How to put JL wheels on a TJ, properly -
I had bought some aftermarket rims and tires that I was not happy with. I had problems with balancing them and with the rims having excessive run-out. This was giving me some steering wheel vibrations above 55 mph. I was looking for a solution.
I noticed people selling take offs from the new JL Jeeps. Some of these wheel sets had been taken off before being driven on and were like new. I found many on craigslist. These ranged in price from a low of $375, to a high of around $600 for five tires and rims. I decided to buy a set. I have to say I'm really pleased with them. My Jeep rides nice and I got rid of the vibrations I had with the aftermarket wheels.
In my journey to find out what I needed to mount JL wheels on my TJ, I had problems finding the right wheel adapters, so I thought I'd pass on what I learned.
The TJ has a bolt pattern of 4.5" X 5". You will need to purchase wheel adapters since wheels from a JL, or JK for that matter, use a bolt pattern of 5" X 5".
You will find mixed feelings on the web about using adapters, but my experience is that if you follow the manufactures instructions using lock-tight and proper torque values when installing them, well they seem to work just fine. Anyway, this thread is not meant to discuss the merits of adapters, so please don't high jack this thread. This is about the getting the right adapters for people that want to do so.
One important thing to understand is that the JL uses a bigger size wheel lug nut, a M14X1.5mm. Not a huge difference to the 1/2" of the TJ or JK. Most all the wheel adapters I found on the internet were using a half inch lug nut to mount the adapter to the Jeep, and a half inch stud for mounting the tire to the adapter. This is precisely what you want if you are going to mount a JK wheel on a TJ, but not what you should use if you're going to mount a JL wheel on a TJ. Yes it is true it's a minor difference. You may read on forums that some people just ignore the difference and mount the JL wheels onto the wheel adapters with a 1/2" stud. I don't think this is advisable. If you want to do it right, there is one company that makes an adapter, here in the US, that is correct for the job and has the larger studs for the JL's M14 lug nuts. They are "Tire Shop Supplies". You can find them online at - http://tireshopsupplies.com/
Make sure you select the correct stud size for the JL wheels, M14X1.5mm, and you need to let them know you want to mount the adapter on a TJ that has 1/2" studs. If you do this they will supple the adapters, drilled correctly, and they will supply 1/2" nuts to mount the adapter onto the TJ studs.
Of course there is another consideration here, and that is the size of the tires and their backspacing. The JL has a much larger backspacing of around 6.25" which is much more than any TJ wheel. I dealt with this by selecting an adapter that was 2" thick. This may work for you or it may not. I have a 2.5" suspension lift and a 1" body lift. I also have fender extensions. The adapters put the wheel right where it looked and worked well on my set up. With my set up and these adapters, I don't have any problems with the tires rubbing or any other issues. The JL wheels I bought are not that big. They are 17" rims with Michelin LTX M/S 245/75 tires. I love these Michelin tires and have had them on my pickups. They are not off road tires but perfect for my needs.
For a bit of irony the company I bought the after market rims and tires from, the ones that were giving me a shaky steering wheel, did step up and replace the entry level steel rims with a much better aluminum rim. I still have these with BF Goodrich ATs 33"X10.5". So, I have now have two nice sets of wheels and tires.
One last point, if you're going up in tire size from stock tires, you will want to consider more than a lift to make them fit. I'm not a fan of big lifts, but it seems a lot of Jeeps get lifts and big tires and do not re-gear their differentials. You're Jeep will be a real dog. With my JL wheels, which are quite close in size to my BF Goodrich set that are 33", I put 4.88 gears in my differentials. My Jeep is an 2005, six cylinder, automatic with the overdrive. For my TJ the 4.88 gearing is perfect for a tire around 32 - 33" in diameter. I have nice power and the transmission shifts perfectly. I get around 18 mpg on the freeway. All around I'm happy with my set up. I like the stockish look of the JL wheels on my TJ. I can always switch back to the BFs and the aftermarket rims if I'm headed for the snow or want a more aggressive look.
