Upgrading my TJ with JK wheels

Fletch2

Fletch2

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2019
Messages
28
Location
Chattanooga, TN
Hello,

I am currently running 235/75R15 tires on Canyon wheels. I have found a good deal on some of the 17" Hardrock Rubicon wheels like in the attached pic. I really like the appearance of the Hardrock, but my concern is how they will look on my stock TJ, because I don't want them to look crammed into the wheel wells. The wheels don't already have tires mounted, so I would buy either 245/75R17 or 255/75R17 tires, and I know I will need a 5x4.5 to 5x5 wheel adapter.

Someone on youtube used the following adapter and liked it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IVKIZW0/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I recently replaced my shocks with the Rancho RS5000X shocks and my TJ now appears to sit just slightly higher than it did, and my 235's are looking small, (I did buy the shocks for a non-lifted vehicle). I know others have upgraded to JK wheels, but I generally see it done with a lift.

How do you think these will look with no lift? Will a 1.25" adapter be sufficient, and does the above adapter look like a quality adapter? Will the use of the adapter put excessive stress on the bearings? Any feedback is appreciated.

'06 Wrangler X
Automatic
3.73 gears

Thanks!
2013_jeep_rubicon_rim_lg.jpg
 
First off, I think those wheels will look great on your stock Jeep. I like using 17” JK wheels as they are a nice modern touch but still look close to factory.
I would go with the 245/75R17 as you won’t “need” to run a lift and you’ll get great performance out of them on and off road. 1.25” adapter will put you at tj rubicon backspacing (5”) as opposed to your current wheels (5.5”) so your new tires might be a little farther out from the flare than your current ones, but only by a little bit.
 
CharlesHS said:
View attachment 168830

This picture will give you an idea what the JK 17" rims with 255/75/17 Fireston Destination AT 2's on a stock suspension.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the pics! Which adapter did you go with? So you get no rubbing? How much clearance is there between the tire and the closest point inside the rear fender well? On my TJ (and I would assume the same on all), if you're looking at the rear fender well on the driver's side, inside the fender well on the lower left there is a plastic section that sort of bulges out and looks like it could come into contact with a large tire.
 
No rubbing what so ever....
The closest contact points to the rear tires are slightly more than 2" to the spring bucket and the plastic bulge towards the front of the fender well. The spacers are 1.5", but I purchased them so long ago that I do not know who the manufacturer is....
 
Fletch2 said:
Hello,

I am currently running 235/75R15 tires on Canyon wheels. I have found a good deal on some of the 17" Hardrock Rubicon wheels like in the attached pic. I really like the appearance of the Hardrock, but my concern is how they will look on my stock TJ, because I don't want them to look crammed into the wheel wells. The wheels don't already have tires mounted, so I would buy either 245/75R17 or 255/75R17 tires, and I know I will need a 5x4.5 to 5x5 wheel adapter.

Someone on youtube used the following adapter and liked it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IVKIZW0/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I recently replaced my shocks with the Rancho RS5000X shocks and my TJ now appears to sit just slightly higher than it did, and my 235's are looking small, (I did buy the shocks for a non-lifted vehicle). I know others have upgraded to JK wheels, but I generally see it done with a lift.

How do you think these will look with no lift? Will a 1.25" adapter be sufficient, and does the above adapter look like a quality adapter? Will the use of the adapter put excessive stress on the bearings? Any feedback is appreciated.

'06 Wrangler X
Automatic
3.73 gears

Thanks!
View attachment 168605
Click to expand...
Those are nice. I got some 2018 JLR take offs with 33” BFG KO2’s I want to put on my ‘98 TJ after the OME 2.5” lift.
 
No lift...
The Jeep is at the stock ride height with 20 years of sagging included.
I replaced the stock speedo gear and replaced the stock 3.07s with 3.73s, but I have no intentions of installing larger tires than what I previously installed.
Depending upon what rear differential gear ratio you have you will need to calculate what speedometer gear.

b466d5a04eca86c21d57aa51de57745b-jpg.jpg
 
I used the blue SpiderTrax, which I think are the same as your link, and had some rubbing at full turn on the Rubicon but this Sport has ZERO issues with the exact same set up (each LJ is bone stock). Speedo is a little off, but not enough to earn me a speeding ticket and both are automatics — no obvious issues with shift points.

The wheels live on the red Jeep now and I have a little rub with those bigger tires on the Rubi on the stock Moab wheels.

20201016_181734.jpg


LJ.jpg


20200105_163049.jpg


RedLJ04 2.jpg
 
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DeadStang said:
I used the blue SpiderTrax, which I think are the same as your link, and had some rubbing at full turn on the Rubicon but this Sport has ZERO issues with the exact same set up (each LJ is bone stock). Speedo is a little off, but not enough to earn me a speeding ticket and both are automatics — no obvious issues with shift points.

The wheels live on the red Jeep now and I have a little rub with those bigger tires on the Rubi on the stock Moab wheels.

View attachment 221049

View attachment 221050

View attachment 221051

View attachment 221052
Click to expand...
Nice looking family
 
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Fletch2 said:
I recently replaced my shocks with the Rancho RS5000X shocks and my TJ now appears to sit just slightly higher than it did, and my 235's are looking small, (I did buy the shocks for a non-lifted vehicle). I know others have upgraded to JK wheels, but I generally see it done with a lift.
Click to expand...
Hey, just curious here: how would replacing the shocks change your ride height? I thought that'd be a matter of the springs, not the shocks. I ask because I'm about to install the same Ranchos on my otherwise-stock 2.5L, and wonder whether I should expect any change in ride height when I do.
 
kodyturbo said:
so did you change the speedo gear yourself or have someone do it for you

jim
Click to expand...
I replaced the speedometer gear myself.
You remove 1 bolt for the clamp holding the speedometer drive unit from the transfer case and wiggle the unit out of the transfer case. Pay attention to the indexing numbers for the speedo gear number to ensure you have it indexed properly. To remove the gear from the drive unit shaft; just pull the gear off the shaft and reassemble in the reverse order.
 
DeadStang said:
I used the blue SpiderTrax, which I think are the same as your link, and had some rubbing at full turn on the Rubicon but this Sport has ZERO issues with the exact same set up (each LJ is bone stock). Speedo is a little off, but not enough to earn me a speeding ticket and both are automatics — no obvious issues with shift points.

The wheels live on the red Jeep now and I have a little rub with those bigger tires on the Rubi on the stock Moab wheels.

View attachment 221049

View attachment 221050

View attachment 221051

View attachment 221052
Click to expand...
Hit me up if you ever want to part with the Grey Rubicon LJ with those wheels.
 
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Not worth running 17" wheels unless you're going with 35" tires or larger. Anything smaller makes them look like pizza cutters. Plus not worth running wheel adapters unless you really need to.
 
The SpeedoHealer is another good option if you think you won't leave well enough alone. Instead of changing speedo gears you add this and program it to adjust the signal based on how far it's off. More expensive than a speedo gear, but it's just a few pushes of a button to adjust again when you inevitably go bigger down the road.

Love my JK Recon rims on my LJ!
 
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