Tire/wheel advice for a noob?

LCL-Dead said:

The thing is.. I was very, how do I say it?

I was horrible at managing my money and impulse purchases while active duty. Couple that with getting out and starting a low paying government job in a high cost of living area and we ran up a bit of debt those first few years, so it will take me about a year to budget up for those kinds of costs. Not to mention the other 1000-1200 I'd need for rims/tires (from a quick glance at various rim/tire websites).

This will more than likely end up being a slow build for at a rate of a few pieces of gear a year with maybe one big purchase thrown in when taxes come back. Obviously I want to do this right but I will forever battle the "want it now" impulse side of my brain.

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There is a solution. You can have the gratification of modding your TJ, but in bite size reasonably affordable pieces too.

Put a set of Duratrac's or KO2's on it (5) and use the stock wheels. When your shocks go bad, put a set of 0-2" Bilsteins on. Add a set of H&R springs as money allows for 1" to 1-1/2" of lift. Find a set of used TJ or XJ wheels that you like and swap them in. (I love the look of the Ravines, but there are a lot of choices out there.) You don't have to drop big money all at once to modify a TJ, you just have to research what you need and want, then spend wisely.

I was going to suggest exactly what Rob just suggests. My buddy has the BDS 2" spring on his Rubi and is very happy with the ride. Couple that with the Rancho RS5000X shocks and I think you'll be approaching OME level ride quality for less $$$. Longevity on the BDS springs is undetermined at this juncture, but if for some reason they sag over time, you can cross that bridge. Rancho has a shock rebate going on right now too. I think $50 visa gift card with purchase of 4 shocks.

LCL-Dead said:

So how wide can I ago with tires on an 8" wheel? 10.5 tops?

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You can run a 33x12.5 or 35x12.5 tire on an 8" wide rim.

LCL-Dead said:

I've bookmarked those springs and shocks for the moment. If the Sig pro shop up in NH doesn't have my pistol in the next few weeks I might just order these instead.

Now talk to me about tires.

I've seen plenty of rigs set up, at this point via google, with 12.5/10.5 wide tires. I'm a huge fan of aesthetics and making everything kind of look right if you know what I mean. For a jeep that means a wide wheelbase when viewed from front/back, primarily made by a wide tire and maybe a wheel with an offset pushing them out another inch or two.

Both Rob and Chris have said at this point that going 10+ on a wheel is undesirable. My question is why? Again, it's more of an aesthetics thing than it is pure functionality. Seeing as I know so little at this point I'm open to all advice given.

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I'm the same way you are: a complete freak about making my Jeep set up perfectly.

You don't want 10" rims though. They are just too much (in my opinion). 8" rims with 12.5" wide tires fit perfectly - they also work perfectly with 10.5" wide tires.

To give you an idea of that "wide look" and what a "cheap" lift looks like, this is my Jeep with 15x8" Black Rock rims ($70 each), 33x12.5" Duratracs (now they are priced at $230 each), 2" BDS Coil Lift w/ shocks ($600), 1.25" JKS body lift ($120 - which, if you get this you NEED a motor mount lift, or else your radiator fan will scrap against the fan shroud), and 1.75" ($50) spacers up front to level it out:




For your rim choice - think about what you value: weight savings? Sheer looks? Price? Steel wheels are cheap, but you may want to just stick to your stock rims that already look great and are high quality.

For tire choice - Duratracs are simply awesome tires. BFG All Terrain KO2's have a better ride than contemporary mud tires. BFG Mud Terrains are the BFG equivalent of Duratracs. The list can go on and on; however, if quality is a real concern for you, then stick with the major tire brands.

And, like others have said, don't rush modding your Jeep. I buy on impulse as well. It's not good. If money is a concern, buy bits and pieces of your mod list here and there, which also gives you more to look forward to.

My biggest problem is my last build was a 1 ton truck with 400+ hp, 410: gears and 12" of lift plus 3" of body lift. All of my 4 x 4 trucks I built engines for. When I look at tires for my TJ I need to keep in mind the limited power, gearing and standard suspension.

My dream TJ would be a sbc or BBC with a 400th auto.

Bigbill said:

My biggest problem is my last build was a 1 ton truck with 400+ hp, 410: gears and 12" of lift plus 3" of body lift. All of my 4 x 4 trucks I built engines for. When I look at tires for my TJ I need to keep in mind the limited power, gearing and standard suspension.

My dream TJ would be a sbc or BBC with a 400th auto.

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BBC won't fit in a TJ without a ton of modifications. I stuffed a 400 Chevy small block into a '72 Vega, and made it work, but the TJ just doesn't have the room in any direction to fit a Big Block in there. I taped it all out from my Vortec 7.4. If someone does it, I wanna see pictures.

UpperMI said:

You can run a 33x12.5 or 35x12.5 tire on an 8" wide rim.

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Just confirming for you LCL-Dead that UpperMI's advice there is right on, you really want a 15x8 or 15x8.5 wheel for 33x12.50 or 35x12.50 tires.

Understand a tire's advertised width is only measured at its widest point, half-way up the sidewall so its tread width and seating surfaces are nowhere nearly as wide as advertised. So the goal is never to match a wheel width to a tire's advertised width.

The reason we want our wheel widths narrower than the tire's advertised width is so the tire will stay seated more securely and have less chance of unseating. The wider the wheel width, the more air pressure it takes to hold the tire's mounting beads against the tire's outer edges.

So since we air our tires down substantially for offroading to increase their traction, the easier time the tire has staying seated on a narrower wheel than it does on a wider width wheel. Think of it this way... it takes more air pressure to hold a tire out firmly against two edges that are 10" apart than when they are only 8" apart. So you can air down to a lower air pressure for better traction without the tire coming unseated on an 8" wide wheel than if you had the same tire mounted on a 10" wide wheel. And a 35x12.50 tire's mounting width is closer to 8" than it is 10".

So if you had a 33x12.50xR15 tire mounted on a 15x10 wheel, you couldn't air down as much for offroading without danger of it unseating as you could if the wheel was a 15x8.

The golden rule being that when you're offroad, you get more and better traction (and a better ride) the lower the air pressure you run. On easy trails, I would air my 35x12.50 tires down to 10 psi. Tougher trails, 8 psi. I can run those pressures on standard wheels without worrying about the tires unseated. But once I started running beadlock wheels that clamp the tires to the wheels, I can take the tires down to 2-4 psi if needed for trails tough enough to make my eyes bleed. Which I'm not doing as much as I used to.

Very pleased with my new 31 tires (grabber at'2, look great and affordable) with no lift, no rubbing at all and really gave it a nice new stance. Posted pix under the tire thread. Welcome

@LCL-Dead, here's a photo of my Rubicon with 32" tires, & an OME lift, albeit mine is the light duty lift, for reference:

I have the slightest rub at full turn, which I can prevent with washers on the steering stops if I choose to.

Springs set your ride height, shocks dictate ride quality. (both could be worn out)

Are you on stock springs still? If you are planning on lifting it I'd get a lift that replaces the springs, I can't remember exactly what you decided you wanted to do for lift and tires.

Might replace the shocks with rancho 5000x series shocks. They are pretty affordable. Bad thing is anything you do now will be replaced when you lift it.

Is your swaybar connected?