New wheels or wheel spacers?

[derekmac]

Lugs are not meant to handle shearing force, which is what lug centric rims/spacers will cause. The hub should be what is handling the weight of the vehicle. Yes, most aftermarket rims are lug centric as it would be too costly for them to make rims with correct hub sizing. That's why you can get hub spacers, and some wheel manufactures will provide the size needed for your application.

When you hit a bad pothole on the hwy, and shear the lugs off, you'll wish you had done it properly.

 

[penk]

That's ok for a simple spacer like that. Due to my 15" wheels, I had to add a similar 1/4" thick spacer once I installed my Big Brake kit from Black Magic Brakes. Pretty much any aftermarket wheel is going to be lug centric which works fine. Take a look at the lug nuts, they pull the wheel into position so the lug is centered in the hole. The only wheels I've ever seen that were hub centric are factory wheels, though undoubtedly somewhere you could find hub centric if you looked extra hard.

Thanks Jerry. Makes me feel better.

geek. berlin, ma. 2000 TJ. http://planet-geek.com

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Lugs are not meant to handle shearing force, which is what lug centric rims/spacers will cause. The hub should be what is handling the weight of the vehicle. Yes, most aftermarket rims are lug centric as it would be too costly for them to make rims with correct hub sizing. That's why you can get hub spacers, and some wheel manufactures will provide the size needed for your application.

When you hit a bad pothole on the hwy, and shear the lugs off, you'll wish you had done it properly.

When you shear your wheel lugs from running aftermarket wheels which are pretty much always lug centric, be sure to let us know. Not even my uber-expensive high-end Walker Evans forged aluminum wheels on my TJ are hub centric. Come to think about it, neither are my forged aluminum BMW wheels.

You're worrying about a theoretical issue that just doesn't happen on our Jeeps. If it did, we'd be warning all the newbies not to run aftermarket wheels.

Not to mention the shear strength of each 1/2x20 Grade 8 wheel stud is 17.8k lbs. No pothole is going to shear them off.

 

[Andrew B]

I would def go the wheel route. If you're using it for hunting and general "kicking it" I would advocate steel wheels, there are several reputable companies that make steel wheels for about $50 a pop. Benefit being steel bends aluminum breaks. I live in AK and picked up a set of 5 steel pro comp wheels with shipping to AK for around $475. ($190 was for shipping stateside shipping g would've been free)
Backspacing wise as everybody has said go 3.75-4-ish and you'll be fine. I'm running 33x12.50-15 BFG KM2s on a ~2" lift with 3.75 B/S i'm not rubbing at all front or rear. The tires will stick out of the stock 2" flares about 2-3" but it's not obnoxious.

I would be very careful running the "cheap" spacers, and advise you to be patient with the build. If wheels are out of the question for the time being, stick to smaller tires on your current wheels until your ready to do it right. I rolled around in my last rig for about 6mo with a 4" lift on 30x9.50-15s till I could get the right wheels and tires/gears.

 

[derekmac]

When you shear your wheel lugs from running aftermarket wheels which are pretty much always lug centric, be sure to let us know. Not even my uber-expensive high-end Walker Evans forged aluminum wheels on my TJ are hub centric. Come to think about it, neither are my forged aluminum BMW wheels.

You're worrying about a theoretical issue that just doesn't happen on our Jeeps. If it did, we'd be warning all the newbies not to run aftermarket wheels.

Not to mention the shear strength of each 1/2x20 Grade 8 wheel stud is 17.8k lbs. No pothole is going to shear them off.

I'm not saying don't run aftermarket wheels (I am). If you do, get cheap hub spacers so the force is applied to the hub.

I have never personally seen lugs shear (have seen one with slightly bent lugs, front drivers side), but with how cheap the spacers are, why not have the little added safety?

 

[JayTee]

Hey Penk, what did you end up doing to the rear?....New to forum and I am experiencing the same issues...

 

[billiebob]

When you hit a bad pothole on the hwy, and shear the lugs off, you'll wish you had done it properly.

My bet is if you sheared off the studs you over torqued the nuts with an impact wrench. Next time use a torque wrench or your arm.