First the sheep parts
In the nineties I always wanted a set of Eagle 117 Series 15x8 alloy rims
There was two problems
I've always liked the 70's CJ look with the white steel rims (That's not me), so you could say I tried to recreate it with my TJ - I never owned a CJ, I was too young to drive, it's 18 over here.
Why Alloys?
I'm also particularly interested in fitting alloys to reduce unsprung weight improving on performance and comfort as much as possible. I know, it's marginal but at the very least I hope to lighten some of the heat placed on my running gear from oversized tires.
I got a chance to pick up a cheap second hand set of Eagle 117's 15x8x5 alloy rims (with a fair bit of rock rash) wrapped with 33x12 AT's in good nick so I pounced on them
For most people it would of been be a simple case of off to the polishers then fit and balance your favourite rubber, simple right? Not this little black duck.
Lucky beginnings
Had to get them freighted to my hometown, that went well and when they were delivered a construction worker working near me at the time made an offer for the rubber that exceeded what I'd just forked out for the whole package. I couldn't believe my good fortune. Bought a lotto ticket, needless to say I didn't win but I sure felt like a winner after that day.
I slapped them on to check if they were round, and have a little fun before the hard yakka starts.
Save & Plan
Although the wheels were free at this point there was a lot to do and I was in no hurry so the project went into hibernation for a while as I saved up.
Polishing
Most places wanted to charge me 100 dollars and up to polish out the rock rash and scratches, it took a while but I ended up finding an old Greek bloke who agreed to do it for just over 100 bucks for all five, he did a good job! I wasn't interested in a showroom job, just fixed up a little.
And now the "Wolf" part
Beadlocks
I needed to have a second valve hole drilled and recessed to accommodate second air beadlocks.
Despite the fact that pneumatic bead locks can be a pain to get fitted & balance properly (mainly because it's hard to find fitters with experienced fitting them), I eventually found a toolmaker who did the work but it's no easy task. It is easy fitting them on steel wheels as you are working with flat surfaces but that's often not the case with alloy wheels where everything is contoured, so why go to all that trouble in the first place? Well for a start if I get a puncture I can run my "Wolves" flat and not damage the rim, I can safely air down to 4 PSI in snow rocks or mud without any problems and my beads are locked on both sides unlike their mechanical cousins.
They are also almost invisible which makes them like a "Wolf" you don't see, a secret weapon I can deploy at any time. When the going gets tough I can air down lower than others and It's proved to be an asset I'm no longer willing to do without.
The Wubber
I like a 10 inch footprint for the TJ, I reckon it's the most practical and purposeful compromise so - more about this in another tire thread - on go a set of 33x10.5x15 BFG KM2's. Not sure about the US but AU will not be getting KM'3's in 15" sizes.
Fitting
Hub centric ring spaces to properly centre the wheels on the hubs to almost finish it off...
Caps
...but now there won't be enough room for the old caps to go in from behind the wheel, they will need to go in from the outside so I'm getting a set machined to fit. It's not ideal, I'd rather some kind of black plastic disk with a Jeep sticker but this will have do for now.
Lugnuts
long shank conical to finish it off
Thoughts with hindsight
What I thought was going to be a fairly simple job turned out not to be so when fitting the second air's to aloys so I don't recommend it, however, I do think it's well worth doing with steel rims, I ran them for over a decade without issue and although I can feel the difference from less unsprung weight running aloys it is only marginal when compared to the steels, thing is, I'm pulling out all the stops when it comes to my war on unsprung weight and doing everything I can to reduce it so as far as that's concerned it's mission accomplished.
I'm having trouble getting used to all the extra attention.
Hope you all enjoyed reading this thread,
G'day!
In the nineties I always wanted a set of Eagle 117 Series 15x8 alloy rims
There was two problems
- They were way too expensive for me to run back then when all I was going to do is scratch them up wheeling my TJ off-road - I couldn't see the point, I convinced myself it was a bad idea but fast forward 20 years and they are now pretty cheap, I'm guessing few really want them with the advent of 16, 17 and 18" alternatives?
- Did I mention I wanted to drill a hole in them? That's the other reason.
I've always liked the 70's CJ look with the white steel rims (That's not me), so you could say I tried to recreate it with my TJ - I never owned a CJ, I was too young to drive, it's 18 over here.
Why Alloys?
I'm also particularly interested in fitting alloys to reduce unsprung weight improving on performance and comfort as much as possible. I know, it's marginal but at the very least I hope to lighten some of the heat placed on my running gear from oversized tires.
I got a chance to pick up a cheap second hand set of Eagle 117's 15x8x5 alloy rims (with a fair bit of rock rash) wrapped with 33x12 AT's in good nick so I pounced on them
For most people it would of been be a simple case of off to the polishers then fit and balance your favourite rubber, simple right? Not this little black duck.
Lucky beginnings
Had to get them freighted to my hometown, that went well and when they were delivered a construction worker working near me at the time made an offer for the rubber that exceeded what I'd just forked out for the whole package. I couldn't believe my good fortune. Bought a lotto ticket, needless to say I didn't win but I sure felt like a winner after that day.
I slapped them on to check if they were round, and have a little fun before the hard yakka starts.
Save & Plan
Although the wheels were free at this point there was a lot to do and I was in no hurry so the project went into hibernation for a while as I saved up.
Polishing
Most places wanted to charge me 100 dollars and up to polish out the rock rash and scratches, it took a while but I ended up finding an old Greek bloke who agreed to do it for just over 100 bucks for all five, he did a good job! I wasn't interested in a showroom job, just fixed up a little.
And now the "Wolf" part
Beadlocks
I needed to have a second valve hole drilled and recessed to accommodate second air beadlocks.
Despite the fact that pneumatic bead locks can be a pain to get fitted & balance properly (mainly because it's hard to find fitters with experienced fitting them), I eventually found a toolmaker who did the work but it's no easy task. It is easy fitting them on steel wheels as you are working with flat surfaces but that's often not the case with alloy wheels where everything is contoured, so why go to all that trouble in the first place? Well for a start if I get a puncture I can run my "Wolves" flat and not damage the rim, I can safely air down to 4 PSI in snow rocks or mud without any problems and my beads are locked on both sides unlike their mechanical cousins.
They are also almost invisible which makes them like a "Wolf" you don't see, a secret weapon I can deploy at any time. When the going gets tough I can air down lower than others and It's proved to be an asset I'm no longer willing to do without.
The Wubber
I like a 10 inch footprint for the TJ, I reckon it's the most practical and purposeful compromise so - more about this in another tire thread - on go a set of 33x10.5x15 BFG KM2's. Not sure about the US but AU will not be getting KM'3's in 15" sizes.
Fitting
Hub centric ring spaces to properly centre the wheels on the hubs to almost finish it off...
Caps
...but now there won't be enough room for the old caps to go in from behind the wheel, they will need to go in from the outside so I'm getting a set machined to fit. It's not ideal, I'd rather some kind of black plastic disk with a Jeep sticker but this will have do for now.
Lugnuts
long shank conical to finish it off
Thoughts with hindsight
What I thought was going to be a fairly simple job turned out not to be so when fitting the second air's to aloys so I don't recommend it, however, I do think it's well worth doing with steel rims, I ran them for over a decade without issue and although I can feel the difference from less unsprung weight running aloys it is only marginal when compared to the steels, thing is, I'm pulling out all the stops when it comes to my war on unsprung weight and doing everything I can to reduce it so as far as that's concerned it's mission accomplished.
I'm having trouble getting used to all the extra attention.
Hope you all enjoyed reading this thread,
G'day!
