Not sure either. At the moment, the limit to pushing further forward is the track almost touching the tie rod end at the pitman arm. Rolling the axle a couple degrees could actually require the axle to be pulled backwards a hair.
Daily Driver, Go Where I Want To Build
- Thread starter jjvw
- Start date
Not sure either. At the moment, the limit to pushing further forward is the track almost touching the tie rod end at the pitman arm. Rolling the axle a couple degrees could actually require the axle to be pulled backwards a hair.
The kit you are after if you want to retain the stock 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern is the WU-07. If you want to move to the larger bolt circle to get a stronger hub and 30 spline stub shafts, then you would use the WU-08.
For the 07 I can do the following brake kits and they all retain the same rotor used on the brake kit just modified to open up the center bore.
15"
16"
Super 16
17"
For the 08 I can only do the following-
16"
17"
I can do the Super 16 if you want to spend 300 bucks for 2 piece rotors. Most don't. I can do the 15" if you want to pay to turn down the OD on the rotor we use for the 16" kit. The issue is the 08 uses a very shallow depth rotor and we use a redrilled Ford truck rotor to get it to work on the 16" kit. Same for the Super 16 but nothing off the shelf can be reworked so we use a Wilwood rotor ring and an aluminum hat.
I'm paying attention
this is great information, Blaine.When I was looking for wheels for my Jeep when I got the 5x5.5 kit, I really did not think this through and got 15" wheels. After you explained the complication over the phone for a BBK, I realized that 17" wheels might have been the better choice overall. This size definitely has more alloy options with 4.75" or 4.5" backspacing compared to 15" 5x5.5.
In general, is there a specific range of wheel backspacing that you like to make everything play nicely with your BBKs and suspension work?
What if "should" doesn't work and you have to dial out so much caster that it steers like crap?
My brake kits don't change the offset from stock since they are on the same unit bearing as stock. What works well still works well and doesn't change because a brake kit is in the mix.I'm paying attention
When I was looking for wheels for my Jeep when I got the 5x5.5 kit, I really did not think this through and got 15" wheels. After you explained the complication over the phone for a BBK, I realized that 17" wheels might have been the better choice overall. This size definitely has more alloy options with 4.75" or 4.5" backspacing compared to 15" 5x5.5.
In general, is there a specific range of wheel backspacing that you like to make everything play nicely with your BBKs and suspension work?
Well it’s either bad caster or driveshaft vibes, I will stick with bad caster, or cut the inner c off and reweld it. But we all have things we don’t get done
I just install a hub kit and dial in as much caster as I need.
Well one version of the scout came with 0-1 degrees caster, the yj auto was 7-11 degrees so it can be anywhere from 1-11 degrees and they all went down the road, some just nicer than other 4x4’s
Also, does the "should" really apply as firmly to the front as it usually does for the rear? The front is rarely engaged on the street, so there shouldn't be the same need to compensate for axle wrap by setting the pinion slightly high.
It's been a few years since I last looked hard at mine, but I am nearly sure I started the pinion at 0° to the driveshaft before adding about a degree of caster later on. That was after having too low of a pinion where I decided to start over with the angles.
Which has exactly zero to do with how I want a TJ to drive and handle going down the road. I add caster until the steering gets too heavy from the inclination pushing the tires too hard towards each other and then back it off slightly until it is a slightly heavy feel with no vagueness on center.
After doing that method, have you measured the caster to see where it’s at? Do you see any trends or does it just vary by rig?
Why do I care? What good does that information do me? It has to be adjusted until it behaves the way I want it to, the numbers don't matter.
I was just curious how much of a difference there is between what you like and what the factory gives the TJ. But it doesn’t matter.
It only matters in so far that you can start with the factory settings as a base and adjust from there. But few of us are running 29" tires on factory wheels so that has to be compensated for. Just like my SE on 35 BFGs will most likely be set different then my friends 4.0 on 35" Boggers.
Very nice of you to ask but no. I think that and BBK are the last parts needed to build out the G2 Core44 housing I picked up. Of course considering fact I picked housing up in Apr2021 I’m clearly in no rush.
Did you ever measure your new hubs compared to your existing unit bearings to find your net backspace?
Here is the wheel spacer update. Things weren't adding up the way I thought they should. And thanks to @starkey480 pointing out the differences in unit bearing thicknesses, I took a fresh look at everything. With Blaine's help, I realized I had not included the thickness of the existing rotor hat when determining what the difference between factory and Warn was. The bottom line is that my Warn hub kit assembly is 1.06" thicker than my existing unit bearing and rotor hat. With the JK wheel having 6" of backspace, that means I need a 1" spacer to achieve 3.94" backspacing.
Here is the updated math...
6" JK Wheel Backspacing
-1.06" Hub kit added BS
=====
4.94" BS
-1.00" Adapter spacer
=====
3.94" Final Front Backspacing
Here is the updated math...
6" JK Wheel Backspacing
-1.06" Hub kit added BS
=====
4.94" BS
-1.00" Adapter spacer
=====
3.94" Final Front Backspacing
Last edited: