8 ones. So needless to say I may have bought the most expensive hangers the powder coat shop has ever used.
On to the bumper. When I received it the other day it ended up being a bit rougher than I had hoped. There was a good bit of powder coat chipping around the front edges of the metal due to rust getting underneath or just being weathered. There was also a good bit of rust and chipping on the finish underneath the two rubber bumpers that were mounted on the front (one actually had a good bit of moisture just trapped behind it when i pulled it off). After talking to the guys at the powder coat shop they gave me a price that I thought was really reasonable but I'd still need to have some media blasting done to prep the problem areas. I left there and went around the corner to a blasting place and spoke with a gentleman that was straightforward, honest and fair (all attributes that are getting increasingly hard to find). He recommended blasting all of the problem areas (essentially the front and outside of the bumper) but not really spending a lot of time trying to strip the backside (which really doesn't have any wear that looked problematic). This would keep my cost down and have the service ready to re-powder coat. I headed back with the bumper in tow as I still wanted to have the two random holes on the front welded up before refinishing it.
These are the two holes that my OCD wanted gone:
This morning I ran the bumper to a friend who is a wood/metal craftsman and in just a few minutes the two wholes previously drilled in the front were gone.
From there I took it over to the media blasting shop and it should be ready for the powder coat guys to pick up tomorrow. I'm not in a huge rush to get it back as I've got tons to do before its mounted on the LJ but I am looking forward to seeing it renewed.
Starrs
TJ Guru
The hole placement is very odd. Not sure why someone would have put those there.