TJ / Liberty wheel compatibility

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rol1964

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montreal, canada
I found a set of 17" wheels with tires off a Liberty (year unknown) for an acceptable price but I'm not sure if they are compatible.
They are 235/65R17's mounted and balanced on 5 x 114.3 aluminum wheels.
Wheel sizing for 17" wheels on the TJ (from "wheel-size.com" ) shows: 245/65SR/17 8j x 17 ET 10
Wheel sizing for 17" wheels from the Liberty (same source) shows: 235/65R17 7.5j x 17 ET 33.27
To make this more confusing, the later model Liberty shows 7.5jj x 17 ET40.
I think these will work but I live about 1 1/2 hrs away from the wheels so I can't just pop over to check them out very easily.
Anyone know if these are a likely good fit?
Thx for enlightening me!
 
TJ's didn't come with 17's did they?

when dealing with rims and wheels it's much easier to deal in terms of backspace.
the j# is rim width, unless i'm mistaken.
the ET is the offset from center within that width. 25.4mm being equal to 1" makes 10 about 7/16", 33.blah about 1.5" and 40 in the ballpark of 1 11/16" i'd guestimate. of course this is subject to +/- which would indicate what side of center wheel it's on.

so if the Lib wheel is 7.5" with a 33.27mm offset, 0 is center @ 3.75" move that about 1.5" and that's what the backspace is roughly. 3.75+1.5=5.25"ish. that puts a 40 at about 5.62"ish. and a 10 around 4.25"
now since the 10 is on an 8" wide rim 4" becomes 0. and with a 10mm offset it comes in just under a 4.5"ish backspace.
 
add the cost of your 3hrs of travel time to what they cost and whats that take your budget to?
 
Screenshot_20210109-135301~2.png


Stock TJ wheels are mostly 5.5" BS, by comparison. If you're running close to a stock tire width you'd be fine with the 17x8 10mm offset. I wouldn't mess with the 7.5 40mm offset as that's nearly 6" and is going to put you close to the rear spring perches and probably rub the LCAs at full lock.
 
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This is my first Jeep, (and some of you are gonna laugh at this ), but I'm trying to achieve a certain look. So now I'm thinking....maybe I need to start looking into a 2" lift kit...?
It's a bone stock 2004 that appears to sit just a bit too low on it's 15 " wheels for my liking. So I figured maybe I could achieve the appearance I want with a simple wheel upgrade. But the more I dig into this the deeper I go and ...you know the rest.
 
It
rol1964 said:
This is my first Jeep, (and some of you are gonna laugh at this ), but I'm trying to achieve a certain look. So now I'm thinking....maybe I need to start looking into a 2" lift kit...?
It's a bone stock 2004 that appears to sit just a bit too low on it's 15 " wheels for my liking. So I figured maybe I could achieve the appearance I want with a simple wheel upgrade. But the more I dig into this the deeper I go and ...you know the rest.
Click to expand...
It's your Jeep, so follow your taste, but without getting into bigger tires and bigger lifts, 17" wheels just don't look right to me on a TJ because it needs some sidewall.

If I wanted a little more aggressive look than stock without dropping a ton of coin I'd probably look into a 1-2" lift with 31x10.5r15 tires, on 15x8 wheels with a 5-5.5" offset like factory Canyons or Ravines.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I will follow the advice and start with a lift kit and get 31's mounted on stock 15" wheels.
This is the appearance I'm after. Cheers, Rol1964
 
rol1964 said:
This is my first Jeep, (and some of you are gonna laugh at this ), but I'm trying to achieve a certain look. So now I'm thinking....maybe I need to start looking into a 2" lift kit...?
It's a bone stock 2004 that appears to sit just a bit too low on it's 15 " wheels for my liking. So I figured maybe I could achieve the appearance I want with a simple wheel upgrade. But the more I dig into this the deeper I go and ...you know the rest.
Click to expand...

A 235/65R17 stands approximately 29" tall; it's about the same overall dimensions as a 235/75R15, but with more wheel and less tire sidewall. It seems to me that this swap (if the offset does work, which it will not if it's the ET40 version of the Liberty wheels) would not result in the look you're going for.

Perhaps post a pic of your TJ as it currently sits, along with a photo of what you consider inspiration, and we can help you come up with an affordable solution?
 
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I would love to see this. Always interesting to see unique wheel and tire combinations on a TJ!

It sounds like the size and backspacing should be a really good match to the factory TJ wheel size and backspacing.

Please get these wheels and post pics.
 
deadbeat son said:
A 235/65R17 stands approximately 29" tall; it's about the same overall dimensions as a 235/75R15, but with more wheel and less tire sidewall. It seems to me that this swap (if the offset does work, which it will not if it's the ET40 version of the Liberty wheels) would not result in the look you're going for.

Perhaps post a pic of your TJ as it currently sits, along with a photo of what you consider inspiration, and we can help you come up with an affordable solution?
Click to expand...
An excellent idea....

So, from this:


to this:

IMG_3328.JPG


Screen Shot 2021-01-10 at 11.43.22 AM.jpg
 
rol1964 said:
An excellent idea....
View attachment 216903
Click to expand...

So that Jeep looks like it has 31" tires on a 15x8 wheel with 3.75" backspacing. That spaces the wheels out almost 2" further than the factory 8" wide wheels like Canyons or Ravines. Aftermarket 15x8 wheels with 3.75 BS and a set of 31" tires would get you that look, but the tradeoff is that the tires stick out past the fender flares and will spray crap all over the Jeep. You could get wheels and tires first, then add a 1" - 2" budget boost, but you may be happy with the wheel and tire change only.

As a point of reference, here's what a set of 31x10.50x15 all terrain tires would look like on your current wheels without a lift. Pilfered from the following thread:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/31s-on-stock-tj-wheels.38877/post-646226
20200802_100032-jpg.jpg



Here's another good example:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/15-or-16-wheel-for-stock-style-daily-driver.16718/post-272621
20181208_152952-jpg.jpg
 
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So if I understand this correctly, a set of 265 75 15 tires has the same overall diameter as 31 x 10.5 15's?
And these will fit my stock TJ without interfering with the fenders or running gear?
 
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