I had bought some aftermarket rims and tires that I was not happy with. I had problems with balancing them and with the rims having excessive run-out. This was giving me some steering wheel vibrations above 55 mph. I was looking for a solution.
I noticed people selling take offs from the new JL Jeeps. Some of these wheel sets had been taken off before being driven on and were like new. I found many on craigslist. These ranged in price from a low of $375, to a high of around $600 for five tires and rims. I decided to buy a set. I have to say I'm really pleased with them. My Jeep rides nice and I got rid of the vibrations I had with the aftermarket wheels.
In my journey to find out what I needed to mount JL wheels on my TJ, I had problems finding the right wheel adapters, so I thought I'd pass on what I learned.
The TJ has a bolt pattern of 4.5" X 5". You will need to purchase wheel adapters since wheels from a JL, or JK for that matter, use a bolt pattern of 5" X 5".
You will find mixed feelings on the web about using adapters, but my experience is that if you follow the manufactures instructions using lock-tight and proper torque values when installing them, well they seem to work just fine. Anyway, this thread is not meant to discuss the merits of adapters, so please don't high jack this thread. This is about the getting the right adapters for people that want to do so.
One important thing to understand is that the JL uses a bigger size wheel lug nut, a M14X1.5mm. Not a huge difference to the 1/2" of the TJ or JK. Most all the wheel adapters I found on the internet were using a half inch lug nut to mount the adapter to the Jeep, and a half inch stud for mounting the tire to the adapter. This is precisely what you want if you are going to mount a JK wheel on a TJ, but not what you should use if you're going to mount a JL wheel on a TJ. Yes it is true it's a minor difference. You may read on forums that some people just ignore the difference and mount the JL wheels onto the wheel adapters with a 1/2" stud. I don't think this is advisable. If you want to do it right, there is one company that makes an adapter, here in the US, that is correct for the job and has the larger studs for the JL's M14 lug nuts. They are "Tire Shop Supplies". You can find them online at - http://tireshopsupplies.com/
Make sure you select the correct stud size for the JL wheels, M14X1.5mm, and you need to let them know you want to mount the adapter on a TJ that has 1/2" studs. If you do this they will supple the adapters, drilled correctly, and they will supply 1/2" nuts to mount the adapter onto the TJ studs.
Of course there is another consideration here, and that is the size of the tires and their backspacing. The JL has a much larger backspacing of around 6.25" which is much more than any TJ wheel. I dealt with this by selecting an adapter that was 2" thick. This may work for you or it may not. I have a 2.5" suspension lift and a 1" body lift. I also have fender extensions. The adapters put the wheel right where it looked and worked well on my set up. With my set up and these adapters, I don't have any problems with the tires rubbing or any other issues. The JL wheels I bought are not that big. They are 17" rims with Michelin LTX M/S 245/75 tires. I love these Michelin tires and have had them on my pickups. They are not off road tires but perfect for my needs.
For a bit of irony the company I bought the after market rims and tires from, the ones that were giving me a shaky steering wheel, did step up and replace the entry level steel rims with a much better aluminum rim. I still have these with BF Goodrich ATs 33"X10.5". So, I have now have two nice sets of wheels and tires.
One last point, if you're going up in tire size from stock tires, you will want to consider more than a lift to make them fit. I'm not a fan of big lifts, but it seems a lot of Jeeps get lifts and big tires and do not re-gear their differentials. You're Jeep will be a real dog. With my JL wheels, which are quite close in size to my BF Goodrich set that are 33", I put 4.88 gears in my differentials. My Jeep is an 2005, six cylinder, automatic with the overdrive. For my TJ the 4.88 gearing is perfect for a tire around 32 - 33" in diameter. I have nice power and the transmission shifts perfectly. I get around 18 mpg on the freeway. All around I'm happy with my set up. I like the stockish look of the JL wheels on my TJ. I can always switch back to the BFs and the aftermarket rims if I'm headed for the snow or want a more aggressive look.
